14K vs. 18K white gold rings

kns1988

Has anyone mixed an 18K engagement ring with a 14K wedding band? Did you notice a different in color or wear? I've tried doing research on this, and I find conflicting information.  I'm referring to white gold only.

CMGragain

Both 18K and 14K white gold need to be dipped in rhodium to keep them sparkly white.  Gold is not naturally white colored.  18K gold is heavier, but softer than 14K gold, which can be more brittle.  Both can be easily worked with by any competent jeweler.
I personally prefer yellow gold because it requires so little maintenance.  I needed to have my rings resized and the prongs redone after about 25 years.  They are 14K.  My husband's ring needed sizing last year.  He wears a plain 14K yellow gold band.  It has been 37 years.

singinchick13

I have a 14K white gold engagement ring and I am looking at an 18K white gold band, so the opposite of what you are looking at. You will notice a bit of a difference in how quickly they lose the 'white' looking finish to them (my e-ring has lost a bit at the base since I first put it on almost 6 months ago). As long as you purchase the protection plan or care plan that includes the rhodium dipping this should be no problem. The only place you could even notice a slight color difference if you really try will be the underside of your finger. I'm not at all worried about mixing them.

lookame3639

My FI works for a jewlery store. We bought my engagement ring on clearance several years ago before he worked for the company, it is 18 K white gold. We recently purchased my band (actually a wrap) with his employee price it is 14 K white gold.

The wear on my engagement ring over the past 5 years has been pretty heavy due to the fact I wear it everyday without removing it. In that time I've had to get it dipped all of three times and buffed twice(to make it shiny and buff out scratches) the wear on your engagement ring will wear a tad quicker since it is somewhat softer than 14 k since there is more gold in it. I put my e - ring within a wrap even though I'll loose some of the details of my e - ring in hopes it'll protect it a little better. We have also have the protection plan on my e - ring (not the wrap though because all repairs and such are done through employee)

lookame3639

As a side note FI and i were talking one day about the main difference between platinum and gold. When a scratch occurs on platinum it's like putting a line in the sand the platinum isn't lost at all (i can't remember if he said it can be buffed out of not). As for gold when a scratch occurs it's like chalk when you run it across a chalkboard, you loose a very small amount of gold. He said if there is heavy wear on a gold ring (and i mean REALLY heavy) then it can cause the ring to become brittle and it can break. When i asked him about the wear on a white gold ring and the ring getting dipped he said that makes the outer layer "strong" but the inside is still weak and it's not dipped enough to make the outer layer strong enough to prevent breaking.

I know it's not what you were asking but I thought it was interesting. Usually there isn't enough wear and tear on a gold ring to make it become brittle enough to break though.