does white gold change colour

[kazdek]

my husband bought me a 9 carat white gold and diamond ring for christmas. the ring has now started to change to yellow gold around the base. why is this?

[Whickerman]

plated...?

[jake-the-peg]

White gold is a mixture of gold with another metal - it is also often plated with rhodium in order to make it shine nicely but the rhodium does wear and needs re-plating

However a month is quite short is should last a few years

http://www.artisanplating.com/faqs/whitegoldfa qs.html

[Loosehead]

To coin a phrase from black adder, "The clour of gold is gold, that's why it's called gold"! White gold and indeed all 9ct gold is in fact not mainly gold. The other metal that it is mixed with can change it's colour so we can have "white" gold, so the gold colur you are seeing is the actual gold shining through.

[kazdek]

my husband took the ring back to the jewellers and they said they would replate it for free, but i have now found out that white gold contains nickel, which i am allergic to. He asked if he could change it for a yellow gold one , the sales assistant turned round and said "No, because you have had it for more than 28 days"
where do we stand legally with this?
He only bought it on the 21st of December.

[Loosehead]

They don't have to change it unless it is unfit for the purpose to which it is intended. Obviously it is fit for the purpose of being a ring but I'm not sure how far you'd get claiming an allergy.

[jake-the-peg]

Well hang on there Loosehead, if they're replating it after a month 'unfit for purpose' becomes a definate possibility.

Unfortunately it sounds as if the offer to replate it has been accepted?

[Loosehead]

maybe jake not sure how that one would go.