Engagement Puzzle Ring Precious Metals

Engagement Puzzle Ring Precious Metals
You may choose from an array of precious metals for your engagement puzzle ring and bridal set. You may have one metal or more, depending upon your taste. The metals you may choose from are 14K yellow, white, or rose gold; four colors of 14K gold (white, rose, yellow, green); palladium, or platinum. We are unable to make our engagement puzzle rings in sterling silver, because silver is not strong enough to bear a faceted stone and stone setting; plus most of the cost is in the stone and the labor, so you might as well get a metal that will last for decades not just a few years. 

You may have combinations of metals if you wish: platinum or palladium with 14K rose gold are popular choices. 14K rose gold with 14K white gold is also popular. 14K rose gold with 14K yellow gold provides intense color. 

This page, however, is primarily dedicated to helping you make your decision if you want a white metal or a white metal in combination with a colored metal.

This is counterintuitive, but the white precious metal you get your puzzle engagement ring in NOW will depend upon the type of wedding band you ultimately wish to place with the ring LATER.

Okay, I know, you’re not even engaged yet, so how do you know what kind of wedding band the two of you will ultimately want? Relax, this isn’t about choosing a specific style, it’s about choosing a kind of band.

Even though it may be a tad early in your decision making process, this is important enough that I need you to give this some thought!

Here are different types of wedding bands and the metal choices you have for the puzzle ring, so the two rings will match in color.

Further down on this page, you can read about WHY we don’t recommend 14K white gold for all puzzle ring bridal sets or what we recommend if you must have 14K white gold.

Here’s a basic list of our recommendations for your puzzle ring white metal, depending upon the type of wedding band you wish to acquire to go with the puzzle ring:

Celtic wedding band in any style: Palladium or platinum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Traditional or contemporary posy rings in any style: 14K white gold or platinum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Custom posy rings in any style: Palladium or platinum.

 

 

 

 

 

Single or dual shadow bands with or without embellishments such as knotwork, diamonds, etc.: Palladium or platinum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plain wedding band whether domed or flat: Palladium or platinum.
Any style of wedding band from another jeweler: Palladium or platinum.

Why? Why not 14K white gold for most of these bridal sets?

Let’s start at the beginning. Gold is, well, gold – meaning gold is yellow! White gold is made from 24K yellow gold to which alloy metals are added to make it stronger and to change the color to white. 

Therefore, all 14K and 18K white gold is made from yellow gold, and, truthfully, when the alloying is done, and the metal is made, it’s not pure white. It has a tinge of yellow, what I call a “creamish cast” to the color. It can be really, really pretty. It can make for a softer color of white. But from gold manufacturer to manufacturer, the color can vary. This is because 14K gold is 58.5% gold and 41.5% other metals. 18K gold is 75% gold and 25% other metals. Each gold manufacturer has their own formula for their metal alloys, so gold maker A can turn out white gold with a creamish cast. Gold maker B can turn out white gold with a slightly different cast – maybe a slightly different yellow or even a pinkish cast. So two white gold rings from two different gold makers may not match in color.

The modern jewelry industry, in all its wisdom, has decreed that all white gold jewelry pieces will therefore be plated with a white, platinum-family metal called rhodium. So when you go into a regular jewelry store, and you see all the bright white gold rings lined up, every single one of them has been rhodium plated.

This makes for bright white gold, but it also means that it wears off. How quickly depends upon your wear patterns – that is, how hard you are on your jewelry. Most local jewelers have a bread and butter business replating white gold rings from one to three times per year.

The problem for us and our clients is that our 14K white gold puzzle rings are not rhodium-plated. This is for a few reasons. First of all, plating will wear off a ring more quickly when a ring is composed of several bands that will be taken apart and put back together, perhaps occasionally, perhaps frequently. Secondly, we fancy ourselves to be makers of Renaissance style or Renaissance reproduction rings. Historic rings were yellow gold. Even the making of white gold is more modern, but we fancy that at least historic rings were not plated. 

This means that our 14K white gold puzzle rings, which are not rhodium plated, don’t match bright white, rhodium-plated wedding bands in color. It just so happens that makers of traditional and contemporary posy rings also do not rhodium plate their rings (many are licensed reproductions of historic rings), and it also so happens that the color of the white gold of the posy rings looks great with our 14K white gold puzzle rings which also have a slightly creamy cast to them. 

We have ordered an Irish Celtic wedding ring in 14K white gold without rhodium plating for a customer, but the white gold had a bit of a pinkish cast, so it didn’t really match the puzzle ring. Our client opted to have both rings plated in rhodium.

Yes, you can have your 14K white gold puzzle ring rhodium-plated if you wish, by your local jeweler. We have other customers who have done so, and it’s really okay to do this if you want to. Then your ring will need to be occasionally replated. This is an option if you really want 14K white gold and a shadow band or a Celtic wedding ring.

Otherwise, we normally suggest going with palladium (a white, platinum-family metal) or platinum for your Celtic bridal set or your shadow band bridal set. These rings will all match in color. 

What About Multiple Colors in Your Bridal Set?

If you want multiple colors in the engagement puzzle ring, and you want a wedding band, we normally suggest that you have the wedding band match the outer colors of the engagement puzzle ring. Notice that in the puzzle ring below, there are two types of bands: The X in the front of the ring is composed of 14K rose gold. The minor bands, which form the front center loops of the puzzle ring and which also form the edges of the shank of the puzzle ring are white. They are palladium in this case. We made the shadow band palladium, so that it matese with the palladium forming the edges of the shank of the puzzle ring. This way there is a consistent, rather than a choppy, look to the set. 

A four band marquise diamond puzzle engagement ring
with a 1.7mm wide custom shadow wedding ring in 14K
rose gold and palladium.

Whatever you want, please talk to us. We can make your rings exactly as you wish them. We are happy to make recommendations to help you realize just the bridal set you envision.