If I'm allergic to 9ct white gold, am i likely to have a reaction to 18ct white gold?

Question

My new bracelet is giving me a rash & that is 9ct white gold. I had a ring from the states which was 14ct white gold & that gave me a rash. I have never had reactions to jewellry or metal before (mind you never had white gold before til recently)....strangely my wedding ring which is 9ct white gold is okay....
I'm wondering if I was to wear 18ct white gold would possibly be any better?

Edit: I'm fine with sterling silver & other metals like coins, jean studs etc etc. Don't know about yellow gold as I prefer silver colour.

Answer 1

Hello =)

Rhodium is a precious metal that is often used to make gold "white"....all gold, in its natural state is yellow, of course.

It is possible that you have an allergy to Rhodium, which may be the culprit (although this is very rare)...

How do you get along with sterling??

Some metalsmiths use sterling to make white gold, and that may be what's in your wedding band, which could be the reason you're not having a problem with it...(does that finger ever turn black from your wedding band?? -- that's a dead giveaway for sterling content)

Or, it could be the other way around...that you have an allergy to sterling, but not rhodium, and rhodium is what is in your wedding band.......

9K gold is only 1/3 gold by weight, so, there's a lot of other metal in it.....could be any number of things.

The only way to raise the gold content to a level where almost no one is allergic is to buy 24kt, which is too soft to be of much use. It bends, wears, and breaks far too easily.

Namaste, and Happy New Year,

--Tom

Answer 2

white gold contains gold, plus some white metal. Typically, Palladium (Pa, a heavy metal of the same family as platinum), or Silver (Ag). In some cases, and mostly in the past, Nickel (Ni) was also used. But about 5% of the population are allergic to Nickel. So in your case it seems that your bracelet is Nickel white gold, and you are one of those 1 out of 20 who are allergic to Nickel. Now about whether 18K (ct) white gold will be better? Well, for sure it will contain less of the other metal (or metals) but still a fair amount: pure gold is 24K, so 18K is already 1/4th non-gold. (And by the way, 9K gold is not really gold anymore because it has only 37.5percent gold, and 62.5% other metals - the very minimum is 14K which is 58% gold). (And by the way, if you have any flexibility at all, try to avoid buying gold jewellery in the US, because 14K gold sells for the same price there, as 18K gold anywhere else in the world). So if I were you, I'd try to make sure with the shop that I'm buying white gold that contains no Nickel. Hope this helps

Answer 3

Allergies to gold do not exist to my knowledge. You are allergic to some other metal present. You should investigate your allergens more carefully, reactions to Nickle are common. The fact that you are wearing something else of supposedly the same material suggests that either the person who sold you the bracelet lied and sold you a fake (which would never happen at a store in the US) or there was some processing that occurred in the manufacturing of that bracelet that left the residual presence of a chemical allergen - in which case a good cleaning should solve you problem (unless the cleaner used was the problem!).

18ct is much purer - I would assume you would be okay.

Additional note --- Nickels in the US are no longer made from Nickel (confusing, eh?) so, the possibility of a Nickel reaction is still high.

Yes - I am rather certain it is the Nickel:
http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Allergies/nickelallergy.htmhttp://www.aocd.org/skin/dermatologic_diseases/nickel_allergy.html
http://www.winter-branch.com/nickel-allergies.html

The fact that you are having trouble with a product from the US (and I'm assuming) not one from Europe could be because the EU has banned use of Nickel in Jewelry.

Answer 4

Hard to say, but if you've never had a reaction to yellow gold, then you might be having a reaction to the nickel or zinc, instead (copper is in both yellow and white gold, so neither it nor the gold should be the culprit). Another, though remote possibility, is that the jewelry you have has been mis-marked. The best way to deal with this is to work with a reputable jeweler.

Gold Jewelry Primer:
Pure gold is yellow and extremely soft - not suitable for jewelry (24 karat). Therefore, gold used in jewelry is mixed with other metals (silver, copper, palladium, nickel, and cadmium are most common) to form alloys. Traditionally: 22 karat (92% gold) is the standard for Middle Eastern jewelry; 18 karat (75% gold) is the standard for Italian jewelry; and 14 karat (58% gold) is the standard for US jewelry. 10 karat (42% gold) jewelry was generally considered low-end, usually found in discount houses.

Answer 5

It's probably the coating which causes the reaction. The coating on white gold items can be anything from nickel (very common allergen) to platinum (very unlikely to cause anything). Whether the material underneath is 9ct or 18ct probably doesn't matter much, as most white gold products are coated but you may not be able to find out what with. Either make sure you only wear platinum-coated white gold (or uncoated, but that's a bit dull grey in colour and therefore not commonly available in shops), or you may need to switch to yellow instead.

Answer 6

White gold is simply an alloy composed of gold and white colored metal such as nickel, silver, and palladium. Because this mixture lacks a clean white look, white gold jewelry are always coated with a platinum-like substance called rhodium, giving it the flawless beauty comparable to real platinum jewelry at less than half the cost.

If you are not allergic to rhodium, then the other metal in your jewelry could be nickel, silver, or palladium. The white metal in your wedding ring is not the same white metal in your bracelet. 24 ct gold is pure gold. 10 ct gold is about 41.7% gold. I doubt it is the gold that you are allergic to, so it must be the allow metal that was used with the gold.

http://www.24carat.co.uk/allergiestojeweleryframe.html

The most common cause of allergic reactions to jewellery is nickel contained in the alloy. Nickel is, or was, frequently used in white gold alloys because it is inexpensive, hard, and has a strong whitening effect. Better quality white gold alloys use palladium, which has excellent properties but is more expensive.

Answer 7

Sounds like you may have an allergic reaction - but to what?
It's unlikely that your allergic to white gold since your wedding ring doesn't cause a problem. Perhaps its one or more items used in the 'filling' of these other items that's causing the rash.

You can only find out for definite by undergoing allergy tests after a sample of each item has also been analysed (unless the hospital is already aware of the content or 'ingredients' of each item).

You should note that even 24 carat gold (white or otherwise) isn't 100% pure gold. So, items containing less carats contain more of "the other stuff" that may be the root cause of your rash.

But you need to undergo a series of allergy tests to find out for definite, rather than just guessing by 'trial and error'.

Answer 8

Firstly, is it say your left hand wrist that is affected? If so, try it on the other wrist to experiment. Many people suffer problems with the back of wrist watches and the underlying cause is probably "sweat rash". A common problem in the Tropics. The way it was solved out there was by sticking a piece of Elastoplast on the back of the watch, although it does not seem practical to do this on a bracelet.
In your case don't let it depress you, if that's the way your skin is accept it. Again you may be able to wear silver but watches don't care what metal it is. You have not mentioned what happens with watch straps? But don't forget, there's always the Doctor who will probably have treated this problem many times. Good Luck in your search.

Answer 9

Your reaction is to one of the alloying elements in the gold. The higher the carat, the less alloying elements are present. So, yes, possibly. But maybe the jeweller could establish the actual composition of the 9ct stuff, and you can try and avoid the elements other than silver and gold.

Answer 10

wouldn't it be even worse because it is a higher value gold?
Are you sure it's white gold & not silver or something else?? I know lots of people who can't wear silver or fashion jewellery.

do a google search for a nickel allergy. you sometimes get small clear blisters - have you got something like that? I used to get something very similar between my fingers & I used to wear a white gold ring, bought in the UK. Nickel allergy is common with cashiers handling money.