What is Rhodium?

Some of our jewelry pieces contain a precious metal called Rhodium. As expected, many of our customers have inquired about Rhodium and we have dedicated a part of this section to explaining what it is and why we use it.

Rhodium has the distinction of being the world’s most expensive precious metal (as of 2010, 1 kilogram (kg) is worth approximately $80,000 U.S. dollars. It was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston (an English chemist and physicist) who isolated it from platinum. The name Rhodium derives from the Latin root “rhodon”, meaning rose. By weight, Rhodium is valued approximately 6 times more than gold and is never found in a mineral form and is instead discovered in trace amounts from platinum ore or nickel ore.

Rhodium is one of the most commonly used precious metals in the world for jewelry – white gold is commonly plated with Rhodium to improve its shine and brilliance. It is often used as a coating/plating on top of sterling silver and platinum (through electroplating techniques) to add an elegant and brilliant shine as well – this technique is colloquially known in the jewelry industry as “Rhodium flashing”. Most importantly, Rhodium does not tarnish or become dull as quickly as sterling silver, so any jewelry piece containing Rhodium is expected to have a long lasting life-cycle.

Due to its high melting point, Rhodium is rarely used to craft whole pieces (it is not a very malleable metal). More recently, Rhodium has been used for honors or to symbolize wealth, where ordinary precious metals like platinum or gold are considered inadequate. Rhodium is also used as an alloying agent to harden platinum or silver to improve corrosion resistance.

Wondering how to care for Rhodium plated jewelry? Be sure to avoid ordinary jewelry cleaners that contain various chemicals – this can be harmful to Rhodium plating and even weaken its effect in the long term. Instead, opt to use a mild detergent or soap with luke warm water and lightly clean your jewelry surface. An alternative to using a soap or detergent is to steam clean it and shining it that way. Ensuring your jewelry’s brilliant shine and Rhodium’s life-cycle is nothing but mere maintenance that can keep your pieces lasting a lifetime.

Source by Edward Nguyen

What is Rhodium?