Rose Gold Patina on Engagement Ring

I have an absolutely gorgeous engagement ring from the early 1800's - rose cut diamonds set in silver with a rose gold band that was thoroughly, gorgeously aged. I had it resized recently, and gave specific instructions not to polish off the patina. Guess what - all the rose gold came back shiny and yellow.

The ring is still beautiful, but it has lost so much of the charm I loved. How long will it take to regain the patina? Is there any way to speed the process up artificially?

Hello,

I'm so sorry to hear about your ring and the loss of the beautiful patina.

The only way to size a ring while retaining the original patina is to gently stretch the ring up by a small size. Any type of sizing process which includes sizing down, or sizing up by adding gold to the band, will result in a loss of the patina layer.

Rings which have parts of the band removed or added for sizing changes always need to be thoroughly cleaned before the soldering process - and consequently any layer of patina will be removed through this process.

I don't know why the jeweler did not discuss the inevitable loss of the patina on the ring through the resizing process - unless somehow a miscommunication occurred.

At any rate, it can take decades for another natural patina coat to accumulate on the ring. In a few years, you may see a very light patina - and that patina will gradually darken with time. But the lovely dark patina layer found on antique gold rings takes a lifetime or more to develop.

It is possible to create an artificial layer of patina - but the process includes some pretty harmful chemicals and acids. The process can also damage the ring and lower the value of your ring - plus it will ruin any chances the ring has of developing another natural patina layer.

The best thing to do is to wear the ring as much as possible (which will help the new patina layer to start forming), and avoid cleaning the ring with anything but warm water.

While it may be tempting to have an artificial layer of patina applied, the damage this temporary process can cause to the ring and the ring's value just isn't worth it.

Good luck with your ring, and do write us again if you have any additional questions.

Suzanne Gardner
Everything Wedding Rings

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Loss of Patina
by: Sissy

I was given my great grandmothers wide 18 karat gold hand engraved wedding band.It is from the 1800s and had a beautiful patina so much so that you couldn’t see a scratch on it.I had to have it cut off and when I went to pick it up at the jewelry store I hardly recognized my band.I lost all the hand engraving and the band looked brand new.I have tried things to regain the patina like rolling it in sand,triple 000 steel wool,sand paper but nothing works.Don’t want to go the chemical route,but I sure miss my old band.

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