# Rhodium Items



## lazersteve (Mar 23, 2007)

Anybody have any idea of what's under the Rhodium on plated chains? I have several rolls of uncut Rhodium Plated jewelry chains and I don't know what the base metal is under the Rhodium. I have some other miscellaneous Rhodium plated nick nacks that I've been saving for processing one day. It would be nice to know what the more common base metals Rhodium is plated over so I can begin working on these items. Any post on the topic of Rhodium would help. I know that Rhodium is plated over gold on rings, I'm not sure about necklaces and dinner bells?! :?:


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## Noxx (Mar 23, 2007)

Hum... Maybe you can tell with the color when you dissolve it in Nitric Acid ?


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## lazersteve (Mar 23, 2007)

I was hoping someone with some jewlery experience could just tell me. I guess I shouldn't be so lazy and just do some testing myself like you said. :lol:


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## Noxx (Mar 24, 2007)

Lol !
Just put some in a pill bottle...


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## lazersteve (Mar 24, 2007)

Noxx, 

You're right, now I just need ANOTHER bottle. :wink: 

Steve


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## Noxx (Mar 24, 2007)

hehe :lol:


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## Harold_V (Mar 24, 2007)

It's not uncommon for such items to be made of sterling, but they are usually marked as such, either with the word Sterling, or 925. Others are base metals, often magnetic. Have you tried a magnet?

Harold


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## lazersteve (Mar 24, 2007)

Hello Harold,

It's great to chat with you. 

No I haven't really done any kind of testing with them. I bought them about a year ago and stowed them away for future reference.

I'll check them in the AM.

Steve


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## Anonymous (Mar 24, 2007)

Hi, I had a couple of Rhodium plated rings, they where plated onto white gold.


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## ChucknC (Mar 24, 2007)

Check out the videos at http://www.ganoksin.com/video/
They have a couple dealling with PGM's and the use of Aqua Regia that doesn't involve urea. They use formic acid to neutralize HNO3. There is an interesting 2pt video about PGM's including Rh plating and what it's used on.

I haven't had any luck with urea myself, but then again, most of my scraps have at least some PGM's in them. Seems I read somewhere urea will "lock" PGM's in solution.

Chuck


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## austexjwlry (Jul 5, 2007)

Steve

A lot of 14k or even 18k yellow gold rings etc. have white gold settings (heads) which are rhodium plated, usually but not always this is the cheaper nickle white golds.

The rhodium is supposed to offer corrosion and scratch resistance. We have just recently started using rhodium plated headpins to string beads on, rhodium plated on nicklesilver (german silver) just a copper/nickle alloy. Because they're cheaper than sterling silver headpins. Rhodium plated lobster claw clasps hold up very well and look good with stainless steel chainmail etc.

I just send off any possible rhodium with my platinum to be professionaly refined as I'm clueless as to seperating platinum group metals so far.
With the exception of palladium.

Wayne


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