I know I know. "Rhodium" sounds like the latest vitamin craze. But you can think of it like a vitamin for your jewelry because rhodium is a precious metal that can make your jewelry more durable, resistant, beautiful and timeless.

Rhodium is added to your jewelry by plating -- or what we like to call a dip -- that adds a thin layer of rhodium to your jewelry.

Rhodium is a rare and precious metal that is a highly reflective silver tone similar to platinum. It does not fade or corrode. It is harder than gold and silver so is more resistant, but is very brittle so can not be shaped into a piece of jewelry. But it works perfectly as a protective layer on jewelry made from other materials. It works especially well on platinum, white gold, silver and even diamonds and colored stones. It does not play friendly with porous stones like pearls and corals. It can work on yellow gold, but the coloring will change from yellow to white.

Here are the perks of rhodium plating:

Ensure your rhodium plating lasts.

How long rhodium plating lasts depends on a number of things. First, how often the plated piece is worn, so pieces such as engagement rings and wedding rings may fade faster. Second, what metal or stone it was used on will affect it's durability. Rhodium tends to last longer on white gold pieces. Yellow or rose gold pieces will show wear more quickly since these metals show through a thinning rhodium layer. To give you a general idea, white gold wedding rings tend to need re-dipping every 1-2 years.

Some tips to make the plating last:

Jacqueline's Jewelers offers Rhodium Plating services. We are here to help you determine if your piece of jewelry will benefit from the process, and if so can have your piece plated within a few days.