What is Rhodium Plating?
Rhodium is a precious metal that is one of the 6 members of the platinum group. Rhodium is harder and whiter than platinum and is used to electroplate both yellow and white gold to make the gold appear whiter than it really is. Almost 100% of white gold is coated in rhodium. Many silver items are coated in white gold so they will not tarnish. Rhodium coatings are very thin, approximately 7 millionths of an inch. Most of the rhodium coating wears off over time, especially with rings. Rhodium is sometimes used to cover over jewelry items made in yellow gold to turn them white, as you can see in these before and after pictures of the same ring.