Does using a silver polishing cloth on rhodium plated, sterling silver jewelry depreciate the value of the jewelry?
I’m afraid I would have to disagree somewhat with my colleague Gina on this one..:-)….
1. Good silver jewelry is often rhodium plated to prevent tarnish and keep it shiny, so there should be no need to polish it.
2. Since rhodium is an extremely hard metal, silver polishing cloths, which are extremely gentle, would have no effect on it. If the plating is worn off by a polishing cloth, it wasn’t rhodium plated, rather it was plated with a very thin plating of pure silver called flash plating. A flash silver plating will keep the piece looking good till it gets sold. Once it is subjected to wear, it will wear off, particularly rings which get a lot of wear and tear. Standard household chemicals are not likely to effect a rhodium plate.
3. If anything were done to the piece which removed or partially removed the rhodium plating, it would definitely decrease its value, as the piece would then remain with exposed sterling which would require regular polishing. It would be similar to removing or partially removing gold plating from a sterling silver object.
4. Rhodium is in the platinum family and quite close to it in price ( both over $900/troy oz.). Both rhodium and platinum are relatively close to the gold price (around $1300/troy oz.).
5. Rhodium is never plated directly onto silver, as that would contaminate the silver plating bath. The piece is always flash plated first in copper prior to receiving the rhodium plating. If the rhodium plating was not done properly and started peeling off, you would see the copper color between it and the sterling base.