This isn’t for a wedding ring, it’s a normal ring with an engraving. If I decide I want a white color, I can choose between palladium and white gold… price is not a factor here. I won’t be using it in an overly careless way, but I do not want any upkeep over the years. My most important quality for the ring is its color and long term care. Also, value in the future. The gold would be 10k, and I am not allergic to nickel so I don’t care about that.
cheaper white gold (the one made with nickel) is rather gray and therefore plated with rhodium to give it the bright white and shiny appearance of platinum. The rhodium plating will have to get renewed every few years, depending on your level of use (or abuse) of the ring.
If I would like something with value for the future, I would look for 18K white gold, but the version with platinum/palladium in it that doesn’t need to get rhodium plated. 10K gold jewelry is widely looked at as ‘cheap jewelry. People don’t expect high quality pieces in 10K white gold and it has a comparatively low re-sale value. Palladium is a good choice too. It doesn’t need rhodium plating and is similar to platinum, but seems to be still cheaper. It is not yet that popular, but will probably get there.