White gold, and IWC

I read somewhere else that IWC has changed the mix for white gold, so that the case does not need to get rhodinised anymore. Is this true, what happened? Since when, which watches have the new white gold case? I guess such a change doesn't warrant a new reference number. If a white gold case is rhodinised, does that mean that the gold is covered by another metal, so that the gold is not visible? My search showed that the process was needed to preserve the white metal colour of the case, is this the only reason?

Kind regards,
Paul

elements that are used to commercially generate the white gold alloy, to my knowledge, will 'bleach' the yellow color of gold, but will not turn it probably completely 'white', hence this remaining yellowish appearance is usually further plated by elements such as rhodium, palladium, etc..having said this, I am not sure if by replacing the current major 'bleacher' palladium by another element will be sufficient to avoid plating by rhodium..
not sure if an alloy of gold with platinum, rhodium or even osmium by itself will generate a totally white-appearing metal..
interesting question, will be glad to hear more as well..
cheers,
yitzhak

A little from the Archives

Cheers from the cellar

I asked yonks ago as to whether WG was rhodium plated and MF said no. Some golds will tarnish depending on its mix and carat value but so far my one and only YG IWC has not tarnished.