Gold

My husband bought me a beautiful opal ring with a gold band and it keeps turning my finger black. What's up with that?

[Todd]

Well I asked around here and got 2 answers. The 1st being that whoever polished is last didn't clean it well enough afterwards and it is the polish turning your finger black. The good news is that it will eventually stop, but it might take awhile (this from somebody here who has had personal experience with the problem). I am no expert, but you may be able to fix this by going to the jeweler your husband bought it at and get it cleaned. That might help.

The 2nd answer is that it could be your body chemistry reacting strangely with the gold alloy. It could be a different alloy then any of the other jewelry you have, so that could be why it doesn't happen with your other jewelry. This would be something that would most likely never go away, and thus being an alloy to steer clear of in the future.

None of us really know for certain so it could be something else, but hopefully that helps.

[Metalman]

YES - an interesting problem.
As to Todd's #1:  Take some alcohol, rubbing or otherwise on a cotton swab and clean your ring.  If there are polishing compounds remaining on the ring, this will remove them. It may take a bit of rubbing if there are thick deposits.

Regarding #2 - the alloy and the source of the ring become the question.  And whether you have metal allergies onf any sort.  A short term solution might be to paint clear nail polish inside the band.  YOur skin may react to that as well so moniter it if/when you do this.  A longer term solution will involve a jeweler, perhaps plating the ring with a non-reactive metal for you.

You know, as I write it comes to mind that talking to whomever sold the ring would be appropriate.  If it was represented as a gold ring and/or has the proper hallmarks for carat content then you should be able to get remedy from the seller