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There is no known use of rhodium being applied in commercial jewellery production, neither in its own right nor as a major alloying element for platinum or white gold. As you say, the only commercial use of rhodium in jewellery is in plating where it is used to coat white jewellery not considered white enough (white gold), prevent tarnishing (silver) and provide a shinier/harder/more scratch resistant surface.

The watch division of the jeweller Harry Winston produced a one-off rhodium watch a few years ago, but it proved extremely challenging to master the metal's fabrication properties. (The watch is not shown on that website.) This experiment indicated that rhodium does not lend itself to the production of commercial jewellery.

Rhodium is also expensive compared to established jewellery precious metals, such as platinum and gold. The current price of the metal is around $3,000 per oz compared to gold - $470 and platinum - $980.

With strong demand, from the car industry for catalytic converters and existing industrial applications, outstripping available supply it is unlikely that the price will fall in the near future.

Finally, from a marketing view point, as rhodium has a low specific gravity compared to gold and platinum, it does not carry the heft that would communicate value. Nor does the name "rhodium" carry the cachet that would enable it to command the high premium it would need to have over established jewellery metals, such as gold and platinum.

For further information, see PMPD's: Other Platinum Group Metals: Rhodium from "Platinum 2005, Interim Review".

Answer posted 16 November 2005