Platinum Qualities

Pure
Platinum is pure, an expression of integrity, a reflection of inner truth. Platinum's purity endows it with a brilliant white luster. This helps to reflect the true radiance of diamonds. Because it is generally 95% pure (18 karat gold is 75% pure), platinum jewelry does not fade or tarnish and keeps its looks for a lifetime. Platinum's purity makes it hypoallergenic and ideal for those with sensitive skin.

Rare
Platinum is rare, the coveted treasure of discerning individuals. There is very little platinum on this earth and it is found in very few places around the world. This exquisite metal is 30 times rarer than gold. In fact, it is estimated that if all the platinum in the world were poured into one Olympic swimming pool it would be scarcely deep enough to cover your ankles. Gold would fill more than three pools. Platinum's rarity makes it exclusive and distinctive - a celebration of your individuality.

Eternal
Platinum jewelry is the perfect choice for a lifetime of everyday wear. Its density and weight make it more durable than other jewelry metals. Platinum does not wear away and holds precious stones firmly and securely. Like all precious metals, platinum scratches. However, the scratch on a platinum piece is merely a displacement of the metal and none of its volume is lost. So, even though wearing it each and every day may leave an impression on the surface, it remains what it was - a symbol for all things eternal.

Versatile
In addition to its strength and density, platinum has another remarkable quality - pliability. Platinum is so pliable, that just one gram of the metal can be drawn to produce a fine wire over one mile (almost 2 km) long. This quality has enabled jewelers to create some amazing versatile platinum mesh accessories, which could not be fashioned from other precious metals. Platinum is also in demand in other fields - it is used in industry, most notably in catalytic converters. Platinum also plays an important role in medicine. It is not affected by the oxidizing reaction of blood, has excellent conductivity, and is compatible with living tissue. Because of these properties, platinum is used for pacemakers. At present, more than 50,000 people are living healthily on pacemakers. Platinum is a life-saving metal for these people.

Platinum History

Platinum's legend is long. Prized since its discovery in ancient Egypt, the fact remains; nothing stirs the soul like platinum.

In the late 1800s platinum mania swept through Europe and Russia. Kings, Queens, Tsars and Maharajas bedecked themselves with anything and everything platinum. Spain's King Charles IV commissioned a platinum room, while others wore gowns woven with platinum thread. Cartier, Faberge and Tiffany had great plans for platinum, creating legendary designs. And the world's most famous diamonds; the Star of Africa, the Hope, Jonker I and Koh-I-Noor nestle securely in the permanence of platinum settings.

Early in the 1900s, platinum popularity captivated America, setting the platinum standard so famously appropriated by Hollywood. Jean Harlow and Marilyn Monroe were the consummate "platinum blondes"; glamour personified.

At the outset of WWII, the US government declared platinum a strategic metal, disallowing its use for jewelry. Americans made do with white gold and by the end of the war, platinum had temporarily become a lost art.

Fifty years and a steady climb to the pinnacle, platinum has regained its enormous popularity. Since the early 90s, platinum remains the preferred metal among celebrities from Gwyneth Paltrow to Puff Daddy. It is the symbol of beauty and timelessness, the ultimate elegance.

Palladium

Properties of Palladium

• PALLADIUM IS A PLATINUM GROUPMETAL. It doesn’t tarnish or lose whiteness when worn.
• PALLADIUM IS NATURALLY WHITE and does not require rhodium plating as white gold does. Rhodium plating is impermanent, so the natural off-white color of most white gold alloys becomes evident through normal wear.
• PALLADIUM WEARS BETTER THAN WHITE GOLD. Wear testing revealed a 15% longer wear ratio, similar to how platinum wears in comparison to white gold.
• PALLADIUM WEARS LIKE PLATINUM. As with any piece worn daily, both platinum and palladium jewelry will show surface wear over time. Surface wear is easily restored by cleaning and polishing – a regular practice performed by most retail service departments.
• PALLADIUM IS 95% PURE. Common alloy ingredients are ruthenium and iridium, also platinum group metals.White gold is typically alloyed with base metals making it less pure.
• PALLADIUM IS COMPARABLE IN WEIGHT TO 14K WHITE GOLD, making it comfortable to wear even larger pieces.
• PALLADIUM AND OTHER PLATINUM GROUP METALS ARE HYPOALLERGENIC. Many 14k white gold alloys contain nickel, an element which is known to commonly cause allergic reactions.

History of Palladium

Palladium is one of the platinum group metals (PGM), which consist of iridium, osmium, palladium, platinum, rhodium, and ruthenium. These metals are also sometimes referred to as the “noble” metals due to their resistance to corrosion. This group has all been found to exhibit outstanding catalytic properties which have led to their use in autocatalysts. Palladium is the least dense and lowest melting of the platinum group metals.

Palladium itself is atomic number 46 of the Periodic Table, with chemical symbol Pd. It occurs on earth with a relative abundance of 0.0006 parts per million. Besides being a white and malleable metal, at room temperatures it has the unusual property of absorbing up to 900 times its own volume of hydrogen. Hydrogen readily diffuses through heated palladium and this provides a means of purifying the gas.

The history of Palladium is tied with the history of the platinum group metals because they usually are found together in some combination and because their history is one of determining how to separate them. Once commerce and demand arose for these metals, then finding commercially viable sources and production became necessary to satisfy that demand. Major sources were found in Russia and South Africa. In North America, palladium was found with platinum and other PGMs in Montana where it is now extracted by the Stillwater Mining Company.

Gold

From the first discoveries of gold in ancient times, its beauty and the ease with which it could be worked inspired craftsmen to create it into ornaments, not just for adornment, but as symbols of wealth and power. The skills of the goldsmith from ancient Egypt to Benvenuto Cellini or Carl Faberge still amaze us. As Pindar wrote nearly 2,500 years ago, "Gold is the child of Zeus, neither moth nor rust devoureth it". Today, gold jewelry is more a mass- market product, although in many countries still treasured as a basic form of saving. jewelry fabrication is the crucial cornerstone of the gold market, annually consuming all gold that is newly mined.

Pure gold is used in those parts of the world where jewelry is purchased as much for in- vestment as it is for adornment, but it tends to be vulnerable to scratching. Elsewhere, it is usually mixed, or alloyed, with other metals. Not only do they harden it, but influence the color; white shades are achieved by alloying gold with silver, nickel or palladium; red alloys contain mainly copper. A harder alloy is made by adding nickel or a tiny percentage of titanium.

The proportion of gold in jewelry is measured on the carat (or karat) scale. The word carat comes from the carob seed, which was originally used to balance scales in Oriental bazaars. Pure gold is designated 24 carat, which compares with the "fineness" by which bar gold is defined.

The most widely used alloys for jewelry in Europe are 18 and 14 carat, although 9 carat is popular in Britain. Portugal has a unique designation of 19.2 carats. In the United States 14 carat predominates, with some 10 carat. In the Middle East, India and South East Asia, jewelry is traditionally 22 carat (sometimes even 23 carat). In China, Hong Kong and some other parts of Asia, "chuk kam" or pure gold jewelry of 990 fineness (almost 24 carat) is popular.

In many countries the law requires that every item of gold jewelry is clearly stamped with its caratage. This is often controlled through hallmarking, a system which originated in London at Goldsmiths' Hall in the 14th century. Today it is compulsory in such countries as Britain, France, the Netherlands, Morocco, Egypt, and Bahrain. Where there is no compulsory marking manufacturers themselves usually stamp the jewelry both with their own individual identifying mark and the caratage or fineness.

The European Commission wants to introduce a common system for guaranteeing standards of fineness within member countries of the European Community. Three strictly supervised systems are possible; either I) Hall- marking, 2) Quality control, according to the European norm on quality (EN 29000), or 3) Certificate of conformity by manufacturers, control- led by an independent third party.

Until recently the earliest known gold jewelry was believed to date from the Sumer civilization, which inhabited what is now southern Iraq around 3000 BC. Recent discoveries suggest however that goldsmithing first began on the shores of the Black Sea, in the land that is today Bulgaria.

Articles displaying various techniques such as repousse, chain- making, alloying and casting have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs, with the best known examples coming from the treasures of King Tutankhamun who died in 1352 BC. The Minoans on Crete produced the first known cable chain, still very popular today, and the Etruscans in Italy had developed granulation, whereby items are decorated with tiny granules of gold, by the 7th century BC.