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AN OVERVIEW
Platinum. The world's most noble metal is in vogue again. Before World war II, platinum held an important share of the U.S. jewelry market. Classified as a strategic metal during the war, and therefore off-limits for jewelry manufacturers, platinum lost it's popularity as it disappeared from the market. To reinstate this "ultimate metal" to it's rightful place in the market the Platinum Guild International (PGI or the Guild) was established to nurture awareness and greater appreciation of platinum jewelry. As more people understand the unique qualities of the metal, Platinum, and the way it relates to strength , durability and wearability; it is gaining in popularity and platinum is enjoying a well deserved renaissance. Platinum is the ideal material to hand fabricate elaborate diamond settings from, where both strength and delicacy are required. A piece can be made entirely of platinum or it can be beautifully mated with high karat gold. Platinum; white, precious, durable, strong and beautiful!
Platinum. A pure metal; a metallic chemical element. This material is prized by the master jeweler and diamond setter for it's unique properties. It is often used in the pure state in the making of fine jewelry, but is also alloyed up to ten percent with either iridium or ruthenium to increase durability for certain applications.
Platinum jewelry in the U.S. will by law bear one of the following marks: Platinum,Pt., PLAT, 10% IRID PLAT, 10% RUTH PLAT (other percents of both iridium and ruthenium will be noted)
UPDATE: April 8, 1997 the FTC published new guidelines, stating: "an industry product consisting of at least 950 parts per thousand (PGM) and of at least 500 parts per thousand pure Platinum, may be marked Platinum provided that the mark of each PGM constituent is preceded by a number indicating the amount in parts per thousand of each PGM, as for example " 600 Pt.350 IR." (600 parts per thousand Platinum, 350 parts per thousand Iridium)"
Platinum is a silvery metallic chemical element, a member of the six TRANSITION ELEMENTS in Group VIII of the periodic table known collectively as the platinum metals (ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum). Platinum has the symbol Pt, its atomic number is 78, and its atomic weight is 195.09. The name is derived from the Spanish platina, meaning "silver." The element was discovered in South America independently by Antonio de Ulloa in 1735 and by N. Wood in 1741, but it had been in use by pre-Columbian Indians.
Platinum is an attractive silvery white metal with a melting point of 1,774 deg C, a boiling point of 3,827 deg C and a density of 21.45 g/cu cm at room temperature. Platinum is chemically inert and will not oxidize in air at any temperature. It is resistant to acids and is not attacked by any single mineral acid but dissolves readily in aqua regia.
Because of its inertness and attractive appearance, one of the major uses of platinum is in the manufacture of jewelry. Gold-platinum alloys, referred to as white gold, are widely used in dentistry and in the making of jewelry. Platinum and its alloys are used in the manufacture of crucibles and evaporating dishes for chemical analyses. Other applications include the formation of thermocouple wires, electrical contacts, corrosion-resistant apparatus, and the manufacture of platinum resistance thermometers used in the temperature control of furnaces. The alloy, consisting of 76.7% platinum and 23.3% cobalt by weight, forms an extremely powerful magnet. More recent applications of the metal involve the coating of missile cones and jet-engine fuel nozzles.
The platinum metals are extremely rare elements; platinum itself is the most common, with an abundance in the Earth's crust of about a millionth of 1 percent, whereas the others of the group have abundances of about one ten-millionth of 1 percent. Platinum occurs in nature as the pure metal and also in alloys with other metals of the group, principally in the alluvial deposits of the Ural Mountains, of Columbia, and of some parts of the western United States. In addition the element occurs in the mineral sperrylite and in the nickel-bearing deposits of Ontario in Canada. The large-scale production of nickel makes it feasible to recover the small amounts of platinum (only 1 part of platinum to 2 million parts of ore). The recovery of the individual platinum metals from the natural alloys is a complex process that depends upon the distinct properties of the individual elements, even though all members of the group are generally similar in their chemical behavior and are quite unreactive.
The price of platinum has varied widely relative to the price of gold. Although it is slightly more valuable today, it was once used as a gold adulterant.
Bibliography: Cotton, F. A., and Wilkinson, Geoffrey, Basic Inorganic Chemistry, 2d ed. (1987); Lippard, S. J., ed., Platinum, Gold, and other Metal Chemotherapeutic Agents (1983); Rao, U. V., ed., Platinum Group Metals and Compounds (1971); Trotman-Dickenson, A. F., ed., Comprehensive Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 3 (1973); Weeks, Mary E., Discovery of the Elements, ed. by Henry M. Leicester (1968).
Thomas Michaels Designers, a third generation of contemporary American award winning diamond jewelry design.
Northern New England's premier designers and manufacturers of fine handmade contemporary and classical diamond jewelry as well as respected fine jewelry retailers. We are special order diamond jewelry design experts and renowned suppliers of exceptional white diamonds and exotic natural colored diamonds and fine colored gemstones.
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