Diamond and Jewelry Articles

One of the most important trends in fine jewelry manufacturing today is the emergence of palladium as a new alternative to white gold and platinum. Palladium is a precious metal and one of the six members of the platinum family including iridium, osmium, rhodium and ruthenium.

Like platinum, palladium is a naturally white metal that needs no plating to achieve a bright white luster. And like platinum it is hard enough for jewelry use in almost pure form. Palladium alloy is normally 95% palladium combined with 5% ruthenium and/or other metals. The exact formula of the additive metals varies by manufacturer. Palladium has working properties close to those of platinum and can be cast and fabricated in a similar fashion.

White gold alloys are harder than palladium or platinum because they are mixed with a relatively high percentage of other metals such as nickel to harden it and whiten it. 14K white gold is approximately 58% pure gold and 42% other metals and still requires plating with rhodium to achieve a bright white luster. A white gold jewelry item will eventually need re-plating to restore its appearance and it will need to be re-plated any time there is significant work done on the piece such as sizing or re-tipping of prongs. Along with the added hardness and resistance to scratching comes some brittleness causing 14K prongs to be more prone to breakage than palladium or platinum.

The market price of pure palladium is much lower at the present time than both platinum and gold. It is also much lighter than platinum so a piece of jewelry requires less palladium than the same piece made in platinum. Today, the cost of palladium jewelry is slightly more than 18K white gold, yet it is very close in purity, appearance and working properties to platinum and does not require plating.

Some people are sensitive to some of the metals in gold alloys such as nickel. Palladium jewelry being almost pure has a minimal incidence of such problems.

Jewelry customers who become educated about white metal options are beginning to choose palladium for its excellent properties and value.

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