Platinum is one of the most expensive precious metals, which naturally makes it a frequent subject of counterfeits. Fortunately, there are simple methods for verifying its identity.
It happens when a person keeps some heirloom for a long time, considering it a real treasure. For example, he could have inherited a platinum ring from a close relative. At some point, a desire naturally arises to check the nobility of its origin. Below are some simple ways to verify the authenticity of platinum at home.
Platinum weight
To ensure the authenticity of platinum, weigh the item and compare this weight with the weight of a similarly sized piece of jewelry made of gold or silver. Platinum is considerably heavier than its noble counterparts. If you look at the density column of metals, you will see that only iridium and osmium are heavier than platinum. Also, rhenium and uranium have similar densities.
Platinum jewelry is made from an alloy of 850, 900 and 950, that is, they are 85, 90 and 95% pure platinum alloy. The same gold and silver items have a much lower content of pure alloy, which once again increases the difference in weight between them and platinum. Weighting platinum with alloys of metals of similar weight is meaningless, since in practice irium, osmium and uranium are not cheaper than platinum, and are hardly less common in terms of prevalence.
Platinum stability
Platinum is resistant to all household substances. This means that no trace of acetic acid, iodine solution, or hydrogen peroxide can be left on a platinum product.
Platinum does not oxidize on contact with air and water, as it is extremely inert and does not react at all to any acids or alkalis (unless it is heated). It is slowly dissolved only by concentrated nitric and hydrochloric acids or liquid bromine.
Platinum cannot be melted using burners, lighters, flame under an ordinary gas stove or on a fire. With any such heating, platinum does not change its color. This alloy is generally extremely refractory. This is one of the reasons why platinum has remained an inaccessible luxury for so long, both for the mainstream industry and the jewelry industry.
The most acceptable way to determine the authenticity of platinum is to measure its density. Just measure the weight of an object in grams and determine how much water it displaces when immersed (measure water in cubic centimeters). After that, measure the weight of the product in grams and divide by the value obtained from the previous measurement. If you get a figure close to 21, 45, then the product is genuine.
