Platinum has long been much less valuable than gold and silver, as many thought it was just one of the "awkward" types of white gold. But when jewelers were able to appreciate it at its true worth, platinum, due to its properties, began to cost more than other precious metals.
Platinum color and properties
The very name "platinum" has acquired due to its external similarity with silver. Silver in Spanish is "plata", and "platina" is translated as small, light silver, "silver." Platinum has a silvery white color, sometimes with a grayish tint. It can be found in nature both in pure form, as a nugget, and in the composition of the ore. The density of platinum is also very high, 21, 45 g / cc. see For comparison, the density of gold is 19, 3 g / cu. cm.
If platinum itself is silvery-white, then why are its types found in a slightly different color? The thing is that platinum nuggets are rarely "pure", as a rule, they contain impurities that determine the color of the metal. The impurities may include iron, copper, iridium, palladium, rhodium and other metals. Additionally, sometimes jewelers themselves create alloys of platinum with other precious metals.
For example, for setting precious stones, platinum is often used, which contains silver, gold or copper. Accordingly, the tint of the metal can be yellowish or reddish. Tungsten and palladium, which can also be components of a platinum alloy, change its color to bright white or silvery gray.
Samples of platinum 850, 900, 950 are popular in Russia. Sample 950 means that a composition was taken to create jewelry, in which 95% is platinum, and 5% is various impurities.
Platinum 850 and 900 is usually not used for jewelry, but for technical purposes, for example, for medical purposes.
Due to the fact that platinum is most often in the form of alloys with additional components, this metal is almost impossible to distinguish by eye from silver or white gold. You should be guided by the sample, milking platinum is "PT 950", "PT 900", "PT 850". But the fineness of 750 already means that you see not platinum, but white gold.
Platinum history
For a long time, platinum was unpopular; it was valued half as much as silver. This is explained by the fact that Spanish travelers who discovered it in South America noticed that platinum is very refractory. This was a serious barrier to the use of the metal in those days, so platinum was recognized as of little use.
But as soon as jewelers noticed how well platinum is alloyed with gold, its value increased markedly, but only among the jewelers themselves, who mixed this metal with gold, which came out cheaper than pure gold, and was not inferior in density to it. But over time, this "technology" was discovered, platinum was banned from being imported into Spain, and its reserves were dumped into the sea.
In the past, platinum was highly prized by the ancient Egyptians and Incas.
In France, platinum was more fortunate. Louis XVI considered it the only metal worthy of royalty. The reason is that platinum is almost impossible to scratch, it does not corrode. Any chemicals that damage gold and silver will leave platinum intact. Platinum bypasses all other precious metals in strength, it can only be affected by aqua regia.
