Platinum is much rarer than gold and silver and makes its presence felt in many ways today. It is a heavy, malleable and ductile metal which is greyish-white in its pure form. Platinum is used to make jewellery, laboratory equipment, electrical fittings and it is also used in automobiles.
Platinum was first used by the Ancient Egyptians and the Incas of South America. It was later considered a royal metal by the Bourbon kings of France. Platinum jewellery has become very popular since the beginning of the 20th century.
It is interesting to know that all the platinum that has ever been mined would fit into one room.
Therefore its rarity makes it very expensive. It takes five months to process platinum into pure platinum and only then can it be used for jewellery.
Platinum is very versatile. It is non-corrosive and does not oxidize in air, so it is well suited to make fashion jewellery of a high quality. No wonder that premiere jewellery makers such as Cartier and Tiffany have always loved platinum. Platinum is also insoluble in hydrochloric and nitric acids.
Platinum is perhaps the most charming and long lasting of all jewellery metals. It is considered to be very fashionable today and even competes with gold. It has a rich white lustre and looks very elegant.
It is the heaviest of all precious metals and thus secures diamonds and other precious stones perfectly. Jewellery made from platinum is pure and contains up to 95 per cent pure platinum so will never lose its lustre.
Besides jewellery, platinum has found its use in photography for archive printmaking, in platinum resistance thermometers, as a catalyst in fuel cell research, making a number of medical implants and is also used for making electrodes that are used for electrolysis.
Platinum retailers claim that it is thirty times rarer than gold. In 2005, South Africa was the top producer of platinum with an almost 80 per cent world share followed by Russia then Canada. It is observed that the price of platinum changes along with its availability, but its price is normally more than 200 per cent greater than the price of gold.
If you are considering buying platinum jewellery, check all the available options before making a choice. Platinum itself is rare and hence the owners of platinum jewellery are rare too. Join this elite club in style.
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