Platinum & Palladium

Platinum and Palladium are part of the Platinum Group metals, along with Rhodium, Ruthenium, Iridium and Osmium.

Platinum

Chemical symbol Pt

Atomic no. 78

Melting point 1768.4C

Platinum is a dense, malleable, ductile highly unreactive precious silvery/white transition metal.

Ideal for making jewellery because of its strength, hardness and durability. It can be polished to a very high lustre finish which is the perfect complement for any diamond.

The least reactive metal known to man and is 95% pure with 5% Iridium or Ruthenium added for hardness.

Palladium

Chemical symbol Pl

Atomic no. 46

Melting point 1555C

Palladium is very similar to Platinum in look but is 50% less dense with a comparable weight to 14ct gold.

It is also a malleable, ductile and highly unreactive precious silvery/white transition metal.

It has historically been used as the white constituent added to gold to make 18ct white gold alloys but in the past 15 years has been developed as a precious metal alternative to Platinum especially for wedding rings.