Palladium vs. Platinum

Palladium is a wonderful metal that makes a great affordable alternative to Platinum and is actually not new to the jewelry world. Palladium was used in jewelry fabrications more then sixty years ago. Palladium is in the same family of elements of the periodic table as Platinum. The group includes the fallowing elements: Ruthenium, Rhodium, Osmium, Iridium, Platinum and lastly Palladium. William Hyde Wollastone identified the metal in 1803. Wollastone named that element after Pallas, the Panion of Athene, and the Greek Goddess of Art. Because Palladium is in the Platinum group of metals it shares many of the same wear factors and attributes of Platinum. Palladium is: rare, hypoallergenic, a pure metal, naturally white and durable. Palladium is whiter in appearance than Platinum, it is 12.6 percent harder then Platinum and is more wearable and can take more of the day-to-day wear than Platinum. Palladium is lighter in weight compared to Platinum, [as well] because the metal density level is lower. This is why Palladium is significantly less expensive then platinum. Metals are priced by weight and rarity. Palladium is as rare as Platinum, but because the weights are significantly different it is amazingly less in cost compared to Platinum. Palladium in the 950 alloys will usually contain 95 percent Palladium, 5 percent Ruthenium or 5 percent Rhodium, depending on the manufacture, and some small amounts of silver and gallium.

Palladium does have its downside in the fact that it wears much like Platinum but not as harshly. It will not hold a mirror finish as long as gold jewelry but longer then Platinum. Palladium is expensive to make repairs on because of the high levels of heat, in the jeweler's torch that is required for the bench jewelry to bring it to its melting point. Platinum requires these similar levels, actually more extreme, of heat and usually stones must be taken from the jewelry so the stones won’t be damaged from the high heat levels including diamonds. Usually once Platinum needs repair it will need repair in the same area over time again because of the brittleness of the metal. Palladium does have similar challenges in the repair area, but not as severe as Platinum. Platinum also has no metal memory, which means once it is cast or altered into a position it does not want to revert back to its natural state unlike its competitor Gold. Palladium does have more metal memory then Platinum and can be pushed to limits in the design process that Platinum cannot handle. Palladium and Platinum do have a few characteristics in common though both are tough in the scientific sense meaning they resist corrosion and reactions with chemicals and other elements, but are not hard in any sense of the scientific meaning of the word. Platinum and Palladium scratch and do not resist scratching like gold. Platinum and Palladium are very soft in the sense they will not hold a polish or a design finish for very long, but as stated Palladium tends to hold up better then Platinum.

From our point of view Palladium is a great Platinum alternative, but from our experience we suggest 18Kt Palladium White Gold for all of our custom jewelry. We have found that using 18Kt Palladium White Gold over any other metal is using all the best characteristics of what gold and Palladium have to offer to create a great daily wear metal. Instead of alloying the gold with nickel we alloy it with Palladium. Nickel tends to cause skin reactions and will react with the skin's sweat and turn the metal a yellowish tone over a short period of time. We tried using 14Kt White Gold alloyed with Palladium in the past and found that the 14Kt is mixed with so many other things that it is too brittle and the purity levels of 18Kt Gold mixed with Palladium create perfect harmony for the alloys of gold and Palladium.

Repairing 18Kt Palladium White Gold combination is much more affordable and not hard on already set stones in the jewelry. Diamonds and most colored stones can stay in place while repair work is taking place and, best of all; the 18Kt Pd White Gold stays the color that is was in the original state which is a nice gunmetal gray color that makes a nice contrast to very white diamonds and holds a mirror finish longer then Platinum or Palladium. This combination creates great workability and repair ability for years to come. Also if Platinum is your only option you will consider for your jewelry we prefer to use 900 Platinum instead of the 950 Platinum it tends to be strong and hold up better over time. At Diamonds of Palo Alto we are committed to bringing you the most current and up to date information and will educate and help you make the best choice in metal type to create your one of a kind piece of jewelry.

By Shara Elaine Smith, G.G.