Palladium Fine Jewelry

Palladium Jewelry – Welcome to the Revolution

The fine jewelry scene is abuzz with excitement because of a “new” precious metal called 950 palladium. The fact is that palladium isn’t new. As a member of the platinum family palladium has been patiently waiting in the shadow of her big sister, platinum.

New technology has unlocked the secrets of palladium bringing her into the spotlight. Palladium has come of age and stepped up to claim her birthright. Oooh baby!

It’s believed that the gentle ripple the introduction of palladium jewelry stirred up may soon become a tidal wave, and rightfully so. Let’s take a closer look.

As you know, precious metals used in jewelry come from three families, silver, gold and platinum. Each of these metals are precious, beautiful, rare, and each have their own unique characteristics.

Yellow and white gold

Throughout history gold has been the most sought after precious metal. In it’s pure form gold is 24k, but is too soft to be practical for jewelry without adding alloys to make it harder and more durable.

Yellow gold is usually alloyed with nickel, silver, copper or zinc and each of the alloys creates a slightly different hue in the final coloration.

White gold is created by using nickel or palladium gold alloy and makes the gold appear white in color. Palladium is the best choice for a white gold alloy because ten percent of the population is allergic to nickel, and palladium is hypoallergenic.

Both yellow gold and white gold are rated in karats that tell you their purity ratio:

• 18k gold is 75% gold and 25% alloys
• 14k gold is 58.5% gold and 41.5% alloys
• 10k gold is 41.7% gold and 58.3% alloys

Meet the platinum family

The platinum family of rare and precious metals include: platinum, palladium, iridium, osmium, ruthenium, and rhodium.

Platinum

Platinum has long been considered one of the most beautiful of all the precious metals with its high luster and rich white natural color. However, platinum weighs 50% more than 14k gold, and 25% more than 18%k gold.

The additional weight makes it less desirable for large rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets. Many people find the added weight uncomfortable.

Platinum’s also much more expensive than gold, making it too costly for most people’s budgets. Platinum comes in two purity levels:

PLAT is 95% platinum and 5% ruthenium IRIDPLAT is 90% pure platinum and 10% iridium

Palladium

Until recently palladium was mainly used in jewelry as an alloy in white gold and for prongs on white gold rings. Being much stronger than gold it adds extra durability providing better protection against losing a diamond or gemstone resulting from normal wear on the prongs.

For many years palladium was not castable, and therefore not suitable for jewelry by itself. Now that palladium has become castable her true beauty is radiating for the first time and what a sight to behold!

The revolution begins

Palladium showed up at her coming out party with many of her big sister’s attributes and surprised everyone with some of her own.

Tru-Pd (950 palladium) is 95% pure palladium and the remaining 5% is platinum family precious metals.

White gold, palladium

When palladium first stepped into the spotlight most jewelers thought that she would now take the place of white gold. And why not, after all palladium is much purer than white gold, stronger, more durable, hypoallergenic and a gorgeous natural white.

Now for the next big surprise, the cost of palladium and 14k gold are almost equal! No, what you just read is not a mistake. Right now palladium and 14k gold are priced almost identical. Remember, 14k gold is 58.5% pure. As one highly respected jeweler likes to put it, "gold may be real but palladium is pure."

So, you can buy palladium rings with 95% purity for roughly half the cost of 18k white gold rings that have only 75% purity, and white gold has to be changed from yellow to white by manipulating the alloys. Add to that the fact that palladium is much more rare than gold. Hmmm.

It wasn't much of a leap from that realization to compare palladium to platinum. This is where the revolution really gets serious.

Gold, palladium, platinum

Both platinum and palladium are pure, naturally white, and hypoallergenic. Both are stronger and more durable than gold. Palladium however, is 12.6% harder than platinum now, and the difference in hardness will soon become exponential due to an improvement in the formula.

Palladium is forty percent lighter in weight than platinum, allowing thicker mountings and larger pieces of jewelry without the additional weight.

Experts are pointing out the natural whiteness of palladium is even whiter than platinum and can't be matched by white gold alloy. Nor can white gold match palladium's purity.

Palladium is rare and precious, it's mined naturally, not man-made, and it's not enhanced, altered or plated. Palladium is averaging about 25% of the cost of platinum, and about 50% of the cost of 18k gold. Today.

Typically, as the popularity of precious metal grows, so does the price tag. If this holds true for palladium, it could turn out to be an exceptionally profitable investment.

Palladium Jewelry

Little sis palladium has already stepped ahead of white gold for engagement and wedding rings, and is gaining momentum as she swoops in on big sis platinum's market share as well.

Now is the time to give palladium serious consideration for your next fine jewelry purchase. You can browse a large array of fine jewelry stores online to find the perfect piece of fabulous palladium jewelry to warm your heart and let your spirit soar.