Palladium ring

I wonder if anyone can explain a strange occurrence. My wife
recently bought what appeared to be a very worn sapphire in an 18ct
white gold ring for a very advantageous price. I recut the sapphire,
which turned out spectacularly well (it was native cut and the vendor
hadn’t realized its quality). While the stone was out, I submitted
the ring for hallmarking. It was stamped 18K although I expected it
would probably assay at 14K, as it was not a UK piece. I was very
surprised when the assay office called me to say that it was pure
palladium. The SG of the mount confirmed this (about 11.5; I didn’t
take the accent diamonds out) This is more costly than 18K and I
can’t think why anyone should try to pass it off as such.

Can anybody cast any light on this?

Thanks,

Clive Washington
www.atlanticajewellery.co.uk

    This is more costly than 18K and I can't think why anyone should
try to pass it off as such.  
Can anybody cast any light on this? 

At various times, palladium has been considerably cheaper than gold.

Clive - Only a few years ago palladium was selling in the $140.00 oz
range. The specific gravity is also less than 18k. The difference in
price could have been considerable. You should also consider that the
ring may not have been marked by the maker, but later down the chain
of ownership, possibly by the person who sold it to you. Steve.

Steven Brixner - Jewelry Designer - San Diego CA USA
mailto:@Steven_Brixner4
http://www.brixnerdesign.com

Hi,

How old was the ring? Palladium used to be much cheaper than platinum
or gold, and I believe palladium was first used as a substitute for
nickel in making white gold due to nickel being rationed in WWII. So
if the rin g is old, it could have been made at a time when palladium
was cheaper th an gold, and if it’s all palladium it may actually look
more like platinu m than white gold. Palladium is over $1,000 an
ounce now due largely to its industrial
uses. Hope this helps. Tom

Hi Clive,

I can’t imagine why someone would use a straight Palladium and stamp
it as it was unless it was actually 18k Palladium white gold (18
parts fine gold and 6 parts palladium and is an alloy of metal that I
am using right now). It has a greyish color similar to that of
pewter, is much more workable than traditional white gold and has a
very high melting temp because of the palladium. But if it assayed
out at pure Palladium this would not be the case and you have a very
heavy, expensive piece of metal in your ring that would justify the
quality of the sapphire.

enjoy it
jim

Clive: I wonder if anyone can explain a strange occurrence

If I remember right Palladium was not always as valuable as it is
now. In the '70’s I used Palladium heads to mount very valuable
stones, they are more durable than White gold and at the time were
less expensive. ( unless of course my memory has failed. ) I believe
you could find this out from any Refiner. Art & Lucy Smith 69253 Lariat
Sisters, Oregon 97759 541-549-8096
@Art_Lucy_Smith

Clive,

It used to be that palladium was much cheaper than gold. It is only
recently that the price has skyrocketed. Therefore you can assume
that the piece was made before this time. Quite possibly the ring was
stamped by someone other than the creator, who did not really know
what it was made from, and simply wanted to sell the piece as gold.

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Spirer Somes Jewelers
1794 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02140
617-491-6000
@spirersomes
www.spirersomes.com

        I wonder if anyone can explain a strange occurrence.  My
wife recently bought what appeared to be a very worn sapphire in an
18ct white gold ring for a very advantageous price.  I recut the
sapphire, which turned out spectacularly well (it was native cut
and the vendor hadn't realized its quality).  While the stone was
out, I submitted the ring for hallmarking.  It was stamped 18K
although I expected it would probably assay at 14K, as it was not a
UK piece. I was very surprised when the assay office called me to
say that it was pure palladium.  The SG of the mount confirmed this
(about 11.5; I didn't take the accent diamonds out)  This is more
costly than 18K and I can't think why anyone should try to pass it
off as such. 
Can anybody cast any light on this?

Hi!

There was a time, when palladium was not even close as expensive as
it is today. As a matter of fact, since the northamerican standard
excluded it from the white gold ingredients, only european jewellers
used it only occasionally. So when in the early eighties gold was
$600-800 an ounce, and you could buy palladium for $50-60 this form of
cheating made eminent sense.

Sandor