Platinum rings - which alloy is best?

Jewelry Discussion
1

Dear all,

Thanks for a wonderful forum with extensive on different
materials related to jewelry and techniques implemented.

I’m a totally newbie when it comes to various jewelry and its alloys,
so please bear with my newbie-questions. :slight_smile:

My g/f and I are about to engage (finally!) and we’ve decided
platinumrings meet our criteria.

However, the more I study about platinum alloys, the more confused I
get. Here, in Sweden, where I live, the platinum market is scarce and
the only alloy they sell is Plat 950 with 50 Palladium. Now,
according to many sources, this combination happens to be too soft.
The rings I looked at the shop were in fact quite full of hair-line
thin scars and dents.

Since other platinum alloys don’t exist here, we’re looking into the
possibility to purchase our rings in Japan (which has a bigger
market, and most likely cheaper). But it seems they too use various
alloys which are more or less either not following the international
(?) standards of platinum jewelry or the hardness in Vickers is not
substantially better than Plat/Palladium.

I’m leaning towards the combo : Plat 950/Iridium 50. Is this a good
alloy?

My future wife wishes to put a diamond stone in it later on, and I
wonder what hardness is required to fully secure the stone in the
ring?

My g/f (who is Japanese) recently went to a shop in Tokyo that
carries the SIARA brand of Switzerland origin, that sell hand-made
1000 parts platinum rings, and according to the salesperson the rings
have been treated to make it harder (they supposedly press and mold
and shave the metal so those rings are very strong, according to
them). Also, due to the fact that the rings are hand-made, all air
and cavities are supposedly minimized, thus, rendering a heavier ring
than its casted counterpart. Sounds perfect to me. But. Are they in
any way pulling my leg or is it true that 1000 parts platinum jewelry
can be made hard enough?

Or is it more common that Japanese producers Rhodium plate their 1000
pt rings?

I would want to avoid those Rhodium plated rings!

Thanks for all advise, and sorry about the long post!

B rgds
Keo

2

Dear K L, my personal preference in platinum is one of the iridium
alloys, either the 5% irid or 10% irid alloys. Why? I simply like the
way this metal works and am used to it. The cobalt plat alloys which
are apparently great for casting have problems characteristic of that
alloy, one of which is different handling in fusing or soldering
processes. I find the surface good when finished. The magnetic
character can be a problem if the bench is not clean but not
otherwise. Welding this alloy is a little diferent than with irid
alloys.

Some are pushing plat ruthenium. To me, with limited experience with
the alloy, find it to be very hard and unmovable in stone settng. To
anneal, the metal is quenched at orange heat! I do not like working
with it at all.

I am surprised that a palladium plat is all you have available. The
other alloys do not violate any environmental or hypoallerginic
desires and work well in everyday wear. None of the plat alloys in my
experience will stand up to white gold for abrasion resistance. Sure,
the plat will be tough and a wonderful metal but the surface will
soon be the typical dull look of worn platinum. The metal tends to
"burnish" or “move” on the surface rather than “abrade” with obvious
scratched. Seen closely, the scratches in platinum are often more
indentions and scooted metal than actual abrasive removed metal.
Platinum will not keep the shine like many harder white gold alloys
and that is my thought on that part!

I would go for one of the iridium alloys, preferably the 5% irid
plat. Why again, it is my personal preference. Maybe I have been in
the business too long to change easily!

Sincerely,
Thomas.

3

Keo,

The Pt950/Ir alloy has a Vickers Hardness (HV) of 80. A much better
choice of alloy would be Pt950/Co, with an HV of 135.

Joel Schwalb
@Joel_Schwalb
www.schwalbstudio.com

4

The reply to this thread that I read suggested the like of 950
Platinum, and another. It is largely a matter of opinion, and
personal choice, of course. Casters love 950 because of it’s flow
and such. I’ve worked Platinum intensively for many years, and to me
there is only one - 10% IrPlat. All of the rest, and believe me, I’ve
used each and every one of them, are inferior alloys. If you are
going to cast a wax, not size it or alter it, and simply polish it
and put it out, then 950 is OK - it polishes easily and takes a great
shine (except it’s blue). If you want to do anything else, it’s
garbage. 10%Ir is like working in clay or fine wax - the others more
resemble brass or something. Gas, porosity, surface problems, on and
on. Not to rant - I guess there are other points of view - I just
take the position that putting cobalt in platinum is a waste of good
platinum…

5

Hi Joel, thanks for reply.

Yes, I’ve paid closer attention to the Pt/Co alloy but call me
conservative, my wish is that the rings would only consist of members
from the platinum group. :slight_smile:

I’ve not had any ‘real life’ experience with different levels of
hardness of a given metal. Is there any substantial difference
between, let’s say, 60 HV and 80 HV for every day wearing (rings)?

So far it seems finding the ‘perfect’ alloy is going to be more
diffiult than anticipated, and already my girlfriend ventilates some
criticism about this obsession. What’s worse, the less than good
Pt/Palladium combo seems to dominate the Japanese market.

Best regards,
Keo

6

Dear Thomas,

Thanks for your comments!

I don’t know if I’ve misunderstood some basic characteristics of
Platinum (with or without alloys), I was initially told by the local
jeweller that platinum rings are much more scratch resistant than e.g
gold and WG. However, upon closer studies on this issue on the web,
it seems platinum is generally softer than gold and is, as you
describe, not scratch resistant in any extent - it only moves around
the scratch, whereas a scratch on gold will behave differently. The
rings that I inspected at the shop did not look very scratch
resistant at all.

So, I guess I have to give up the notion that platinum will age
better than gold! I’ve seen some nice WG rings that haven’t been
rhodium plated but my g/f insists platinum is the thing to go for. :slight_smile:

Yes, according to one of the largest plat. jewelry retailer here in
Sweden, they only import Pl/Palladium alloys. As a result from the
very small plat. market, it seems Swedish jewellers are very
unfamiliar with the metal - another shop (that carried only one
platinum ring model) claimed their platinum was made of 1000 parts.
Upon closer inspection it clearly read Pl 950. And they said
plat.price was 5 times higher than gold etc. I didn’t feel really
confident by their statements.

Also, the Swedish shop only have domed rings in stock which my
girlfriend doesn’t prefer, she likes the flat models (which are more
prone to dents and dings, but she cares more about design than the
practical side of it ;). So all in all, we’ve decided to buy the
rings in Japan.

The Pl/Iridium combo looks good on the paper to me - can potentially
achieve better hardness than Pl/Palladium, but at the same time
contain more platinum. I will definitely keep your advice on my mind.
Even 900 pl/100 irid. is an option for us even though that particular
alloy might not follow ‘international standards’ due to lower content
of platinum.

I’m trying to avoid alloys mixed with non-plat. family, such as
cobalt, copper etc.

And the crucial difference, at least to my understanding, is whether
or not the metal has been cold hammered or not? Can one assume that
all factory made -‘generic’ plat. rings have been fabricated this way?
My idea is that a hand made/welded plat. jewelry is stronger than the
factory produced, casted ones. This has lead me thinking that even
999 parts or 1000 parts platinum that has been hand welded (I’m not
familiar with the technique at all!) can achieve some high HV.

So, if we go for the Pl/Irid 950/50 with 80 HV, will this be
sufficient for inserting a stone later on, and more importantly, also
be kept right there where it belongs?

Thanks again,
Best regards,
Keo

7

Keo,

I am compelled to jump into the fray on this one as platinum is my
main product.

First, stay away from 5% Iridium platinum! At Hv 80 this alloy is
much too soft for a ring. You might lose stones, the ring will become
out of round, it will heavily dent, the list goes on and on. Although
jewelers love the way it polishes and sets, the consumer will be
disappointed unless they don’t use their hands. (Platinum Guild also
strongly cautions against use of this alloy for rings.) As a caster,
I will not supply anything but pendants and earrings from this alloy.
The same would be true for a Pt950 alloyed with palladium. Way too
soft with a Vickers of about 68, I believe. An alternative would be a
10% Iridium Pt, with a decent hardness at Hv 110.

My favorite is the 5% Ruthenium platinum. The hardness is Hv 135 and
Ruthenium is a good choice as a platinum group metal. The working
characteristics are very similar to a 10% Iridium platinum. PtRu950
is the alloy used by Tiffany for many years, so it also has a long
track record of good performance.

The 5% Cobalt Pt mentioned in a previous post is also a reasonable
choice for the consumer, although casters and bench jewelers have a
lot of complaints as it oxidizes and is also somewhat magnetic. I
would select this alloy only if the PtRu is not available.

As far as securing your stone, Pt is unbeatable if you use the right
alloy. Platinum jewelry will not lose metal weight over time as gold
does. Rather than wear down, platinum instead displaces. You will
see signs of surface wear, however, a quick trip to your jeweler for
polishing will make your ring look like new again.

Not sure about the claim regarding the Pt 1000. I would contact the
Pt Guild on this one. And, I strongly agree that Rh plating of Pt is
a bad idea. Why would anyone want to cover up such a beautiful metal
with a thin layer that will eventually chip and wear down anyway?

Bottom line: don’t settle for anything less than Hv 110, and better
yet go for the 135.

Teresa Frye
TechForm Advanced Casting Technology
Portland, OR

8

From the point of view of the user of platinum jewelery -i.e. - the
one with it on their finger, platinum is much more durable than gold.
That is because you, like many, are confused about the concept of
hardness. Diamond is the hardest substance on earth, it is true. If
you put it on an anvil, and whack it with a hammer, it will probably
smash into pieces. That’s because hardness means one and only one
thing: What scratches what? Platinum is not so hard, but what it is
is tough. That is to say that it resists deformation. Platinum prongs
will outlast gold prongs by 5-10 times. Lastly, if your intended is
concerned about scratches, then there is no solution - any precious
metal ring is going to show it’s age, over time.

9

Hello John, thanks for response.

It seems Pl/Ir indeed is the favorite among those whom are in the
business. Furthermore, we’ve excluded Cobalt and Palladium on our list
since those alloys were not recommended by many, including Ganoksin
members. We’re inclined towards iriplat plat: 950/900 respectively.
But 950 parts of plat. “sounds better” than 900. :wink:

The thing is, the rings that we would purchase through Furrer
Jacot/Siara would probably not needed to be sized, they will cut the
exact size as per our request and buff it nicely (and this is one of
the reasons it’ll take about 40 days from order to handing over the
item to customer). I still have no clue what the remaining 50 parts
consist of but I’m about to find out. Will come back later to see if
you guys have any comment. :slight_smile:

The 1000 parts platinum that they also offer is interesting, but I
find it little hard to justify the steep price increase per ring for
the tiny (?) 50 parts more of the coveted plat. metal. And we will
have to consider a potential stone setting in the ring so the alloy
cannot be too soft.

I’ve read that minimun 1.8 millimeter in thickness is required for a
secure fastening of a stone, does this mean the thickness is as
important as the alloy itself?

Thanks again
B rgds
Keo

10

Hello Keo,

two years ago I purchased a pair of 960/40 Pt/Cu wedding rings here
in Germany and I want to tell you a bit about the characteristics.
Maybe you take a trip or order them here, if you hear about the
facts?

However, upon closer studies on this issue on the web, it seems
platinum is generally softer than gold and is, as you describe, not
scratch resistant in any extent - it only moves around the scratch,
whereas a scratch on gold will behave differently. The rings that I
inspected at the shop did not look very scratch resistant at all.

Yes, the platinum rings are not scratch resistant. But every type of
gold ring will do the same. The difference between gold and platinum
alloys is: platinum moves around (you were right about this) and gold
will loose weight.

In fact, all the scratches on our rings add up and give some type of
matte finish. We think it looks very fine. I would like to add, it is
impossible to produce a ring that will keep a mirror finish over a
period of more than some months.

My rule of thumb is: Mirror finish gets duller, matte finish gets
brighter when a ring is worn on a daily basis.

Upon closer inspection it clearly read Pl 950. And they said
plat.price was 5 times higher than gold etc. I didn't feel really
confident by their statements.

In January, here in Germany platinum price was 2.3 times higher than
750/1000 gold.

I'm trying to avoid alloys mixed with non-plat. family, such as
cobalt, copper etc.

Why? Copper makes it a lot stronger, cobalt even more!

My idea is that a hand made/welded plat. jewelry is stronger than
the factory produced, casted ones. This has lead me thinking that
even 999 parts or 1000 parts platinum that has been hand welded
(I'm not familiar with the technique at all!) can achieve some high
HV.

No. After welding, the rings get soft. It is crucial that after
welding, the rings must be cold worked to get strong enough.

Now for some facts about Pt alloys. According to my :

999/1000 Pt reaches 80 HV when 50% cold worked. This is not
sufficient for jewellery pieces like rings.

960 Pt/Cu reaches 180 HV when 50% cold worked.
950 Pt/Co reaches 220 HV when 50% cold worked.

You see: There are improved alloys compared to those they want to
sell to you.

Hope this helps!
Matthias

11 
Yes, the platinum rings are not scratch resistant. But every type
of gold ring will do the same. The difference between gold and
platinum alloys is: platinum moves around (you were right about
this) and gold will loose weight.

The above post is ridiculous to absurd. Sorry !, rant zone ahead. All
platinum is not equal, some platinum will scratch and get downright
ugly faster, several months of wearing platinum looks substantially
worse than years of wearing gold. I saw a ring that after 2 weeks
looked worse than any gold I have ever seen. The owner was not to
happy about it.

It’s okay to pimp your favorite metal, but, like, let’s be realistic.
When the platinum group promoting the metal, has trade advertisements
in National Jeweler that suggests that retailers to tell their
customers that platinum developes a “patina”, that is just saying it
is going to get all scratched up. As in, not maintain a polish.
Never seen gold items having to be disclaimered that way.

And as far as the prongs lasting longer, some people change their
wedding jewelry before that is an issue. I have seen some white gold
rings 20 or 30 years in amazingly good shape. I asked if it had been
worn all the time, answer was yes.

I have seen white gold rings, rhodium worn off, and it looked like a
matt finish, compared to platinum that looked like it had been
gouged.

And people can quote “HV” values, but I see the wear on the jewelry
that I repair, size ect., and how it holds up to actual customer wear
is reality.

Gold rings lose weight? Really, like significantly. I have seen where
two platinum rings worn next to each other that just ground the heck
out of each other. Both shanks were ruined.

Maybe the altitude where I live affects platinum differently!

Richard Hart

12

Hello John,

Thanks for reply.

Yes, before reading on forum and other sites I was more obsessed with
’how-scratch-prone-is-the-ring-going-to-be’ question than other, more
important stuff.

Now, I’ve changed my opinion about plat. and scratches and how I’m
going to cope with it when it happens.

I agree, all metals will scratch and can’t be avoided unless you wear
the ring under a glove 24/7. I guess it’s like a new jewelry or watch
one purchases and the first scratch you put on it will terrify you,
but after a while it will look pretty good.

Thanks for input
Best regards,
Keo

13

Hi Matthias!

Thanks for your email.

two years ago I purchased a pair of 960/40 Pt/Cu wedding rings here
in Germany and I want to tell you a bit about the characteristics.
Maybe you take a trip or order them here, if you hear about the
facts?

Yes, I’ve heard Germany generally has a positive variance when it
comes to platinum content. Which is really nice. :slight_smile: Congratulations on
your purchase. Are the rings flat or domed? I guess platinum market
in Germany is bigger than the Swedish dito so I don’t mind purchasing
my rings overseas. We’re still looking for the best option.

Yes, the platinum rings are not scratch resistant. But every type
of gold ring will do the same. The difference between gold and
platinum alloys is: platinum moves around (you were right about
this) and gold will loose weight.

I’ve owned several gold rings (18K) and they scratched terribly in no
time. But if you say plat.rings scratches but gives a nice patina
rather than ugly scratches, then I would not worry much about
scratches anymore. My concern is that we are planning to put a stone
in her ring later (she prefers wearing one ring only) so the Vickers
is a crucial factor I guess.

In fact, all the scratches on our rings add up and give some type
of matte finish. We think it looks very fine. I would like to add,
it is impossible to produce a ring that will keep a mirror finish
over a period of more than some months. My rule of thumb is: Mirror
finish gets duller, matte finish gets brighter when a ring is worn
on a daily basis.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Some Swedish jewelry shops claimed the
opposite - more or less said platinum was almost scratch resistant
and that was one of the reason my g/f and I wanted to buy platinum. As
it turns out, the huge wave of I’ve gotten so far from
the internet, Ganoksin and emails like this one, platinum Scratches.

And you’re correct - mirror finished metal will probably scratch, no
matter what Vickers and how careful you’re with them. I own some
watches that have been mirror-polished from factory and was extremely
careful not to put scratches on them - but in a matter of few days,
hairline scratches appeared. This leads to me thinking that rings
will scratch a lot easier since a watch is somewhat more protected
from environmental abuse than a ring on your finger.

I do imagine, however, that a polished metal that gets scratches will
look better than matte-finished metal that gets shiny ‘here and
there’.

Why? Copper makes it a lot stronger, cobalt even more!

Call me obsessive or weird, I prefer having an alloy that comes from
the same Plat.group. :slight_smile: Perhaps I have to give up that one too. :slight_smile:
I’ve read about rhodium plating and use of Cobalt etc was not a great
idea.

No. After welding, the rings get soft. It is crucial that after
welding, the rings must be cold worked to get strong enough.

As a total newbie I am - cold work means hammering and such?

Now for some facts about Pt alloys. According to my : 
999/1000 Pt reaches 80 HV when 50% cold worked. This is not
sufficient for jewellery pieces like rings. 
960 Pt/Cu reaches 180 HV when 50% cold worked. 
950 Pt/Co reaches 220 HV when 50% cold worked. 
You see: There are improved alloys compared to those they want to
sell to you.

Thanks for info! I didn’t know cold worked 999 plat. could render a
hardness of 80 Vickers! Then it might be true what e.g. Pilot and
other companies claim about their 1000 plat. hardness.

I was told that if you want a stone set in a prong, then 80 Vickers
is not hard enough, but if you plan to put the stone in the body of
the ring, it should be sufficient. (if I’ve understood correctly)

More about cold working - what does cold work 50% mean?

Hope this helps!

Thanks Matthias for contributing with your opinions and tips! Much
appreciated.

Best regards
Keo

14

Hi Teresa!

Thanks for your input on this (for me) crucial matter!

It is sheer blessing that so much has been given to me in
such short period of time.

The worst possible scenario would have been that I neglected
collecting prior to purchase, and decided to buy the
Plat/palladium 950/50 in a local shop. Thanks to all of you.

Concerning Plat/Iri 950/50, does your list apply even if the rings
we’re going to purchase are 4-5 mm wide and approximately 2 mm thick?
And if the shop claims they’ve cold worked the rings to enhance the
hardness even more.

Plat/Ru is also an option for us, as well as Plat/iri 900/100. Thanks
for the tip!

I was told by another member of Ganoksin that 50% cold worked 999
plat would render a hardness of 80 HV. (if my short memory serves me
well. :wink:

But if hardness in Vickers is above 110, then perhaps it’d pose a
problem later on when we want to set a stone in it. Ah, these balance
acts… Either we will put a stone “in situ” or I’ll have to convince
her that she needs to wear two rings. (although she prefers wearing 1
ring only)

We’re definitely avoiding rhodium platings and other cheap short
cuts.

Just as a side note - it seems some producers don’t want to disclose
the alloy being used in their metals. For example, a pen producing
company (ehem), refused to tell my g/f what alloy/treatment they
used, but would only give out that much telling her their
rings were hard enough in Vickers. (Perhaps their technique is patent
pending)

Another shop, that my g/f visited, were quite annoyed by the
questions she asked. They wanted to know why she had to know what
alloy their rings were composed of. I mean, if I am about to spend a
huge lump of money on an item, then certainly I would, as a consumer,
want to know its origin, QC and other important stuff. As I’ve become
more wary about potential problems, I just can’t settle with simply
looking at a ring’s nice shine and price tag and just buy it and go
towards the exit sign. Am I asking too much? We’re not talking about
buying a Coke or Pepsi with some pocket change. I might be an annoying
customer but I intend to ask all questions I can at the store, if the
rings have appropriate QC markings/stamps and such. :smiley:

Thanks!
Best regards,
Keo

15

Hello Richard,

Hm. I could see that some ads or recommendation might be
inadvertently ‘transparent’, but if it’s true that a scratch or dent
doesn’t make the platinum come off as easily as it does with gold,
couldn’t it be true that a ‘nicer’ patina could be achieved with the
former than the latter?

B rgds
Keo

16

Hello Keo,

your purchase. Are the rings flat or domed? I guess platinum
market in Germany is bigger than the Swedish dito so I don't mind
purchasing my rings overseas. We're still looking for the best
option.

They are slightly domed.

I've owned several gold rings (18K) and they scratched terribly in
no time. But if you say plat.rings scratches but gives a nice
patina rather than ugly scratches, then I would not worry much
about scratches anymore.

I must admit, it depends on personal taste (naturally) if you like
this kind of patina. This is why I tried to take a photo and put it
on my website. Look here, it might give you an idea (sorry, I am not
a jewelry photographer, so the pic is still poor compared to others):

http://user.blue-cable.de/Schmuck/

(If the photo does not work like this, I could send it off-line via
email to you. Just tell me). Since internet links can not be sent
through orchid, I had to write it this way. Beware, the picture has a
size of 600 kb.

My concern is that we are planning to put a stone in her ring later
(she prefers wearing one ring only) so the Vickers is a crucial
factor I guess.

When we purchased the rings, they told us it was no problem to put a
stone in. So a HV greater than 100 should be ok. But we did not want
to put one in.

I do imagine, however, that a polished metal that gets scratches
will look better than matte-finished metal that gets shiny 'here
and there'.

The initial matte finish that we purchased is no more visible. There
are (really!) thousands of scratches that cover the whole outer
surface of the ring (the inside still has mirror finish). Every time
you touch a doorknob made from steel, the small part of your ring
that gets in touch with the steel is polished. This gives all the
scrates producing matte finish I described. BTW: On the photo it may
look like deep scratches. The majority is not deep, only two slightly
deeper dents at the edge. This happens when somebody heavily shakes
hand who wears a ring himself.

No. After welding, the rings get soft. It is crucial that after >
welding, the rings must be cold worked to get strong enough.

As a total newbie I am - cold work means hammering and such?

Hmm… here my english starts to show signs of weakness. I try to
describe it - cold work does not necessarily mean hammered surface.
Our rings were 1 (german) size bigger when we made them and with high
pressure they have been sized down to exact fit. This sizing is a
different kind of cold work. Another kind of cold working would be
stretching of metal or bending.

The hardness that we achieved by resizing made the rings very
strong. I.e. Rings from sterling silver easily deform to non-circle
shapes - our platinum rings still have a PERFECT round shape.

More about cold working - what does cold work 50% mean?

I am sorry - this I cant explain with exact terms, somebody else who
can answer this?

There is one last thing I should write to you: The ultimative test
for the right size of plat. rings. We put the rings on and washed our
hands with cold(!) water. Since your fingers are smaller in cold
state, the ring still has to sit securely on your finger or it is too
big. If you shake your hand vigorously in the cold state with rings
put on, they must not slide off! The goldsmith told us, most of plat
rings get lost a) in winter with cold hands, simply fallen off
because of the high weight or b) at swimming in a lake (same reason).

Matthias

17

Keo,

I’m not sure whether you’re an annoying customer but I think you’re
losing sight of the trees in the forest (or whatever that quote is).
You’re buying rings that have importance for their meaning, not
their content in this case. You are buying rings that symbolize your
commitment to your partner. There is nothing that will take the
romance more out of that experience than over analyzing what you’re
buying. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have some idea about what
you’re getting, and certainly all stores should disclose what they
are selling, but if you were my fiancee I’d be mad as heck at you
that you were spending all this time on what amounts to minute
differences in the metal instead of getting me a ring I really
wanted to wear (and if it’s an engagement ring, I’d want it now
instead of in 6 months when you get done deciding what might possibly
be a metal just slightly better than some other one).

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
@Daniel_R_Spirer

18

Richard,

All platinum is not equal, some platinum will scratch and get

I never said something different. I just told him what MY 960/40
Pt/Cu ring looks like.

It's okay to pimp your favorite metal, but, like, let's be
realistic. When the platinum group promoting the metal,

I do not have any kind of jewellery business (not up to now). So I
have no need to promote anything. No commercial interests.

Gold rings lose weight? Really, like significantly.

So I have only dreamed about the 22k yellow gold ring of a good
friend that gets smaller and smaller, the inside engraving almost
vanished?

Quote from the article “Platinum - Durability vs. Scratching” by
Jurgen J. Maerz here on Ganoksin:

Platinum - Durability vs. Scratching

  When scratched, the scratch actually displaces the metal,
  leaving ridges on the edges of the scratch. This is where
  durability comes in. Whereas other precious metals, if
  scratched, lose metal, and thus wear down, Platinum does so at
  a much slower rate.

Matthias

19

Hello Daniel,

Thanks for input. I must admit I’ve harbored some of the thoughts
you’ve mentioned and I was (still am) worried that I might be too
obsessive about the practical side of the purchase rather than
focusing on the romantic and emotional side of it. I would probably
react the same way you would if my fiancee would copy my behavior.

However, if I were to purchase a ring without having done any
investigation about one particular alloy’s specific quality and
behavior, I fear there might be a chance we’d would regret the
purchase in the future. (whenever we decide to put a stone in it or
if we find out the rings are too soft and prone to bending etc for
daily use)

I am not overwhelmingly convinced that shops generally would provide
us with sufficient (not that many salespersons actually
know about the products they’re selling) on the alloys and their
intrinsic qualities, but they’d be definitely more focused on trying
selling the items than being transparent with the customer. That’s
why I decided to ask the questions on the forum, to be well prepared
when visiting a jewelry shop. Surely the questions I’ve asked so far
aren’t romantic at all, I fully acknowledge that.

I am trying to maintain a good balance, to be practical but also
romantic at the same time. But it’s a tough job. :wink: And my girlfriend
has been very patient with me, which I truly appreciate. :smiley:

We’ve decided to order the rings in a matter of days or so, we’re
just gonna decide exactly which model we’re gonna go for and I will
have to give her my ring size and things are set. (we’re buying them
in Japan)

B rgds
Keo

20

Hi Matthias,

Thanks for the pic (via email). Your ring is very nice, not too domed
or too flat -very classical indeed.

The many scratches, all in all, actually don’t look bad at all and
produces some matte finish that isn’t obvious when looking at it from
a distance. I was initially little surprised by the photo, given the
alloy /increased hardness of your ring, how scratches were all over
it, but none of that really matters any more. If I want some truly
scratch-resistant jewelry, there’s only RADO. :slight_smile:

I didn’t know re-sizing the ring was part of the cold work and that
it would render a greater hardness! Cool! Thanks for sharing.

My fingers actually expand considerably during hot summer days
compared to during winter but what you’ve recommended is something I
have to keep in mind when ordering the ring.

I tend to wear my rings little loose. I have an old gold ring that is
little too big (19 mm diameter) which I put on today and I shook my
hand crazily just to see how secure it’d stay on the finger.

It almost fell off. I can easily imagine a heavier platinum ring
falling off if not sized properly! (i might go for 18.5 mm or even
18!)

About the price level in Germany you mentioned in your previous post:

A funny thing that a local jeweler told me just couple of days ago,
is that the price difference between 1000 parts plat. and 950/50
plat/palladium is virtually none since palladium isn’t that cheap,
while other (Japanese) shops quoted a 20% higher price when choosing
1000 parts plat. instead of 950/50.

Best rgds,
Keo