With an approximate rarity of five times that of gold and a timeless beauty, it’s easy to see why platinum is the most valuable metal in the world, and the elite material when it comes to creating and wearing fine jewelry. Long ago, when platinum was first discovered, the miners who found it in search of silver mistakenly considered it an inferior form of the metal they sought and named it “platina”: a diminutive of the Spanish word for “silver”. This error was soon disproved, however, and platinum has since gone on to become the prized and beloved material it is today.
Platinum contains a certain amount of other materials naturally, but for a piece to be considered platinum it must be refined to a purity of 90% or better. As one might imagine, with such a valuable metal as platinum, the standards for determining what can be credibly sold and advertised as platinum jewelry are very strict. A piece at this level would be stamped as 900 platinum; higher quality pieces, like most of the items sold here, are stamped “950 Plat”, which indicates that the mix is 95% pure platinum.
Platinum comes by its pale white color naturally and will never lose its brightness or become discolored; contrast this with white gold, which is simply natural yellow gold mixed with lightening metals and plated in rhodium, which will wear off to make the gold appear yellowish. Long ago, when platinum was first discovered, the miners who found it in search of silver mistakenly considered it an inferior form of the metal they sought and named it “platina”: a diminutive of the Spanish word for “silver”. This error was soon disproved, however, and platinum has since gone on to become the prized and beloved material it is today.
Don’t risk damaging or ruining your jewelry with a randomly-purchased jewelry cleaner or other harsh chemicals. To properly care for your platinum jewelry, it’s best to follow the same general guideline for cleaning gold jewelry. Use liquid soap and a soft cloth for home cleaning, and when in doubt have the cleaning done professionally.
To properly care for your platinum jewelry, it’s best to follow the same general guideline for cleaning gold jewelry: don’t risk damaging or ruining your jewelry with a randomly-purchased jewelry cleaner or other harsh chemicals. Use liquid soap and a soft cloth for home cleaning, and when in doubt have the cleaning done professionally.