Posts Tagged ‘platinum’

Why Purchase Platinum Jewelry?

Sunday, October 28th, 2012

It is amazing to think that a platinum ring you can purchase in a shop may contain metal that could have crashed on earth billions of years back! While this is correct with numerous of the metals we know of such as copper and also lead, platinum is particularly unique in that it is seen in solely 0.005 % of the earth’s crust. For you to possess jewelry made from platinum, you are fundamentally possessing a rare piece of the earth’s geological history.

As being a stunning silver-white metal, with a lustrous shine, platinum is really a natural candidate for jewelry. As early metallurgists as well as chemists found out, however, it’s a comparatively hard metal for you to work. Just like gold, at 100 purity, the metal may also too soft to be used in real type in jewelry making.

Which means that almost all of the platinum jewelry you can see on display in stores really contains about 85 per cent platinum, with a range of alloyed metals to raise the metal’s durability and strength. Typical metals which are utilized with platinum are ruthenium, iridium, copper, cobalt and palladium. All platinum jewelry is stamped with a hallmark which records its purity in “Parts Per Thousand” or even ppt – a Pt950 hallmark, for instance, would imply that the piece contained 950 ppt (or even 95 %) platinum.

Because of its rarity as well as its cost in the marketplace (derived from the day-to-day platinum spot cost), it can be costly to purchase most items of platinum jewelry just like rings, earrings as well as necklaces. So why would you acquire platinum jewelry instead of, say, silver?

One of the huge benefits to platinum definitely is its strength and level of resistance to discoloration. Just like gold, it will not tarnish over time, and is resistant to oxidization. Even one of the most delicate filigree-type platinum work on jewelry will permanently preserve its shape.

This helps make it an idea metal to pick for a diamond or other precious stone setting, as the design can be very complex and also fine, without compromising on sturdiness. There’s even a piece of platinum jewelry known as a “tension” ring, that has been developed to hold a precious gemstone like a diamond in place simply by the tensile strength of the ring itself. Platinum rings usually are popular because of their distinctive silver white color and very reflective surface, which assists to “show off” a diamond or some other stone particularly well.

Since its discovery, platinum has long been the preserve of kings, royalty and noble men. Even recently platinum is associated with wealth and also privilege. As an example, when the Titanic wrecked in 1912, almost all of New York high society started wearing what was defined as black and white “mourning jewelry” to commemorate those lost at sea.

As a white-silver color, platinum became the popular selection for the jewelry.

One other example is that of the “platinum blonde” which became the nickname for the renowned and rich leading actresses in the 1930’s like Marlene Dietrich who would drape themselves together with jewelry made from platinum. See this site for more details Platinum spot price.

Platinum Coins – Worth An Investment?

Monday, October 1st, 2012

Platinum, another precious metal distinct from silver and gold, is no longer commonly seen in the investor’s market. The metal was first found in the sixteenth century AD but only in 1750 was it discovered in abundance. In finance industry, platinum isn’t made use of as payment. It’s still available now however not as needed as it was in the past. Only the most prestigious coin manufacturers across the world produce platinum bullion coins.

Platinum was found by the native Indians but it was only during the conquest of Spain of the Americas was it accepted by the scientists of Europe to be a precious metal. Based on research from earlier European scientists, platinum was found to be an element of chemistry which won’t melt using fire. Such finding ultimately made the technique for the production of platinum coins.

Platinum wasn’t abundant with supply. Up to now, Columbia is still the only principal producer of this precious metal in the entire world and it has ceased trading such rare metal. It was actually in 1882 that platinum was recognized to be just as valuable as silver and gold. This was when the Russian government started making the element into rubles and produced five hundred thousand ounces using it. This was the first coins made of platinum.

After the worth of platinum became higher together with the Embargo on Arab Oil incident more than 3 decades ago, demand for this precious metal increased. The interest in platinum bullion even spread throughout Europe and the United States where 2 platinum mints, specifically Engelhard Corporation and Johnson Matthew & Co. Ltd. started manufacturing platinum bullion in one and ten ounces.

30 years ago, the first ever Noble platinum coin was issued in The Isle of Man. This sparked the interest of various other coin manufacturers to mint their own coins made of platinum such as Canada and Australia. The introduction of the platinum bullion coin did not get to the US till the late 90s through the launch of the first American Eagle Platinum coin.

Platinum isn’t utilized globally to be a form of legal tender despite its introduction and manufacturing by renowned coin makers in the world. Some of the coins made of platinum today became more of a collector’s collection rather than an accepted legal tender. Only these coins made of platinum continue to be in the industry: Australian Platinum Koala, Isle of Man Noble, Chinese Platinum Panda, and Russian Federation platinum bullion coins.

Among this selection, only the production of American Platinum Eagle has continued having the recent manufacturing carried out in 3 years ago. Apart from the American Eagle, production of nearly all platinum coins has stopped.

There was a time when platinum traded at about similar price of gold, the same reason why demand for the precious metal went up. It was actually this trade price that triggered the full manufacturing of Platinum Eagles in the late 90’s. However, after the price of platinum pressed even greater, investor interest decreased, decreasing the manufacturing of the coins made of platinum as well. Present price for platinum is at $1,041 per troy ounce.

Investing in platinum coins is definitely well worth it. It’s now higher in price compared to gold hence you should make investments now to get better earnings later on. In case you would like more tips: investinplatinum.org