Platinum Vs White Gold

When a comparison is made between the platinum and white gold, it is platinum which will won with a lot of votes as it got a lot of advantages. Consider the case of getting an engagement ring or a wedding band which are the two important jewelries which need to be given a thought and should express your love the utmost. In that case, the metal with which the ring is to be made of should be platinum and that too especially for wedding rings. The reason for choosing the metal is because of its weight, durability and also the trendy look that made people to prefer it more to wear it for the rest of the life.

Basically the platinum and white gold are two different metals which have different properties in them. To differentiate some properties, the white Gold is delicate and the platinum is less fragile. That is, the white Gold by nature can be easily snap or get crack whereas in case of platinum it bends and more flexible. These difference in qualities are more important in the case of a mounting the prong. That is there is only less chance that the prong will break and the stone is fallen out in the case of platinum as they will bend and hold the stone securely.

About White Gold, this is nothing but yellow Gold and alloys are combined to get a white color. To get a white color to resemble the platinum, the gold is coated with rhodium. In due coarse of time the rhodium coating will start to fade off and the original color will be revealed. Then to get the color back it has to be polished with rhodium. But at places of the stones it is not possible to re-polish and so you get discolor in those areas near the stones which make the whole jewelry odd and at times useless as the person might not prefer to wear it. Whereas in the case of platinum it never discolors and to keep it in condition it has to be simply polished.

And when we compare which one is stylish and trendy between the platinum and white gold, then it is platinum who took over again and white gold won’t be able to compete with it.

Important Tip :- Always clean your jewelry carefully and if you do not have an idea about how to go about it then read the complete guide on jewelry cleaning at home

With all the advantages with it, then why don’t people prefer platinum? It is because of the price of the platinum that people seems to prefer less platinum than white gold. The platinum is the most expensive metal and people need to see to their budget before getting it. But in today’s economy the gold also seems to be getting higher price value thus making the difference between the platinum and white Gold to be lesser. Thus for sure you can give a thought of getting jewelry made of platinum in the case engagement ring and wedding band as this one investment which you can make to treasure it for the rest of your life and will never go wrong.

Gold Rings Vs Platinum Rings

Both metals have their own merits and demerits. Gold is famous since the ancient world and still occupy the top place among the group of precious metals over centuries. Purity of Gold is measured in karats and gold is available in different karats; 10, 14, 18 and 24. But the platinum doesn’t have such classifications.

Gold has other advantage of color. You can get gold ornaments in variety of colors as per your preference. You may get it in yellow color, white color, gold color, green color or pink color. Platinum has the restriction in its color and available only in white color. But this is not an issue since many men are like to wear the ring in white color rather than in yellow color.

If you are keen in durable and long life for the worth of the more money you spend, better go for platinum. The white color of this material is very lucrative and best fit for the men’s marriage bands especially rings. This costly metal gives the grand look to the men. Since it belongs to clean metal family, the ring made up of platinum will be in the high cost bandwidth.

Gold is also durable, but when compared with platinum, gold is less strong and less robust than platinum. Because of the high density, platinum is double the weight than the gold. If the ring is made out of a metal such as tungsten or titanium, it will be scratch proof. But if you wear the ring with platinum or gold, chances are bright to get scratches, so you have to be used occasionally.

Gold or silver is not 100% suitable to all the people. Some people may have the sensitive skin and if they wear gold ring, it may be allergic and create some white patches in the skin or some time itching or irritation sensation will be developed. But platinum is non allergic and surround your finger pretty and won’t create any skin related issues because of this platinum ring.

Because of the rarest nature, purity, elasticity and strength, platinum is categorized as precious metal. Huge difference exists in cost between the platinum ring and gold ring. If you can’t afford the bulky fee for platinum ring but wish to buy the ring with white color, you may opt to purchase white gold. After a certain period of regular use, the white color of the gold ring will be fading out and then take it to the jewelry shop; they will polish the ring and restore the actual sparkly state to the gold ring.

You have to take the final call to buy which ring. Some men like to wear the slim and light weight rings, some are quite opposite. Depending upon the complexion, skin color and personality, you may choose either the ring gold or platinum which is more suitable and add your personality. Surely the rings are smart and striking when occupies the fingers irrespective of whether it is made up of gold or platinum.

What is platinum jewelry

In the early 7^th century B.C, the royal people of Egypt started using platinum in their ornaments. In that period gold was popular and platinum was not found that much. Platinum was the rarest metal to be available and able to be extracted very little amount from the soil in the earth. Value of the metal is based on their availability. Since Platinum is available in less quantity than the gold, it is considered as the more precious than gold, so the jewels made up of platinum is costlier than gold and silver ornaments.

Other qualities of stronger and purity also make platinum to supersede gold. Normally 85% pure platinum is enough to use for jewelry making across the countries. 95% pure platinum is used in USA and UK. It is dense and weighty by 68% compared to gold. This quality make platinum as long-lasting and not allow ruining.

Since platinum is very strong, when tiling the stones and diamonds in it, they are binding with it for a long period. To increase the strength and durability of platinum, other metals like copper, iridium, palladium, ruthenium and cobalt are mixed with it. This is similar to the alloying of copper with gold to make jewels. It is not possible to make ornaments using gold alone. Some amount of copper needs to be mixed, then only you will get the shape and will give a long life.

If the jeweler wants to make a jewel using platinum, he has to put the piece of raw platinum metal under the temperature of more or less 1769 degree Celsius. He has to be more skilled in this and need to put extra effort. But to melt gold, this high temperature is not required. This is one of the differences between making the jewelry using platinum and gold.

Gold may be allergic to some skin. People with sensitive skin can also use platinum because of its purity. Now the demand for Platinum jewels is increased because people prefer to buy and wear because it is considered as status symbol in the society. Since the demand increases, many jeweler involved in making new designs in platinum and in wedding rings, bangles, ear studs and chins made up of platinum start catching the important place.

In the modern world, Tiffany and Cartier introduced the platinum in the fashion jewelry during the 18^th century. After the World War II, platinum become the restricted material and many countries prohibit it and its usage was reduced. During 1960, in Japan, platinum slowly regain its popularity. Due to its white shining nature and purity, it becomes the symbol of asset, status and prestige of people. Then this spread into other countries as well and today it became a well accepted famous jewelry making metal.
Update Mar 2010 - For mens jewelry and other types of jewelry for the wedding you should read this article and it has some good information on contemporary mens jewelry.

How to identify the real platinum? Because of the costly like other things, many duplicate or bogus platinum materials are released by the fake specialists in this industry too. You can figure out whether the platinum is original or not by checking its weight and density. You may use the special instrument which is devised to find the fake coins. From the label on the jewelry also you get an idea; 950 platinum/plat label means the jewelry has 95% platinum.