Palladium Jewelry
New Jewelry Metal Offers Platinum Quality at White Gold Price
By Jill Renee
DanforthDiamond.com has selection of beautiful Palladium Engagement Rings. You can also find matching Palladium wedding bands.
View our entire stock of Palladium Jewelry
There is a new jewelry metal on the horizon - palladium. As a platinum group metal, palladium offers customers a host of benefits that white gold and platinum can’t touch. Are customers ready for a white metal that is less expensive than platinum and hypoallergenic unlike white gold? Many jewelers and jewelry stores are banking on it.
Palladium’s steel-white appearance makes it an attractive jewelry alternative to white gold and platinum. However, palladium was difficult to cast with and had not been fit for jewelry casting until recently. Innovations in developing a castable palladium alloy produced 950 palladium, which is ideal for jewelry. It is expected that, within the coming months, consumers will begin to hear more about palladium and its benefits; and palladium could very well be the next revolution in jewelry. Much of this relies on the fact that palladium is in the platinum group of metals and shares many of the same attributes as platinum – high purity, good luster, and white appearance.
Palladium versus Platinum
Much of platinum’s cache is due to its purity. Jewelry cast using pure gold (i.e., 24K) is soft and subject to damage, which threatens the overall look and luster of the jewelry piece. To combat this, gold is commonly mixed with copper or silver to strengthen it. The concerns over gold’s softness are why gold jewelry is typically crafted using 14 or 18 karat gold. Palladium is attractive to consumers in the same way as platinum because it is a purer material that is not fabricated or man made.
Another benefit of palladium is that it is over 40% lighter than platinum, a characteristic of palladium that has jewelry designers excited. Weight is a consideration that is especially important in earrings as heavier metals and bigger designs can stretch the ear lobe and be too heavy to wear. Larger stones can be set in a palladium design and, because it is less dense, the piece won’t feel overly heavy to the wearer.
The biggest downside to platinum is its price. Often, consumers seeking that white-metal appearance had to settle for white gold or sterling silver because of platinum’s high price tag. Palladium is set to take a large share of the market because of its affordability. Palladium is less expensive than platinum and white gold – a trend that should continue for the near term.
Palladium versus White Gold
Why is palladium more desirable? Unfortunately, white gold jewelry is manufactured using alloys containing nickel and up to 10% of the population experiences an allergic reaction to contact with nickel. Palladium is hypoallergenic so there are not the allergy concerns that plague white gold.
Also, palladium is harder than white gold making it more durable and less likely to mar. Durability is an issue particularly when it comes to mountings. If a gem stone is set using mountings made with a softer metal, the likelihood that one of the prongs could fail and the stone could fall out is higher. Often jewelers will use a harder metal in a ring setting to combat this but with palladium the entire jewelry piece can be made with the same metal.
A Growing Market
At this time refiners are working to provide 950 palladium to jewelry manufacturers and designers and many stores are set to educate consumers on palladium. All are expecting palladium to find a market as messages about its lower price and platinum-like characteristics are presented to consumers. The demand for palladium jewelry will dictate how quickly it is integrated into designer’s product lines and jewelry stores catalogs. Palladium will likely be used in the same jewelry categories as platinum, especially engagement rings and wedding jewelry.
Comments»
I have bought a palladium and silver wedding bands and wonder how much palladium is used on the ring. Also the ring is written 925 only. What does this mean.
Hello, Pulane.
.925 is a stamp used to identify silver in the jewelry industry. It
usually indicates that the jewelry contains at least 925/1000ths pure
silver. It also means that the silver has been alloyed (combined with
another metal such as palladium or copper).
I cannot determine if your ring contains any Palladium from the information stamped on the metal, but I assume it does if that is what you were told. Silver will tarnish over time, palladium will not.
I have an engagement ring marked 950 Pd and another ring marked 1950 Pt. Does this mean that one ring has 950/1000ths pure palladium and the other is 1950/2000ths pure platinum?
The engagement ring that you have that is marked 950 Pd is just what you think 950/1000ths pure palladium. The ring that is marked 1950/2000 has me stumped. It should also be marked 950. I have never seen a ring marked 1950. Are you sure there is a one before the nine? Thank you and please let me know if you find out about the 1950/2000.
Sincerely,
Jill Renee
I looked with a better magnification and it looks like it says Pt 950 but the “t” may be worn out. I bet it is 950 Pt.
In other words it looks like PI950.
I have a necklace silver in color and is marked PD it also has a crown emblem .Could this be palladium ?It has a very secure lobster clasp It is very shiny. I could not find any other marks.
I am afraid that I cannot tell you for certain if your necklace is Palladium. The stamping indicates that it is 950 palladium or better.
If it is from Britain the standards are quite strict for stamping and I would guess yes.
The shiny surface has me a little confused as Palladium is usually not very shiny but your necklace might be rhodium plated and that would definitely give you a shiny finish. Hope this helps. Thank you for visiting our blog and best wishes, Jill Renee
Dear Jill,
I gave my wife a Pd-Ru engagement ring in 1968 which was made at the precious metal labs in Acton UK of the Mond nickel Company. It was partof a development programme for Pd from about 1948 onwards and this ring had been a show-piece to promote it as a jewelry metal even in the States by the Company. It had two zircons surrounding a saphire, and was marked Pd-Ru inside. Under one of the claws was a small casting crack. I acquired it when the rst of the jewelry was scrapped at the time of the move of the labs from Acton to Birmingham. A few years later we had a burglary and the ring was stolen. We advertised at the time in a London jewelry magazine but nothing turned up. With the correspondence you get, I just wondered if this unique piece might come to light. We would be over the moon if it did. THanks and best wishes Mike Taylor (metallurgist)
Dear Mr. Taylor,
First of all I am very sorry for the loss of your Palladium ring. It sounds like a real showstopper of a piece. You were certainly a trend setter with Palladium back in the 60’s. As for your request to keep my eyes/ears open for news about the ring you describe; I shall. I have received a few inquiries asking about whether some pieces were Palladium but none involving a ring. I hope that I will be able to help you in this search and recovery mission! Thank you for contacting me and all the best wishes, Jill Renee
Dear Jill,
I have a white gold engagement ring and my fi wants to purchase a palladium wedding band. We want matching wedding bands, so my concern is that the white gold and palladium won’t look good next to each other. Is this a bad choice? I have heard that the palladium will turn a dark color. He really likes a band that is brushed in the middle.
I have a platinum engagement ring and wanted to know whether a palladium wedding band would match in color (both new and over time). Thanks.
what if my ring says “ds pal” on the inside but has no number on it? how can i tell how much palladium is in it if any? this ring was designed by mark schneider, if that’s any help
Dear Sirs
I have a ring stamped on the inside as follows Au750 PI950 H
have you ever seen this before? What does it mean? I would really appreciate the help.
Pete
Dear Cindy,
I would like to tell you that this would be fine and save you some money but the truth is that Palladium is slightly grayer in color than Platinum and you would be able to tell the difference. Thank you.
Sincerely , Jill
Haruko, My guess is the the “DS” is the trademark stamp…the D representing a first name or initial and the S representing Schneider. The “pal” represents Palladium and if it is stamped “pal” only it must be 950 pure or higher according to the stamping laws. You have a nice Palladium ring. Thank you, Sincerely, Jill
Hi Pete,
I am guessing that the “Au750″ means that your ring has an 18k yellow? gold shank with the “PI” indicating a Platinum//Iridium setting. The “H” could represent the trademark or it could stand for
head (setting) I am not certain. Hope this helps, Sincerely, Jill
Will palladium scratch like platinum does? I have a friend that just recently received a platinum engagement ring and it has scratches on the bottom already. I know platinum is more durable than white gold, but how does palladium compare?
Palladium will scratch like Platinum. The scratches will become less apparent over time as the metal takes on its greyer patina. Palladium is harder than gold. All precious metal will scratch, the extent of the scratches is dependant on the wearer of the jewelry as well as the metal. For more information on metal choices and hardness please visit this link from our website:
http://www.danforthdiamond.com/education/metal/metals.htm
Thank you. Sincerely, Jill Renee
Do you have recycled palladium engagement rings? It looked like you were investigating this last year and I wondered if you have any to offer. My wife’s ring was stolen and we’re interested in replacing it with a hypoallergenic metal and one that hasn’t been mined and are very interested in recycled palladium.
Thank you
Hi there…I just purchased a ring marked PD 925 on the inside. The stone is “orange” mesures 17mm long and 12mm wide and it has smaller white stones surrounding it. I know 925 stands for sterling but what does the PD in capital letters stand for. Thank You
Dear Sofia,
Your ring should be 92.5% Palladium from the stamping you describe.
However I think it is stamped incorrectly and probably is an alloy which is 925 Sterling Silver with Palladium added. I do not know how much Palladium the alloy contains from the stamp you describe, but the PD means Palladium. Thank you. Sincerely, Jill Renee
Hi there,
Is it true that Palladium cannot be refitted like gold? I went to a jewler and he said if I get a Palladium ring over time as I get older my finger gets fatter or whatever that I COULD NOT get the ring refitted. I would have to get a new ring because Palladium cannot be refitted.
Is this true?
Also can one ingrave a design in a palladium ring?
THANKS
jT