Platinum

Specifications

This metal is very malleable and as for gold and silver, it must be mixed with other metals to create jewellery. Platinum alloys can be used in jewelery. They consist of about 96% pure platinum and 4% pure palladium. Platinum is very resistant to corrosion.

One recognizes its purity by the punch which marks it. If platinum is 99% pure, it is represented by an emperor penguin. It can only be affixed by the Paris guarantee office. Dog heads respectively mark the alloys composed of 95%, 90% and 85% of pure platinum. Finally, alloys whose origin is uncertain but composed of at least 85% platinum are represented by a Mascaron head.

Origin

Platinum is even rarer than gold. It is present in nature, especially in mineral co-operation and in sperrylite ore. It can be found in the native state in alluvium, in copper and nickel deposits or in magmatic complexes with other metals of the same family. Russia, Colombia, Canada, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Ontario are the main deposits of this precious metal.

History

Its discovery dates back to 3000 years ago, in the time of Ancient Egypt. Some sarcophagi were actually decorated with platinum and gold hieroglyphs. In the era of the Incas, it was also used to make pieces of jewelry, ornaments of all kinds. In the meantime, he remained anonymous until the Spanish conquistadores discovered it in Colombia in the 1500s. It was they who gave it the name Platinum, which means little money, because its gray-white color, similar to that of silver. Europe discovered it as a jewel in the 1780s, in the walls of King Louis XVI of France. Since then, platinum has been considered a precious metal. It has even become the favorite metal of European kings and jewelers of the United States. After the Second World War it has become a strategic metal, platinum is considered much more valuable than gold.