Platinum

When Platinum was discovered by modern European metalurges, it was mistaken for Sterling Silver. In fact, its name comes from the Spanish word Platina which means ‘little silver’. Platinum is a very dense metal, and this makes it hard to work with, and it has a high melting point. This is one of the reasons Platinum was not used often in jewellery making until the invention of the oxyacetylene torch. Platinum’s density is responsible for the metal’s ability to be stretched very thin, but still be very strong. It is a very hard-wearing metal, and because of its maleable nature, Platinum handles everyday wear and tear a bit better than White Gold. Every bump and scrape simply dislodges this maleable metal, and over time this creates a sheen on the service known as Patina. This can be polished out from time to time, but the metal does not become less with each polish and whereas with gold some knocks and bumps could lead to pieces chipping away from the metal. Gold also diminishes over years of wearing it away by touch, wear and tear and re-polishing. Some people prefer their settings to be crafted in Platinum, as the claws could potentially last much longer than their White Gold counterpart.