Buying Platinum jewelry can be fun, exciting and confusing.
Whether you’re considering a gift of Platinum jewelry for
someone special or as a treat for yourself, take some time to
learn the terms used in the industry. Here’s some information to
help you get the best quality Platinum jewelry for your money,
whether you’re shopping in a traditional brick and mortar store
or online.
Platinum is a precious metal that costs more than gold. It
usually is mixed with other similar metals, known as the
platinum group metals: iridium, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium
and osmium.
Different markings are used on platinum jewelry as compared with
gold jewelry, based on the amount of pure platinum in the piece.
The quality markings for platinum are based on parts per
thousand. For example, the marking 900 Platinum means that 900
out of 1000 are pure platinum, or in other words, the item is
90% platinum and 10% other metals. The abbreviations for
platinum – Plat. or Pt. – also can be used in marking jewelry.
Items that contain at least 950 parts per thousand pure
platinum can be marked simply platinum. Items that have at least
850 parts per thousand pure platinum can be marked with the
amount of pure platinum and the word platinum or an abbreviation
(for example, 950 platinum, 900 Plat. or 850 Pt.). Jewelry that
contains less than 850 parts per thousand pure platinum, but has
a total of 950 parts per thousand of platinum group metals (of
which at least 500 parts is pure platinum), may be marked with
both the amount of pure platinum and the amount of the other
platinum group metals in the piece. For example, the marking 600
Plat. 350 Irid. means that the item has 600 parts per thousand
(60%0 platinum, and 350 parts per thousand (35%) iridium,
totaling 950 parts per thousand of platinum group metals, and 50
parts per thousand (5%) other metals.