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Wedding Band in Palladium - The Ultimate Value for Money
Wedding Band in Palladium - The Ultimate Value for Money
From time inmemorial the media used for the wedding band was precious metal and if gold was too expensive silver was the second option. It is quite different today and alternative modern metals enrolled in the wedding ring market set to add the much needed variety to the established already media. Even today gold is the only precious metal option for yellow or rose wedding rings for white however there are few different options.
Some fifteen years ago non precious metals like titanium, tungsten and stainless steel made space for themselves particularly in the gent`s wedding band segment offering radically different price point and various overtones of gray, white and even black color to the designer`s desk. Such new metals continue to hold their part of the market but with a shared shortcoming - they are not precious and pure which is an essential requirement for the traditional purpose of this ring. The current default choice, white gold, is definitely not pure alternative. The highest pure gold content in white gold alloy is 75% (18K) and the standard} one is 58.5% (14K. The low purity, combined with the inferior color and the need of continual rhodium plating to rectify} it, carved a niche for more suitable options.
In the early nineties, well forgotten favorite entered the stage - platinum. It seemed like the ideal white metal - precious, hypoallergenic and with fantastic natural white color. Platinum became very popular fast and it was immediately recognized as far better option than the white gold, for white fine jewelry especially for diamond wedding bands. Then the issue with affordability emerged. The price of platinum far exceeds the price of any other precious metal used for jewelry. There was a empty niche in the market once again.
Palladium was always the top white gold alloy component but it was seldom used on its own as it was very difficult to cast. Recent casting improvements removed this barrier and palladium emerged as a new very competitive white precious metal entry. It is a young media and lacks the popularity of gold and platinum| but for white fine jewelry, it is the ultimate choice. Palladium is a member of the PGM (Platinum Group of Metals) indentified also as noble metals. It is remarkably similar to platinum but much lighter (very close to 10k gold) and currently much cheaper. This differences command much lower cost and cause palladium wedding ring to sale for about a third to a fourth of the price| of corresponding platinum band with all the platinum advantages in place. Palladium similar to platinum is used in nearly pure (95%) form.
Palladium is also a smart choice from investment point of view. It is rarer than gold and platinum and only at the end of 2001 was more expensive than both Palladium is on the fast track and its expected higher demand will unavoidably command much higher prices in the nearby feature.
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