Platinum and its Uses in Numerous Civilizations

Platinum may seem just like a new metal within the jewelry business however it has a long history. The ancient Egyptian and South American Incas prized it, within the ancient period. Similarly it had been proclaimed as metal fit for royalty from the France's Louis XVI. Famous jewelers like Carter, Faberge and Tiffany created their own timeless designs in platinum. The world's well-known diamonds like the Hope, Jonker I and Koh-I-Noor are also held securely with the assist of this metal.

In America, within the early 1900's, platinum attained its peak of recognition when it grew to become the most preferred metal for all fine jewellry. The government of US declared platinum as a strategic metal and disbanded all its use in non-military use which includes jewelry during the Second World War. To appease consumers who preferred the white luster of platinum, it had been substituted by white gold throughout this era. In recent times platinum has again regained its charms and enchants newer generation of consumers.

The ancient South American civilization named Incas had been gifted metal workers and craftsmen during the period of 100 BC. They used platinum and gold to create nose rings as well as other items of ceremonial jewelry like Platinum wedding rings. The background of metal requires a brief pause for two millennia after this because it was forgotten for 1000's of year, only to briefly re-appear when European conquistador or explorers found the new world. The Spanish conquistador encountered this metal during the period of 1950 and named it "platina" which meant "little silver"

Till 1924 when German geologist Hans Merensky found the world's largest platinum deposit close to Johannesburg, South Africa, there were limited resources for that production of platinum. By the mining activities in just two areas, the need for platinum was basically satisfied. The Bushveld Complex, that is just north of South Africa's capital, Pretoria, create more than two thirds of the annual platinum supply. The rest is provided by the Noril'sk-Talnakh area located within the extreme of north of Siberia in Russia. Russia is the only nation with significant stocks of platinum and lots of feel that these may be running out.

It inherent characteristics like purity, power, durability and rarity makes platinum a metal of excellent value. Whenever you buy platinum jewelry rings, you're purchasing jewelry that is nearly 100% pure. With 5% to 10% alloy of the platinum group metal, platinum jewelry is usually 90% to 95% pure within the US. By comparison, 18 karat gold is 75% pure gold and 14 karat gold is 58% pure gold.