Whenever we have to make a durable yet trendy engagement ring, a necklace, or any other jewelry item, the two metals come to our minds. The metals are gold and platinum. Both metals are valuable and used in the manufacturing of everyday wear jewelry items.
Gold is more common than platinum, platinum rings, necklaces, and other jewelry items are only found worn by the elite class.
It is because we all believe that gold is less valuable than platinum. That’s the major reason why we are often confused at the time of deciding on whether gold or platinum should be taken.
If you have to conclude what’s more valuable to make a rational decision, here’s the detailed answer;
The answer to the question is gold worth more than platinum is no. Platinum is worth more than gold. It’s just that gold is more commonly used, therefore, we have started assuming that gold is worth more than platinum.
Why is Platinum Worth More than Gold?
Platinum is worth more than gold for a variety of reasons. However, a few genuine reasons are listed below;
- It is a rarer
- It is harder to find and extract
- It is more durable than gold
- There is more percentage of platinum in the jewelry than gold in the gold jewelry
- Platinum is more hypoallergenic than gold
It is a rarer
Platinum is one of the few extremely rare metals. We only get a few tones of platinum annually whereas gold is available in abundance.
As per the reports, around 1600 tons of gold are mined annually the platinum, however, is only extracted in 160 tons. You see how rare this valuable metal is.
Gold and platinum are precious metals, both are fine options to make jewelry. However, Since gold is commonly available and platinum is hard to get, it is more valuable than gold.
It is harder to find and extract
Platinum is a metal that is found only in a few places on the planet earth. It is predominantly found in South Africa, and around 75% of the total annual extraction is done in Russia and Zimbabwe.
Moreover, it occurs deep underground. The deposits in South Africa are not easy to find either. As you can see a lot of hard work is required to extract 160 tons a year. Therefore, in our eyes it more valuable than gold.
It is more durable than gold
Besides the jewelers and dealers, a common man hardly knows that pure gold is soft. It can not be used to make jewelry without mixing. However, the other option(platinum) is far more harder and durable than gold. It is less likely to break as compared to gold.
If you use gold and platinum jewelry, you would see the gold jewelry would not be as durable as the platinum one. Therefore, the durable nature skyrockets the price of the precious metal called platinum. Even both white and yellow gold is less expensive than platinum.
percentage of platinum in the jewelry
The percentage of platinum in platinum jewelry makes it more valuable than gold as well. As stated above, gold is softer, the platinum is harder.
To make jewelry from both metals, there needs to be less percentage of gold to make gold jewelry and more percentage of platinum to craft platinum to perfection. Since platinum jewelry contains more amount of platinum than gold jewelry containing gold. How platinum would not be more valuable than gold?
Platinum is more hypoallergenic than gold
Gold is a hypoallergenic metal. However, it is too soft and difficult to turn into jewelry. To make a durable piece of gold jewelry, it is often mixed with silver, copper, nickel, iron, zinc, tin, manganese, cadmium, or titanium. Since gold jewelry contains more percentage of other metals than platinum one has, it is more hypoallergenic and valuable than gold.
Conclusion
In brief, gold and platinum are the two metals that we often considered for jewelry. Both metals are durable however, platinum is considered more valuable.
It is valuable because platinum is rare, harder to extract, and more durable and hypoallergenic. Moreover, platinum jewelry contains an impressive percentage of platinum therefore it is noticeably a bit more valuable than gold.