Platinum is one of the world's rarest metals used in jewelry. Only a few places in the world, such as South Africa and Russia, produce just 5% of gold a year. Tons of ore, more than 150 processes that take months to extract, produce enough platinum to make a simple ring weighing a few grams. With such a rarity, it's no wonder that owning platinum feels so precious, and Louis Cartier, the famous designer, called it the "king of precious metals"! Here's a look at its wide range of uses and the questions people often ask.
In the watchmaking industry, many companies use platinum to make limited edition timepieces. Platinum does not tarnish or scratch (compared with gold), making it an ideal material for watches.
Platinum group elements, together with gold and silver, are commonly known as noble metal elements in nature. In the classification of minerals, PGE minerals belong to the natural PGE subgroup, including iridium, rhodium, palladium, and platinum as natural element minerals. Pge minerals are all equiaxed grains, single crystals are rare, and occasionally appear as fine grains of cube or octahedron. It is generally irregular granular, dendritic, grape-like or lumpy aggregate. Colour and stripes are silvery white to steel gray; Metallic luster, opaque. No cleavage, serrated fracture, ductile. A good conductor of electricity and heat.
Platinum group metals have beautiful color; Strong ductility; Melting resistance, friction resistance, corrosion resistance; Chemically stable at high temperatures. Therefore, they have a wide range of uses. Among the platinum group metals, platinum is the most familiar and widely used. It is more valuable than precious metals such as gold and silver. Pure platinum is silvery white; It has a metallic luster. The color and luster of platinum are natural and unchanged over time. Hardness is 4 ~ 4.5 degrees. The relative density is 21.45 and the specific gravity is 15 ~ 19 or 21.4. The ductility is strong, can be drawn into very thin platinum wire, rolled into very thin platinum foil; The strength and toughness are also much higher than other precious metals. 1 gram of platinum will not break even if it is pulled into a 1.6 kilometer long filaments. Melting point up to 1773.5℃. Good thermal and electrical conductivity. Extremely stable chemical properties, insoluble in strong acids and alkali, in the air does not oxidize. Platinum does not absorb silver, and has a unique catalytic role.
