The Advantages Over Choosing Palladium Instead Of Platinum Or White Gold For An Engagement Ring
As modern tastes in wedding jewelry change and diversify, more and more couples are eschewing traditional yellow gold engagement rings for more distinctive alternatives, and the pale, delicate beauty of engagement rings made from platinum or white gold is increasingly popular. However, if you want your engagement ring to be made of a beautiful, silvery-white precious metal, white gold and platinum are not your only options.
Palladium is a relatively recent addition to the range of precious metals used by jewellers to create engagement rings but has seen a sudden surge in popularity, and palladium engagement rings are now sold by both independent jewelers and high street jewelry chains. This popularity is not without cause -- here are just some of the man advantages palladium engagement rings can have over their platinum and white gold counterparts.
Reasonable prices
Despite being a precious metal with very similar properties to platinum and white gold, palladium engagement rings are generally significantly less expensive than white gold rings and will cost a fraction of the price of a platinum equivalent.
This is partially due to efficient palladium mining practises, but also stems from palladium simply not being as well-known as gold and platinum. As palladium becomes more popular as a ring-making metal this state of affairs is likely to change, so buying a palladium engagement ring now may well prove to be a canny long-term investment.
Rarity
It is often said that all the gold ever mined could fit into a swimming pool, and all the platinum mined could fit into an average living room. Palladium is even rarer and has a number of important industrial applications that are likely to make palladium significantly harder to procure in the coming years as stocks are depleted. You can rest assured that few if any of your married friends will be sporting a palladium ring.
Intricate settings available
Despite being a stronger, less malleable metal than platinum or white gold, palladium is lighter than these two metals pound-for-pound. This allows palladium to be crafted into very intricate shapes, designs and settings without sacrificing durability, and many palladium engagement rings have their stones set in elaborate settings that would simply be impossible to reproduce in platinum or white gold. As a bonus, the reduced weight of palladium will make a palladium engagement ring less heavy and obtrusive when worn.
Never tarnishes
White gold is not made of pure gold but is actually an allow of gold and less expensive metals (such as nickel) that give the metal its distinctive pale colour. The presence of these lesser metals can cause white gold rings to tarnish over time. Palladium engagement rings are made of pure palladium and are, therefore, completely immune to tarnishing.
Hypoallergenic
The purity of palladium rings also means there are no metals contained within a palladium ring that can provoke allergic reactions. Nickel is particularly notorious for causing allergic reactions in some people.
