Palladium rings are now being offered to replace
Platinum, Gold, or Silver Rings

As the price of traditional precious metals including sterling silver, gold, and platinum have increased greatly in cost rings are now being sold made of palladium. Until now palladium was mainly used as a blending agent to enhance the properties of platinum or to create white gold.

Palladium is not an inexpensive material, but it is less expensive than platinum. As of july 19, 2006 the approximate cost of palladium was $330.00 per ounce, while platinum was about $1230.00, and gold was about $660.00 per ounce. Silver was still the least expensive precious metal at about $11.50 per ounce. These are the basic commodity prices in large bars. The actual cost is higher as the metals must be converted into tiny balls for easy melting and there would be delivery charges.

At a professional jewelry show in the summer of 2006 palladium ring castings were introduced. These were unfinished castings for use by professional jewelers to finish and set with stones.Loren Castings was offering the unfinished rings. They only sell to the professional jewelry trade.

As the metal is much lighter than platinum a ring of equal size will weigh much less and therefore cost less. It is actually harder than platinum and therefore may present problems in the setting of stones. Sterling silver and gold have been considered excellent materials for ring production as there were hard enough to hold their shape while soft enough to permit the cutting and shaping need to produce finished jewelry.

Palladium is a shiny white metal. However as it has not been in general use the question arises as to have well it will wear. More traditional precious metals such as gold and sterling silver have been used to cast rings for a very long time and it is well understood how daily wear effects these metals.

Caution should be used as it is easy to mistake palladium for platinum. With the higher prices for precious metal prevailing today the consumer must be very aware of precious metal contain of jewelry. As if now, July 2006, there is no Federal Trade Commission requirements for labeling precious metals other than gold, platinum, and sterling silver.