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Ardent Listener
Administrator
USA
4841 Posts |
 Posted - 08/03/2010 : 20:19:37
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All About Palladium
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Hoover & Strong was the first to offer palladium as finished jewelry, findings and mill products. Our casting services are exemplary and we are renown for our refining services as well as our technical expertise. And, as an added value…All our precious metals are 100% recycled.
Many products that we offer in gold we also make in palladium. As one of the pioneers in casting palladium, we offer a full range of cast palladium bridal jewelry. We have casting grain for designers who want to cast their own works and casting services for those who prefer someone else to do the production.
Palladium’s Growing Popularity
The explosive growth in popularity of white metals over the last decade (particularly white gold and silver) creates a unique opportunity for palladium jewelry. Palladium offers a more radiant white than white gold, as well as many of the desired characteristics of platinum without platinum’s price; which has had a precipitous decrease in U.S. platinum sales as it exceeds $1,300. This trend is strongest among the new generation of fine jewelry consumers. 73% of 18 – 24 year old adults prefer white jewelry compared to 40% in the 25+ group.
Currently, palladium has stabilized around $350/oz at this printing, making it irresistible even to white gold jewelry buyers.
Palladium and platinum are interchangeable in many applications as they are both noble metals with similar characteristics and usually derived from the same mines. Both share the lustrous beauty, strength and durability that have been the hallmarks of this metal class.
Hoover & Strong’s TruPd™, our 950 palladium, is a new generation alloy that is castable, malleable, durable and available at a value that offers benefits to both the jeweler and consumer. It is not the 950 palladium/ruthenium of the past. With a weight similar to fine silver, TruPd™ has enough heft to convey luxury but is notably lighter than platinum.
(Bet no one here knew this tidbit of information!)
A helpful hint about identifying white metals - Not all white metals are clearly stamped with their alloy composition. When you receive white metal jewelry that is not easily identified, just reach for a bottle of iodine to quickly and easily identify your metal. Simply place a drop of iodine on the white metal piece and let it dry. If it dries clear, it's platinum. If it dries black, it's palladium. And if it dries a brownish color, it's white gold.
Top Ten Palladium Myths
1. Palladium can’t be cast. Traditional 950 Palladium/50 Ruthenium alloys are indeed difficult to cast. These alloys have an insatiable appetite for oxygen and hydrogen which produces severe porosity. How? As gas dissolves into the melt it forms gas bubbles which later escape when the metal solidifies — leaving pinholes on the surface and voids inside. Unless you have expensive vacuum casting equipment, you cannot defeat the likelihood of porosity using traditional alloys. We developed our proprietary TruPd™ alloy to inhibit the amount of gas that dissolves and thus allow investment casters to achieve success with palladium. (Tip: An argon gas cover is recommended when melting palladium.)
2. Palladium can’t be soldered. There was some truth to this complaint with early solders. But this is no longer the case. We have developed easy, medium and hard palladium solders for small jobs. Our 20k white hard solder is recommended and was developed for seamless soldering when sizing rings.
3. Palladium can’t be laser-welded. Again, that may have been the case with some traditional palladium/ruthenium alloys. But we have received no complaints about laser welding with TruPd™. What’s more, lasers have proven very effective in repairing porosity with both palladium and platinum. (Note: We offer palladium laser wire.)
4. Palladium can’t be machined. NOT SO. Using proper lubricants and polycrystalline cutters, palladium can be machined. (Note: We make a full line of machined channel anniversary and wedding bands.)
5. Die struck solitaire and earring settings have soft prongs. Bendable prongs were a common occurrence with soft first-generation palladium alloys. Now, with TruPd™ and improved manufacturing techniques, our TruPd™ settings are sturdy, strong, unbending prongs.
6. Palladium ear posts & ear nuts are too soft and bend easily. We have increased the temper of our alloy used for ear post and nuts to prevent bending. In fact, our TruPd™ alloy for these findings has a Vickers hardness of 160, which is equal to the hardness of 14k white gold.
7. Palladium is much grayer than platinum. This observation is often true for 14k and 18k white gold. Palladium white gold has high grayness because it is being used to mask yellow in gold. But pure 950 palladium used as an alloy is much whiter than palladium white gold. Indeed, when asked to distinguish pure palladium from pure platinum pieces, consumers often say the two look identical.
8. There is no full range of palladium products. This type of complaint is always common in the early stages of a new metal’s popularity. Jewelers used to cite lack of product availability in the early days of the platinum revival. Invariably, this led to a second complaint about the high cost of platinum materials. Neither is the case with Hoover & Strong. We are trying to make a market, not milk it. And one of our missions is to provide a full gamut of affordable, fairly priced palladium products including grain, sheet, wire, blanks, solder, laser wire, settings, shanks, bands, anniversary bands, and engagement rings. We even refine and custom cast palladium.
9. Palladium products do not have consistent color match. We hear of this complaint but have never heard it from your own customers. To the contrary, they tell us that one of the many virtues of our TruPd™ alloy is its color consistency.
10. Palladium is the "poor man’s platinum." Saving the best myth for last, whenever someone tells us that palladium is an inexpensive alternative to platinum, we remind them that palladium is rarer than gold and a member in full standing of the platinum family. Like platinum, it offers higher purity and whiter color than white gold. Last, it is nickel free and hypo-allergenic, needs no transitory rhodium plating to give it the final color, and can be cast and soldered. If anything, it’s the only answer to the dilemma of white gold for those who can only afford gold. So it would be more accurate to call palladium the "rich man’s white gold."
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All About Palladium
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