Why did platinum become more popular than gold?

[diamondseeker2006]

Agree that it is cyclical and driven by jewelers just as car makers make new models to make people think they want the newer ones!

My mother (who is in her 80's) had platinum rings. She never had them polished, so I grew up thinking platinum was ugly and gray! When I got married in the late 70's, I'd say 95% of the girls got yellow gold including me. But when I had the chance to get a new set for our 30th anniversary, I got platinum since I have dark hair and fairly fair skin and know that the white metals look best on me. I also changed my watch and collected other jewelry pieces in white metals. I do understand that wg was invented to be a less expensive alternative to platinum, so I generally do not choose it for rings. I am okay with it for earrings since it is lighter weight than platinum, though. I had my WF huggie hoops made with palladium white gold to avoid any possible nickel allergies. My yg e-ring did experience thinning over the 30 years I wore it, so I am pretty committed to platinum for things I hope will be heirlooms.

My one exception is that my little granddaughter has red hair, blue eyes, and fair skin and I am going to get some rose gold pieces so I can someday give them to her because that will be "her" color metal! I will say I admire the richness of yg and think it has always been a treasured metal and I wish it looked better on me!

When I joined PS, most of the jewelers were selling white metals. But if you browse a site like Tiffany today, you will see a LOT of yellow and some rose gold as well. Jewelers like that are the market changers. But I am not really into trends at all because my jewelry is a long term investment for me, so I prefer classics that never will go out of style. (And incidentally, I know of no one in my real life outside of PS friends who have changed their original wedding sets!)

Danny...my husband's wedding band is yg and he still wears it, and to me, that is still THE classic men's wedding band and I love your choice!

 

[GemFever]

I've been wondering about/conflicted about this question myself... I grew up surrounded by yellow/pink gold (Russia) so that's been my preference. But for engagement rings, all the diamonds seem to be set in white metal. Like it's a must for diamonds. At first I scoffed at the idea, but then I saw antique diamonds set in silver... and I figured if people back then would rather set their stones in silver than gold just for the whiteness factor, I guess there is something to it. I'll read up on those previous threads, thanks for posting them, AGBF!

I've never owned a piece of platinum jewelry so I'm not sure how I'd like the patina, but I did get a nice ding in my 18K YG ering. It's been polished out, but now I'll be worried about loss of metal. Maybe I'll reset in silver, instead.

For the wedding band though, I'm going with a nice fat YG band for sure. I think it's classic. And beautiful.

 

[ksinger]

Gold isn't really less popular than platinum. Or rather, it might be, but only in North America, and only right now, and only for engagement jewelry or stuff with large diamonds, typically. For dangly earrings (for example) with stones, don't set them in plat, fer cryin' out loud, my earlobes will stretch down to my waist! Gold please.

And go someplace like India? Gold all the way, the little surge of interest in platinum in the last 5 years notwithstanding. (And I know this by polling all the Indian guys in my office, AND from the fact that one of them keeps trying (kiddingly) to rip off my 22K gold chain that I'm making). I accuse him of sticky fingers, he says, "Hey, it's GOLD."

For the record, I love them both. But there is a special place in my heart for high-karat gold. If it's good enough for the pharaohs, it's good enough for me.

 

[Imdanny]

If it's good enough for the pharaohs, it's good enough for me.

Yes! That's exactly how I feel. Look at my avatar. I wanted to be a part of the history of gold, I wanted to have IT, and I wanted to have the same thing my parents and grandparents (and pretty much everyone else I see in everyday life except my doctor) had and have. SO wanted my ring to be platinum, I think it's beautiful, and I think I would like the weight, but I didn't want to not have gold, and although gold wears away, I'll never wear my ring enough for that to happen anyway.

 

[Imdanny]

Danny...my husband's wedding band is yg and he still wears it, and to me, that is still THE classic men's wedding band and I love your choice!

DS, thank you!

 

[AGBF]

BTW back in the day my Asian aunties wouldn't be caught dead wearing anything but yellow gold - and the higher carat weight, the better. It was a deeply held prejudice-(snip)Whatever the reason, when my brothers and I finally got to meet our grandmother, her gifts to us were jewelry pieces made of 24K yellow gold!

Indeed. In my early years on the diamond and gemstone fora an Asian woman told me that the older women in her family (she was Chinese) thought that anything less than 24K gold was was costume jewelry (only she called it "fashion jewelry"). A part of me has come to think that way, too, thinking that even 21K and 22K are not quite as good! But another part is still American enough to like the buttery yellow of 14K and 18K yellow gold. (In clothing, the paler yellow the better...so 14K has its own charm.)

Deb/AGBF

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Deb, I have never had 22-24k gold, and all my sentimental early pieces that I have kept are 14k. But now I would only get 18k (or higher) just due to wanting more of the precious metal.

 

[AprilBaby]

I love the look of antique jewelry in white gold or platinum. It reminds me of my grandmother. But for me it is yellow gold all the way! White metal looks horrible on my skin tone. And "gold" in it's natural state is yellow anyways! So yg is not cheap costume junk, its the way "gold" is supposed to look!

 

[rosetta]

I am an equal opportunity precious metal wearer

 

[ksinger]

BTW back in the day my Asian aunties wouldn't be caught dead wearing anything but yellow gold - and the higher carat weight, the better. It was a deeply held prejudice-(snip)Whatever the reason, when my brothers and I finally got to meet our grandmother, her gifts to us were jewelry pieces made of 24K yellow gold!

Indeed. In my early years on the diamond and gemstone fora an Asian woman told me that the older women in her family (she was Chinese) thought that anything less than 24K gold was was costume jewelry (only she called it "fashion jewelry"). A part of me has come to think that way, too, thinking that even 21K and 22K are not quite as good! But another part is still American enough to like the buttery yellow of 14K and 18K yellow gold. (In clothing, the paler yellow the better...so 14K has its own charm.)

Deb/AGBF

But 22K fuses like buttah...mmm!

 

[Imdanny]

I am an equal opportunity precious metal wearer

I'd like to have the platinum version of my ring. I'd like a lot of things. LOL!

 

[AGBF]

I am an equal opportunity precious metal wearer

I, also. I just posted in The Gold Thread recently that I bought an 18K white gold hand carved ring that was so beautiful I couldn't pass it up, even though it was so big that I could only wear it on the index finger of my right hand!

I did want to share here that my love of gold has brought me into contact with a what has proved to be a great resource for me and one that other Pricescopers might enjoy. It is The World Gold Council. Their website is quite extensive. There are sections on the history of gold, the history of gold jewelry making, famous pieces of gold jewelry, current gold jewelry designers, etcetera. I really love it. I am posting a few links to it!

The Heritage of Gold (History): http://www.gold.org/about_gold/story_of_gold/heritage/
Historic Pieces of Jewelry: http://www.gold.org/jewellery/about_gold_jewellery/historic-pieces/
Great Jewelry Designers: http://www.gold.org/jewellery/about_gold_jewellery/great-designers/

Deb/AGBF

 

[Laughinggravy0]

I think it was a question of fashion but as with many other aspects of how we dress, I think (and hope) that people will go their own way and buy what they enjoy looking at the most. I'd love to know what it is like in the US, in Europe, pretty much anything goes when it comes to clothing. Metal colour seems to be as varied.

For me, I prefer yellow gold because it suits my skin tone. I used to wear a lot of silver and to favour black when I was in my 20s and 30s. Hitting late 30s and now in my 40s, I prefer a softer more mellow, warmer colour range.

I'm even changing my faithful tahitian baroques with white gold findings to south sea baroques set in gold.

Deb, your gold threads have been interesting reading for me for a while now. The thread on favourite gold designers has such opulent stuff, 'specially in recent posts, that I hesitate to post that Meyer to me is a wonderful, wonderful designer. His work seems so simple in comparison.

 

[Laughinggravy0]

Danny - the colour is one of the delights of your lovely new ring. From what I can see from my computer, its a lovely rich gold

 

[AGBF]

I posted the photos below on Pricescope before. They are of a platinum and diamond band that my parents bought for my mother in 1951. My parents were married in October of 1941 and had a very happy marriage that lasted for 66 years until my mother passed away at age 90 in 2008. With the blessing of my father, who is still alive and fit at 91, I gave the band to my godson who used it to marry his wife in September of this year. It is, indeed, still in fashion and still being worn in a loving marriage!

PS-I offered my godson a new ringbox with which to present the ring to his (then) fiancée, but he wanted to give it to her in its original box.

Deb/AGBF

 

[AGBF]

Here the ring is again, this time at the wedding of my godson and his wife. The professional photographer captured it.

Deb/AGBF

 

[yssie]

How lovely Deb your godson's new wife is a lucky woman.

 

[Imdanny]

Danny - the colour is one of the delights of your lovely new ring. From what I can see from my computer, its a lovely rich gold

Laughinggravy0, it's true. It's even nicer in person. Thank you!