14k, 18k, or platinum for solitaire pendant?

[Scooba116]

I'm having a pendant set as pictured with a 16" chain and I can't decide on the metal. I'm partial to platinum for all my jewelry. It is mind clean to me being pure-ish and not plated. I also like the weight and have no issues with the patina. I have metal allergies, but I don't recall ever being irritated from a necklace. I would really like to avoid replating with any frequency, but I have had issues with at least YG necklaces changing color (I assume due to oxidation of the alloyed metals). I don't recall wearing a WG necklace enough to notice wear to the finish or corrosion to the alloyed metals.

I also don't recall ever having a platinum necklace. I tend to like dainty necklaces that I can't feel, so l'm not sure I would like the weight of platinum here. Would a necklace with this much metal even weigh much in plat?

I think my only hesitations in going platinum here are the cost (the necklace would be significantly more costly than the diamond) and concern about the weight. I have to decide sooner than I can get to a B&M to try on platinum necklaces, and I also don't think the vendor I going to tell me the particular WG alloys they use (IG vendor with nice stones at great prices but a well-known lack of customer service).

Also, is $900 reasonable for this basket and 16” chain in plat?

Any suggestions to modify this design to keep the stone from angling itself down toward the floor? And what would be the minimum width I could do on the chain?

 

[Kim N]

I would personally choose 18K to avoid the weight and cost of platinum.

 

[LilAlex]

Platinum should be cheaper than 18K but you will need a little more. It's half the price per gram of 24K. 18K brings it down 25% and the extra density of platinum means you will need 25% more grams. (Platinum is only a little denser than pure gold, but it's a lot denser than 18K and even more so than 14K.) But factoring all that in, it's still cheaper than gold. I was recently quoted a better price for a heavy ring made of platinum that with 18K.

Since you mentioned freedom from allergies and classic appeal, I would go with platinum. Vis-a-vis weight, that tiny basket is not gonna wear you down by day's end. If you are quoted a big premium for platinum, maybe ask someone else...?

 

[Kim N]

Platinum should be cheaper than 18K but you will need a little more. It's half the price per gram of 24K. 18K brings it down 25% and the extra density of platinum means you will need 25% more grams. (Platinum is only a little denser than pure gold, but it's a lot denser than 18K and even more so than 14K.) But factoring all that in, it's still cheaper than gold. I was recently quoted a better price for a heavy ring made of platinum that with 18K.

Since you mentioned freedom from allergies and classic appeal, I would go with platinum. Vis-a-vis weight, that tiny basket is not gonna wear you down by day's end. If you are quoted a big premium for platinum, maybe ask someone else...?

Interesting, I've always been quoted more for platinum than 18K.

 

[Scooba116]

Platinum should be cheaper than 18K but you will need a little more. It's half the price per gram of 24K. 18K brings it down 25% and the extra density of platinum means you will need 25% more grams. (Platinum is only a little denser than pure gold, but it's a lot denser than 18K and even more so than 14K.) But factoring all that in, it's still cheaper than gold. I was recently quoted a better price for a heavy ring made of platinum that with 18K.

Since you mentioned freedom from allergies and classic appeal, I would go with platinum. Vis-a-vis weight, that tiny basket is not gonna wear you down by day's end. If you are quoted a big premium for platinum, maybe ask someone else...?

I have asked around. Platinum seem more than 18k everywhere.
one large online vendor is 790 for 18k 1110 for platinum
the IG vendor is 700 for 18k and 900 for platinum
local jewler is 725 for 18k and 1379 for platinum

 

[dk168]

Based on my own experience with custom pieces, mainly rings, the cost in descending order for white metals:

Platinum (whatever is the most common one)
18K WG
14K WG
10K WG
9K WG
Rhodium-plated Silver

Don't forget that when going custom, there will be a labour cost and not just the cost of the metal itself.

I have been reliably reminded by my usual contact at the bench I use in China about the labour cost when going custom for wrapping a couple of 6mm round Moissanite in 9K White Gold, thinly just around the girdle and with a jump ring would cost 130 USD when the gold content is tiny.

For a custom piece, the labour cost stays the same whichever metal one chooses to use in the piece and the weight of the metal in the piece.

The labour cost could be more with Platinum as I believe it is more difficult to work with and requires more skills and experience.

Can't comment on the design as I don't like static/fixed pendants. I only had a cheapo costume fixed solitaire one in the past and I did not like it when it moved to one side. However, based on the chain attachment points as seen in the photos in the original post, I believe it is unlikely to flip/tilt forward myself.

As for the width of the chain, IMHO, it is down to personal preferences.

I am plus size with a large short neck. Dainty thin chains will disappear around my neck!

The box chain I wear with my collection of pendants is 2mm, the other is a twisted wire which is 1.3mm.

As for the price of having the necklace made, if the collet for the stone has to be custom made, then I do not believe the price is unreasonable at 900 USD in Platinum. I would, however, as for the estimated metal weight of the finished piece.

All based on my own personal knowledge and experience, and I am not an expert by any means.

DK

 

[LilAlex]

Interesting, I've always been quoted more for platinum than 18K.

Back in the day, that's how it was.

Google platinum and gold prices per gram. 2X difference -- and the reverse of what it used to be at that ratio. Again, there is some accounting for 18K (not 24K) and the moderately increased density of platinum over 18K -- but platinum needed to make a piece using a given volume of metal is still cheaper, materials-wise, than gold. Whether your jeweler will tell you that or not, who knows?

I don't think it is any harder to work than gold but maybe someone can weigh in.

At-the-pump gas prices fall a lot slower than the barrel prices!

 

[LilAlex]

I have asked around. Platinum seem more than 18k everywhere.

Not if you are buying at spot prices and/or mixing your own alloys. I don't know what any of those quoted numbers represent. The almost-2X premium for platinum at your local jeweler seems absurd -- vs. the 28% premium at another of your sources. Not rational relationships.

I, too, have been quoted more for platinum than 18K in the past. That was also when platinum was a lot more expensive than gold.

 

[elle_chris]

Even though platinum is about half the price of gold right now, platinum will still cost more or about the same. This is because platinum is 95% or 90% pure as opposed to 14kt (58.3%) or 18kt (75%). So you're using much less gold in a piece than you would platinum.

Also, platinum alloys are much more expensive than gold. For instance, Iridium, which is generally used with 90% platinum, is 5,000usd/troy ounce and Ruthenium with is one of the more common alloys used with 95% platinum is 440usd/troy ounce.
These numbers are from today.

Plus, platinum is harder to work with than gold so you need a more skilled bench to do it properly hence you're paying for the skill.

 

[vintageinjune]

Is there a possibility to do a 14k or 18k white gold/palladium alloy that isn't rhodium plated?

Is palladium an option? It's usually just a little more than 14k, but like platinum, does not need plating and is "pure".

I'd think 1.25mm is the thinnest I'd do for a daily wear cable chain, and a medium lobster clasp, none of that spring clasp nonsense.

 

[0515vision]

@Wink and @Rockdiamond, I hope you gentlemen don’t mind me tagging you.

Wondering if you have insight into platinum being used for necklaces/pendants. It doesn’t seem as common and are there reasons why? What’s the relative cost? Does the weight factor in? For the consumer, the purity of platinum helps those with allergies.

Appreciate your time!

 

[elle_chris]

@Wink and @Rockdiamond, I hope you gentlemen don’t mind me tagging you.

Wondering if you have insight into platinum being used for necklaces/pendants. It doesn’t seem as common and are there reasons why? What’s the relative cost? Does the weight factor in? For the consumer, the purity of platinum helps those with allergies.

Appreciate your time!

I'm neither Wink, or Rockdiamond but all but one of my diamond pendants are platinum.

I chose platinum because I developed a nickel sensitivity as I got older. Apparently it's common. Also, platinum won't yellow like WG did on me.