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again, Iridium or Ruthenium with Platinum?

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new new

Rough_Rock
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Apr 14, 2003
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I have to bring this up again, now I have to choose from 5% Iridium or 5% Ruthenium with Platinum wedding band. not sure which one is better.
also sb said 10% Iridium with 90% Platinum is better, anybody where I can find this kind of alloy for wedding band?
thanks
 

canadianice

Rough_Rock
Joined
Feb 4, 2003
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5% Ruthenium is considerably harder than 5% iridium;
some benchmen consider 5% iridium too soft.

10% iridium alloy confers greater hardness to the
platinum than 5% iridium does.

For what it is worth, Tiffany and Co. uses 5%
Ruthenium in its platinum jewellery.

I would go for 5% Ruthenium or 10% Iridium.

Note that only platinum alloyed with 5% of another
metal can be stamped Pt950 or PLAT.

Cheers,
CI
 

new new

Rough_Rock
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Hi, thanks for the reply, thought the information on this page seems different from other pages.

http://www.sndgems.com/platinumfacts.htm

also, from which vendor I can find the plat with 10% Iridium?

thank you
 

canadianice

Rough_Rock
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You will find different opinions depending on the benchman and his preferences.

Clearly, 10% iridium is harder than 5% iridium. 5% Ruthenium is also much harder than 5% iridium, and has a higher base Vickers hardness (HV) than 10% iridium.

Any platinum alloy will "work harden", though.

Incidentally, the link you posted was the first I have seen with Pt/Ir higher than Pt/Ru.

Here are some other links to help you. The graph in the last one demonstrates the hardness of different percentages of the alloy.

http://www.preciousplatinum.com
http://www.platinum-wedding-rings.com/platinum_alloy_information.html
http://www.noble.matthey.com/pdfs/English/37.pdf

Cheers,
CI
 

nhwhazup

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jun 13, 2003
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I recently had my diamond reset in 900 plat/100 iridium. I discussed with my designer that I liked all the aspects of platinum except for the quick development of that matte, steely look. He suggested the 900/100 iridium alloy and I couldn't be happier. My set has a lot of surface and the high polished look is holding up just fine. As a consumer, I highly recommend the iridium 100 pt alloy mix.

Sheila
 

new new

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 14, 2003
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hi, Sheila
who is the vendor? I can not find anyone selling 900/100 platinum..
thanks
 

Hest88

Ideal_Rock
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New, what kind of wedding band are you looking for? If it's a basic stock band you may have to settle for whatever alloy it comes in. If it's custom you have more flexibility.

For a wedding band vendor with a good grasp of the platinum mixes, check out: http://www.diamondsunlimited.com/platinumprice.html He can make his bands in your alloy of choice. I've never bought from him (my DH ended up choosing a band he didn't carry), but I've had a couple of exchanges with him and had a pretty good feeling.
 

nhwhazup

Rough_Rock
Joined
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I had the 900 plat/100 iridium alloy set custom designed and made by Michael Devlin at devlinjewelry.com. His store is located in Sebastopol, CA. I am in NH, sent my diamond to him via mail and e-mailed back and forth on the design concept with photos of a wax before he cast the final setting. It was a wonderful experience and I couldn't be any happier with my rings. Of course I had them appraised when I got them back and the local GIA certified gemologist gave his work high accolades on both the quality and the expedience.

Check out his website.

Good luck,
Sheila
 

PhillipSchmidt

Brilliant_Rock
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Nov 26, 2004
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What about cobalt?

I haven't really known which is which, but I have used plat+different alloys that work considerably different.

Which one is which?

1) is rock hard, riduculously difficult to polish and easy to fuse.. It has a good white colour, isn't magnetic and seems to have the highest melting temperature. It is so hard it doesn't suffer from greyness as it doesn't scratch, on one hand, on the other it is so hard solder drags and leaves a line under the polishing mop, also the polisher can expect to spend up 5 times as long polishing.

2) is soft and polishes easily. I even suspect it is 900, not 950, but stamped 950 at the assay office. I read how much 900 they were assaying compared to 950 - twice as much, from half a year ago and we are talking hundreds of tons, so I have long wondered why I never see 900 stamped on anything, I was trying to find out why but it was news to everyone... It just works so much differently. I can't explain why, but it is more like gold then plat. It has a wonderful colour and takes a polish better then gold but not as good as no# 1. It lost some of the good plat properties of no# 1, but when I am working in that I might get the same job done in half the time, but with only 10% less satisfaction, you work it out...

3) is the blueish tinted stuff which I was told has cobalt in it. It polishes better then no# 1 and was slightly magnetic. It is a bit easier to work with and casts better.

4) not cast but bought wire etc, obviously a lot denser and additives haven't been used to imrove casting flow. Takes the best polish.

I have also worked with two types of plat in engagement rins. Both are excellent, both are not cast. One is very hard though and much like no# 1

It seems there are a lot more alloys involved then just these as every casting place seems to produce a different metal. I am sure they are all experimenting like crazy as all metalurgists seem to do, so they can gain an advantage over their competetition.

Interesting that 10% iridium was the whiteness you wanted

Sorry this isn't exactly scientific. I just sit there saying, hmmm 'oh no not that Platorum stuff again', and 'is that Domino ring really plat?'.

I'd like to know why
 

Hest88

Ideal_Rock
Joined
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I''m obviously no expert, but I''ve heard that the cobalt alloy is brittle and not something you''d want to use for fine jewelry.
 

strmrdr

Super_Ideal_Rock
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PhillipSchmidt

Brilliant_Rock
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Given the choice, some people go with the cobalt, seems to be a matter of preference, but I not sure if that a choice is a good one. Maybe both are just cheap.
 

PhillipSchmidt

Brilliant_Rock
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armed with the tables from strmrdrs link I just range all the platinum wholesalers in Australia that I could remember.

The biggest casting shop uses 5% cobalt as it ''helps the casting process'' I get the impression most plat cast in Europe and Australia is this alloy - still checking though. I think this is the grey stuff...

The biggest reefiner offers an assortment of alloys for all purposes.

They have 5% gold?
They have 10% rhodium, must look great, but...
They have 3% rhodium and 3% copper. What 94% plat is good for, I don''t know.

Thats all the sales girl could find. The technical manager will call me when he gets back.

It is definately not simple. I have to keep my oppinions reserved about cobalt because I don''t think Apecs would use it if they knew of something better??



7.gif
 

PhillipSchmidt

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Nov 26, 2004
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667
I did the rounds again and my findings are conclusive.

Jewellery metal in Australia %95-%97 plat and the rest is copper. Nothing else on offer.

Casting metal is cobalt

Preetty week huh.
 

perry

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
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Keep in mind that most Platinum, unlike gold, is used for commercial products. These alloys with copper, gold, and other "strange" percentages are the commercial Platinum products. Withough looking it up I''ll bet that Copper typically adds workability and/or machinability.

There are specific alloys for jewlery that the commercial market vendors do not make at all.

Perry
 
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