Date: 3/16/2009 10:11:41 AM
Author: oldmancoyote
Date: 3/16/2009 5:49:01 AM
Author: Imdanny
Yes, you can tell them apart with your eye (well, I can). Palladium is slightly more grey, if that makes sense. I actually the look of it better than platinum.
They are in the same family, so they look very much like each other. As far as platinum being more 'prestigious,' that's just nonsense.
The main difference (to me) is the weight. You can see on a list of specific gravity (sorry, don't have a link just now) that platinum (due to alloys used and the amount by weight that is used as alloy, as opposed to the amount of alloy in gold, mainly) is the heaviest option.
18kt yellow gold is next. 18kt white gold. Then 14 kt yellow gold, etc. This is not exact, just a general outline of how the chart reads.
Palladium is about as heavy as 14 kt gold. It's in that area somewhere. I think I remember it's just slightly less heavy than 14kt white gold.
That's a deal killer for me, but that's just me! I don't see any reason not to consider it (I considered it).
I'll let someone else speak about its price (I think it has been higher per ounce than platinum in the past-- I don't know what affects its price today).
I'll let someone else speak about its durability. I have no first hand knowledge of that, and I really don't know how to answer that. Good luck!
I beg to disagree on the highlighted point. Platinum is more common than palladium in the earth crust (although slightly more expensive to extract), but it has been chosen consistently in modern times (1900 ->) for some of the most important pieces of jewellery, whereas palladium seems to surface as a fashionable substitute in times of economic troubles or platinum scarcity. Whether all of this amounts to 'more prestige' is debatable, but it points to the fact that the image of platinum is considerably higher than that of palladium.
Palladium is also the most reactive of the platinum metals group - although it's still by and large non-reactive, greater precautions need to be taken to avoid oxidization and joint failure when using palladium than with gold and platinum. Casting and fabrication require specific knowledge which is less widespread than for platinum or gold.
Re: prices: apart from a speculative spike in 1999-2000, palladium has been consistently priced less than platinum from the early 1980s because of lower demand for industrial and jewellery uses.
Durability-wise, palladium alloys have similar properties (hardness, lack of elastic memory, behaviour on scratching/impact) to platinum, so there shouldn't be issues there.