Is platinum damaged by polishing?

[ILoveDiamondsToo]

If so, why? How often is it safe to polish it if you don''t like the patina?

 

[beach]

Platinum just gets displaced/pushed around/smeared. You don't really lose any significant weight when you get it polished.

 

[ILoveDiamondsToo]

That''s what I thought too but I heard somewhere else that the ring cannot be polished to often or it will "wear out."

 

[Imdanny]

I know it gets pushed around because of its molecular structure instead of wearing off. My question is what is to say it's going to be "put back" in the shape and finish it was when it was new.

 

[oldmancoyote]

Platinum polishing happens through two processes - heat and mechanical "smoothing" of ridges and cavities, and friction and abrasion of minute amounts of materials. The polishing compounds used can be less abrasive than those used for gold because of the high plasticity of platinum (ability to "furrow" by displacing the material, rather than through scratching away a surface film), but there will be a small amount of material that does not get pushed back the scratch and is literally polished away.

So, it is true that platinum will withstand more polishing than gold (and in general, even if not polished, it will last longer), but it's not eternal, and repeated, very frequent polishing particularly on fine details will result in wear.

 

[denverappraiser]

Also bear in mind that this question is somewhat design dependent. The process of ‘smoothing of ridges and cavities’ may be destroying the very design elements that you love about the piece.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver