Patina on platinum...

[luvmysparklies]

I know that over time platinum will develop a patina, but I was wondering--other than taking it to a jeweler, is there a way to keep the high shine on platinum? I am asking because I (maybe in the minority) don''t like the patina and I have platinum prongs. I like the shiney white look, and don''t want the dark grey prongs. Will something like tarn-x keep the patina at bay? I hesitate to use the sunshine cloth because I noticed that it left minute scratches on another ring.

Luv

 

[PlatinumDiamond]

Hmmmmm, that's an interesting question.

I have been wearing my 950 Platinum S1 wedding ring every day and all day since I got hitched last September of 2003 and it has not developed any patina yet and is still shiney new looking. The only thing I do to keep it clean is shower with it on every day. It could be the S1 mix is helping that, being the 5% S1 mix creates more hardness factors in the platinum, or that my ring's hammered finish is very high polished. Come to think of it, my wife's wedding band is high polished and is made of 950 Platinum with the 5% being Ruthenium, and hers shows no sign of patina yet, either. Maybe it is too soon to tell with our rings, I really don't know!

Possibly having a rhodium plating on the ring would keep patina from occuring, but rhodium plating on platinum is a no no unless it is 950 Platinum with Palladium. The metal hardness with this mix is only 60HV. This is really soft and even dents with use. It does require a Rhodium plating to modify the color which well wear off in a few weeks or months.

With this in mind, I wouldn't recommend rhodium plating a platinum ring to keep patina from occuring and about the only thing I can think of that may keep patina from occuring is by washing it daily.

 

[luvmysparklies]

Yeah, I think that your particular Plat mix does stay shiney and holds up well. Is it Jeff Truitt that does this mix? I think that was the man's name.

I don't have the patina yet, since my ring is fairly new, but I would like to keep it at bay. I do clean my ring everyday as well, but just wasn't quite sure if the patina would occur despite my cleanings. I have heard where people will get their plat rings professionally cleaned and polished only for them to start "greying up" again within a couple of months. I know that these people did not have the Plat 1 mix like you do and I know that my prongs are not made of your mix either-as Vatche made the ring. As I understand it, Jeff is the only one really using those special mixes.

Anyone know if the patina will occur despite the frequent cleanings?

Luv

 

[DavidEmslie]

Again and again I tell people not to belive the multi billion dollar advertising campaign that the platinum refiners put together a few years back, When the cold war ended PT was not as in demand, so they focused on jewelry...and almost everyone bought it that some how PT was this suppirior metal...it not, like anything else it has properties that are different, that is all, some of them desireable, some not.

platinum lacks the ability to do what is called "self burnishing"
you see Pt is so dense and tough conventional wear and tear dose not abrade micro layers off the metal...it just dings it up.
This is why white gold and yellow gold always have that warm smooth look, and Pt gets that undesierable grey. The only way to keep a metal shiny is either by #1 not wearing it, or #2 lots of profesional polishing and forceing micor layers of metal off the ring.

In general people who dont use there hands alot generaly dont get scratches or dings on there rings. If you are very active and do things like washing dishes, working on cars, holding metals in your hands (coins, Keys) if you live in an area where it is dry and there is a lot of dust(hot or cold) dirt on the skin can abrade it. If you rock climb with it on or even do gardening. It does not take much to start putting dings into it.

It is becuase of these proporties that PT is such a pain to work with. And why it costs more to finish. I often turn people away from Platinum when they ask me to desgin rings. I mean I can make more money selling it but my goal is someting that people will be satisfied with

 

[PlatinumDiamond]

Platinum to me will always be superior over all the other precious metals that are used in jewelry today because:

1.) The weight
2.) The color
3.) The strength
4.) The value & last but not least,
5.) The luxurious feel it has wearing it.

I do not find that 950 Platinum S1 nor 950 Platinum Ru scratches any easier than 10K, 14k, & 18K gold does. Actually the S1 mix it is harder to scratch than the golds. The Ruthenium mix would be about equal to the gold for how they scratch. Only thing is that it's easier to buff out the scratches on gold, but in doing so metal is taken away. When gold is scratched, metal is lost. When platinum is scratched, no metal is lost, just more or less displaced or moved.

As far as a patina goes, some like it, some don't. I haven't had that experience yet with my platinum rings developing a patina, but when and if they ever do, I will probably like it too.

As a jewelers point of view, I can see why gold may be perferred by most to work with, because platinum is much harder at that and gold is much less expensive to purchase as well.

 

[Bing Chow]

I have a 900 plat 100 irid ring and I can't say it has a dull/grey look to it at all. Sure, it has dings/scratches but when I see others' white gold rings, it looks the same as mine.

I can only imagine how great the S1 or S2 might be.

 

[caratgirl]

My Hubby bought me my very own Dremel tool, with nice buffing attachments and a big block of white rouge. I polish my own rings (carefully), and only use it with platinum. The other gold stuff I polish with a separate set of buffing attachments (very important, cause the gold residue can contaminate the platinum pieces). Approach with caution if you are technically challenged - or practice with some inexpensive pieces first. I also have a 7X headpiece so that I can see what I am doing. Not for the faint of heart, but I have become quite proficient and my friends have a habit of showing up at our house with their jewelry and bottles of wine. Don't drink the wine prior to using the tools!!

 

[PlatinumDiamond]

Yeah, what I don't understand though why more makers of 950 platinum rings don't use the S+ mixes as the other 5% additive metal except for maybe the fact that it requires special techniques in working with it and maybe the labor cost associated with using S+ mixes would be higher because of this.

On the other hand, I feel the ones that don't care for platinum because of the patina that can occur or the way platinum scratches would think differently if their platinum rings were made of 950 Platinum S1. Harder to scratch than any other precious metals and holds it luster very long. At least that is what I experience.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not pushing 950 Platinum S1 at all, just I am so impressed and pleased with it I want to share with you the facts that 950 Platinum S1 really has.

The two reasons I personally see that consumers wouldn't want this particular precious metal and mix is because of the higher price and maybe because they prefer a yellow over a white color with their jewelry. Nothing wrong with that!

 

[luvmysparklies]

Well, thanks guys for your responses!
PlatinumDiamond-I have to say that yes, it has got to be the expense as the reason more people don't use Plat-S. There are not large amounts of people willing to alloy gold with Palladium because of the expense. Other countries have outlawed the use of nickel because of the skin reactions, yet we continue to use it here

To me, if I am willing to pay for the quality, what is the big deal? But anyway, I will continue to clean my prongs and hope to keep the patina at bay--simply not wearing my e-ring isn't an option

Thanks again!
Luv

 

[pyramid]

Could one of the experts reply. Is it true that the patina spoken about on platinum is actually a type of tarnish?. I thought it was just the amalgamation of all the tiny scratches which made it look a darker color.

 

[Griffin]

>Platinum to me will always be superior over all the other precious metals that are used in jewelry today because:
>1.) The weight
>2.) The color
>3.) The strength
>4.) The value & last but not least,
>5.) The luxurious feel it has wearing it.

Wouldn't tungsten beat platinum in every one of these categories hands down?
As well, it never loses its polish, scratches, or tarnishes.
Come to think of it, based on that list, DU would top even tungsten, if you could deal with the glowing issue....

 

[luvmysparklies]

Pyramid-
You've asked what I've been wondering too! I wasn't sure if the patina on plat was actually tarnish or what is actually is.

 

[maria]

Are there any products to help prevent or slow the patina? Or is simply cleaning it with liquid soap and windex enough?

 

[caratgirl]

Patina on platinum is just the scratches, not any tarnishing.