Platinum now cheaper than gold

[Lovinggems]

Anyone knows whether this translates to cheaper platinum jewelry? Or a bit of reduction in costs for a ring made in platinum? I am curious.

 

[kenny]

Anyone knows whether this translates to cheaper platinum jewelry? Or a bit of reduction in costs for a ring made in platinum? I am curious.

Keep in mind the percentage of precious metal in alloys.

Platinum is usually 95% platinum.
18K gold is only 75% gold.
14K gold is only 59% gold.
10K is only 45% gold.

So even if gold and PT prices were the same common PT alloys would cost more, by weight, since there's more precious metal in them.
... and this ignores all other factors contributing to cost of final jewelry pieces.

 

[cinnamonstick]

I wondered the same question. I asked a jeweler how much more for a setting in PT vs 14k when getting a rough estimate. Answer was $300ish

He commented "keep in mind platinum weighs more" so I think he was hinting to make the same setting in PT costs more bc of the cost per oz (or whatever measurement a jeweler would use ) ..the exact ring in PT weighs more the 14k
?

 

[Lovinggems]

Kenny good point about the metal content and weigh of platinum. I love the feel of platinum so that's why I was curious regarding current pricing. Cinnamonstick the price difference seems pretty good.

Looking at the historical Kitco charts, I think I'm just slow to the party on current pricing.

 

[Michael_E]

... and this ignores all other factors contributing to cost of final jewelry pieces.

These other factors are really what determines the price of a platinum piece. Platinum is much more difficult to work, in every way, than gold or silver alloys and so the time required to assemble parts and especially to do finish work on the whole piece is much higher than with other metals. Since the final cost of any jewelry is about 25% material cost and 75% labor/profit cost, the cost of platinum pieces will always be higher than gold pieces. That said, yes, the reduction in platinum costs have affected the final cost of custom platinum work. It is closer to the price of gold work, but it isn't enough lower than the cost of gold to make it the same or less expensive than gold work yet, (maybe soon the way prices have been going).

 

[denverappraiser]

Typically the cost of labor in a piece of jewelry is quite a bit more than the cost of the metal, and labor is going up, not down. As is mentioned above, most platinum jobs are more work.