Polishing Platinum

[dchu1975]

I have a question regarding the polishing of platinum. I will be purchasing a platinum mounting soon and was wondering if anyone knew how long it truly takes to polish platinum to get it to give it a good shine. I have gone to different stores asking if I buy a setting from them whether or not they would provide free polishing. My responses range from some stores saying no, because it takes nearly 3 hours to give it a good shine and remove the scratches to yes, since it only takes 1/2 an hour. is polishing the platinum something that I should expect the store to throw in? I know it all depends on how dull the metal is and how many scratches are in it and that platinum is much harder to polish than gold. Any help would be greatly appreciated even though I know this really isn't a diamond question.

 

[Rook]

As a side question,

I am looking to get a platinum e-ring customade. I would like to have the ring made so that it is more durable, and will need to be polished less and will show less scratching.

What type of platinum or setting type would be best for this. I.E. forged?, type of alloy mix?

 

[Rook]

Also, in addition to my last question, would using a harding alloy in the platinum cause problems later in resising the ring?

 

[RockDoc]

Re : Sizing conerns with platinum

The resizing or repair of platinum rings requires that the metal be heated to red hot, to get the solder to flow.

As such it is not a good idea to have diamonds in the piece during this process. If the ring is set with stones, and you need a repair, the stones should be unset and reset.

There are some ways and products made to help insulate the area where the diamonds are set, but no guarantee if they were damaged.

Platinum is more durable than white gold, and definately a more white color, so it would need repair potentially a lot less often than white gold. But when you do need a prong retipped or the ring resized you need to be prepared for the costs of unsetting and resetting the stones in it.

Platinum can mar fairly easily, but a "real" jeweler can polish this without much work or cost. How much is mars of course is controlled by the carefulness or carelessness in wear. Thought should be given to taking the ring off, when doing things that might scratch or damage it in normal wear.

In addition, consumers ignore getting a professional to look at the ring from time to time to avoid repair later on. This should be done fairly frequently.


So in the plat vs. gold consideration- Each metal has its plus and minus attributes.

Hope this helps.

Rockdoc