What is Platinum?

platinum is a rare, precious metal prized for its density, rare appearance and resistance to corrosion. Often used for jewellery, catalytic converters, electrical contacts, laboratory equipment and investment, platinum's relative scarcity and durability make it valuable. While similar in appearance to white metals like silver, platinum's unique combination of malleability and rarity renders it more costly. 

Platinum Facts

Platinum is a dense, ductile, highly unreactive transition metal found in magmatic sulphide ore deposits. With the chemical symbol Pt and atomic number 78, platinum is considered a precious metal of the platinum group. 

Some key facts about platinum's definition include its melting point of 1768°C - the highest of any metal apart from tungsten and rhenium. Platinum's density exceeds that of all other metals except for osmium. Its major worldwide supply comes from platinum group metals mining in South Africa and Russia.

Why Platinum is Valuable?

Platinum is one of the rarest and most valuable precious metals due to its robustness against tarnishing, rust and corrosion. Platinum does not oxidize or degrade over long amounts of time like other white metals such as silver and is remarkably durable, stable and resistant to chemical reactions. 

This longevity and natural lustre underline platinum's higher cost than gold. Another reason contributing to platinum's value is its scarcity. Platinum's rarity in the Earth's crust combined with significant demand for industrial applications means it typically trades for a premium to other precious metals on the world market.

What is Platinum Used For?

Platinum has diverse applications owing to its exceptional properties. Among its foremost roles, platinum appears extensively in fine jewellery where its innate brilliance and resistance to tarnishing lend an aura of sophistication and heirloom quality. Beyond decorative usages, platinum acts as a critical catalyst accelerating essential chemical reactions in industries like oil refining through its unique non-reactivity, even at raised temperatures. 

Additional applications capitalize on platinum's thermal endurance such as in laboratory tools and electrical components. Whether decorative adornments or catalyzing industrial processes, platinum meets demanding technical needs while retaining lasting luxury through its resilience against degradation. These multifaceted usages illustrate how platinum enriches lives through both functional and aesthetic contributions.

Platinum vs White Gold 

While platinum and white gold may appear similar, there are important differences between these precious metals. Platinum is denser and harder, giving designs a superior ability to withstand pressure without deforming over decades of wear. However, platinum's density causes fine details to become rounded more readily. 

Though less dense, white gold's downside is reduced ability to resist wearing away under regular use. Platinum maintains a brilliant white colouring naturally, whereas white gold requires periodic rhodium plating to achieve a bright white appearance. Finally, while platinum pieces typically carry higher initial price tags, white gold's need for replating results in added lifetime maintenance costs versus platinum's easy polishing. 

Durability

Platinum's superior density lends itself to exceptional robustness against wearing away even with decades of regular wear. However, platinum's mass causes fine details to become gently rounded more readily over long-term use. By comparison, white gold presents greater intrinsic malleability allowing retention of sharp edges and engraving definition for longer periods typically. 

Colour

While platinum remains shining white intrinsically, white gold necessitates periodic rhodium plating to conceal its inherent yellow-grey undertone. This electroplated layer protects the white appearance but fades after approximately three years, requiring replenishment for maintained brilliance. Comparatively, platinum only demands polishing every few years to restore its lustre. 

Thus, over the lifetime of adornment, rhodium coating replacement for white gold incurs extra monetary and time costs versus platinum's ease of polishing alone. This dissimilarity impacts selection, especially for pieces intended for lengthy daily use.

What is more expensive platinum or gold?

Platinum, as a rarer noble metal, usually assumes higher original market values than white gold. However, white gold's necessity for re-plating the rhodium layering adds recurring expenditure not incumbent on platinum owners. 

Platinum decoration requires solely intermittent polishing to restore its natural brilliance. Compared over the functional lifespan, the selection of platinum may prove more cost-efficient versus white gold pieces needing replenishment of the masking plating multiple times. 

Pairing

When matched sets of adornments will interact regularly through proximity like engagement and wedding bands always touching, judicious selection dictates both be composed of an identical metal. Platinum and white gold pieces rubbing together risk one abrading the other more quickly.

To ensure a couple enjoys their symbolic rings for lifetimes of loving union, matching platinum to platinum or white gold to white gold proved most practical. 

Final Words

While platinum and white gold offer comparable white appearances benefitting fine jewellery and adornment pieces, examination reveals definitive variances in their tangible properties impacting long-term performance and costs.

 Factors like density-dependent durability, intrinsic colouration maintenance needs, and pairing appropriateness were discussed. An informed comparison hopefully aids in discerning which precious metal best fulfils design intent and lifestyle factors for beautiful creations meant to commemorate significant moments for years to come.