Platinum is the strongest of all precious metals used for jewelry production1. Because of its strength it can be used at 95% purity – at that purity gold, for instance is way too soft to withstand the daily wear and tear that rings sustain. Therefore, we usually use gold at 60% purity – 14K gold – or 75% purity – 18K gold – for rings.2. Purity also produces a softness in all metals. The purer - the softer. Same goes for platinum.3. Softness means that the metal sustains scratches easier. The confusion comes when people mistakenly believe that gold doesn’t scratch. That couldn’t be further from the truth. 95% pure gold scratches much easier than platinum. All precious metals that are pure will scratch. It’s just that we do not use them with as high purity as platinum because they are too weak.4. The scratches give platinum a grayish tone after some period of time.5. The scratches can be polished out with special rouges and buffers. Most Retailers do not carry this special equipment, not do they have qualified experts that know how to work with platinum.6. Once polished, platinum returns to its famous high patina shine. Because of the denseness of its molecules it shines brighter than any other precious metal.
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