Platinum is a silvery-white metal that is durable, long lasting, and pure. It was first used in ancient Egypt and been popular ever since. In the late 1800¡¯s the popularity for platinum grew rapidly when the royalty started to wear them. Now, this precious metal has once again reached its popularity with its high quality for jewelry.

Platinum is hypoallergenic so it is safe and perfect for the most sensitive skin. This metal is counted in 1000 parts. Most pieces are 950 parts per thousand, or 95% pure. For the guaranteed high quality, look for the marks 950Pt, Pt950, 950 Plat, Plat, 900Plat, Pt900, or 900Pt. This metal resists tarnish and is alloyed with titanium, copper, rhodium, palladium, iridium, osmium, and ruthenium.

The appearance for platinum jewelry and white gold is very similar, but there are few differences in its purity, rarity, and durability. Platinum weighs 60% more than white gold. Since platinum is purer than white gold, white gold may have a white tint to it.