About Palladium

Palladium 950

Update: March 2019


Up until roughly early Summer of 2018, palladium was priced similarly to 14kt gold.  At that price point, palladium provided the look of platinum but at a substantial cost savings.  Since last year, the price for palladium has been steadily rising and recently it surpassed platinum, meaning that the finished jewelry pieces in palladium are now more expensive than the same item in platinum.

As such we have removed palladium as a standard option on our site, and leaving it only as a special order selection when available.

------

We are working with several casting companies that have started to do extensive work with palladium - thus we have added new jewelry items available in palladium and wanted to give you some additional information on what palladium is, and why we offer it.

Palladium is a platinum group metal that has been in use for jewelry since 1939. 

Palladium has seen a resurgence in jewelry use as it offers similar benefits to platinum, but has a weight similar to that of 14kt gold, so as to provide the look of platinum without the weight.  

Pure palladium for jewelry is 95% palladium, and usually 5% ruthenium (ruthenium is often mixed with platinum as well).  Because it is a platinum group metal, it offers the following jewelry related benefits:

1. Hypoallergenic - unlike white gold, which is mixed with nickel and thus can cause allergic reactions, palladium has no allergy issues.
2. True white color - white gold has a yellowish tint in its natural state, since it is white gold mixed with nickel - this is overcome by plating it with rhodium, but the rhodium will wear off over time revealing the natural color of the metal beneath.  Palladium, however, is a naturally pure white metal and will not yellow over time.
3. 10% stronger than platinum - Palladium is roughly 10% harder than platinum, meaning it can wear longer without as much scratching.

The negatives of palladium - palladium is harder to work with in casting.  Additionally, palladium is much lighter than platinum - this can be a negative as many people appreciate the hefty feel of platinum.  The upside is that more intricate jewelry can be made with palladium due to its lighter weight, and larger rings won't run the risk of weighing down your finger.


We do rhodium plate our palladium jewelry pieces, as well as our platinum jewelry items, to provide a bright chrome-white and shiny finish.  The rhodium plating helps provide protection against nicks and scratches, however as both metals are naturally white, it is not obvious when the rhodium begins to wear off. 

If you would prefer we not add the rhodium plating to your platinum or palladium pieces, simply leave us a note during checkout.