Palladium 500 and 950 Three standards of
Legitimate Platinum and Palladium jewellery pieces often have hallmarks engraved in a discrete location. In modern pieces, there should be hallmarks for the maker, fineness, and the assay office responsible for testing. Fineness hallmarks indicate the purity of the metal.
Pd (notice the lowercase d) is a palladium mark.
It is a legal requirement for palladium weighing 1g+ to be stamped at the assay office with either 500 or 950 to clarify how much palladium is actually in the item.
Confusingly the Hallmark in Palladium looked very similar to the Platinum one, the new above pictured Hallmark makes the metal easier to identify when looking at the Assay markings under a 10x loupe. Like Platinum, Palladium is stamped '950' which is a measure of the metal purity.
Palladium is a chemical element that is similar to platinum. A rare, silver-white precious metal, palladium has been commonly used for fine jewelry since the 1930s. Palladium has seen an increase in popularity in the past decade. In 2019, Fortune reported that it was now more valuable than gold.
Sterling palladium is a 925 sterling silver alloy which contains 3.0% palladium and 92.5% pure silver. It is intrinsically harder than standard sterling silver and is more tarnish resistance. It is slightly more grey and has a little more luster than traditional sterling silver.
Palladium Is More Valuable than Gold & Silver
It also tops platinum when it comes to current market value. On average, prices for palladium rings today are around $2,000, according to Brides.com.
When an item is stamped “925 Platinum,” it means that it is made of 92.5% platinum.
Palladium rings are made with 95% pure palladium, while 14k white gold rings are made with only 58% pure gold. Besides having higher precious metal content, this means palladium jewelry is hypoallergenic. White gold is made of 42% other metals, including a high amount of nickel, which causes allergies in many people.
Platinum is a very rare and expensive metal. Therefore, all platinum jewelry will be marked to show authenticity. Look for the words “Platinum," “PLAT," or “PT” followed or preceded by the numbers “950” or “999." These numbers refer to the purity of the platinum, with “999” as the most pure.
Palladium: Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. Platinum: Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78.
HS Code 71102900 - Palladium, semi, manufactured.
Palladium has been growing in popularity since it was officially recognised as a precious metal with a voluntary hallmark in July 2009, compulsory from January 2010.
Platinum and palladium are both naturally white metals that will stay white forever. The difference in color between palladium and platinum is very minimal. Platinum rings are generally about 1 shade whiter than palladium, but there truly is a very small difference.
Of all the naturally white metals, platinum is the densest (heaviest) of all the metals while palladium is the least dense (lightest) of them. Consequently, palladium wedding rings will feel considerably lighter than platinum wedding rings if held in your hand.
Cons: Palladium is actually much more expensive than platinum weight for weight but due to the lower density less is required to produce the same item of jewellery; therefore a palladium wedding band or ring mount traditionally would cost less than its platinum counterpart.
Palladium rings are extremely tarnish resistant. Palladium rings are comprised of 95% pure palladium which means they do not contain the metals that cause silver to tarnish. White gold needs to be treated with a process involving "re-rhodium" otherwise it will turn back to its yellow gold color every few years.
Palladium is lighter than platinum and similar in weight to gold, meaning a palladium ring will feel relatively light on the finger.
Using A Magnet
As platinum is not magnetic, if your piece is attracted to a magnet, you can safely say it is not platinum. If you notice a slight magnetic pull, then it is more likely your metal is white gold combined with nickel.
The simplest tests are heating and discoloration. If the item is heated, for example, in a Bunsen flame, platinum will be more difficult or impossible to melt and the platinum will not discolour. The effect of acid is another basic test. None of the common acids will attack Pt.
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78.
Naturally white, this pure metal does not tarnish or wear away with time and lasts forever. Each piece of platinum jewellery comes with a Quality Assurance Card and bears the purity hallmark of “Pt 950” stamped inside the piece.