[Jewelry making - Article 01308] - [Orchid] Platinum rings - which alloy is best?

[K L]

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Dear all,

    Thanks for a wonderful forum with extensive information on different
    materials related to jewelry and techniques implemented. 

    I'm a totally newbie when it comes to various jewelry and its alloys,
    so please bear with my newbie-questions. :) 

    My g/f and I are about to engage (finally!) and we've decided
    platinumrings meet our criteria. 

    However, the more I study about platinum alloys, the more confused I
    get. Here, in Sweden, where I live, the platinum market is scarce and
    the only alloy they sell is Plat 950 with 50 Palladium. Now,
    according to many sources, this combination happens to be too soft.
    The rings I looked at the shop were in fact quite full of hair-line
    thin scars and dents. 

    Since other platinum alloys don't exist here, we're looking into the
    possibility to purchase our rings in Japan (which has a bigger
    market, and most likely cheaper). But it seems they too use various
    alloys which are more or less either not following the international
    (?) standards of platinum jewelry or the hardness in Vickers is not
    substantially better than Plat/Palladium. 

    I'm leaning towards the combo : Plat 950/Iridium 50. Is this a good
    alloy? 

    My future wife wishes to put a diamond stone in it later on, and I
    wonder what hardness is required to fully secure the stone in the
    ring? 

    My g/f (who is Japanese) recently went to a shop in Tokyo that
    carries the SIARA brand of Switzerland origin, that sell hand-made
    1000 parts platinum rings, and according to the salesperson the rings
    have been treated to make it harder (they supposedly press and mold
    and shave the metal so those rings are very strong, according to
    them). Also, due to the fact that the rings are hand-made, all air
    and cavities are supposedly minimized, thus, rendering a heavier ring
    than its casted counterpart. Sounds perfect to me. But. Are they in
    any way pulling my leg or is it true that 1000 parts platinum jewelry
    can be made hard enough? 

    Or is it more common that Japanese producers Rhodium plate their 1000
    pt rings? 

    I would want to avoid those Rhodium plated rings! 

    Thanks for all advise, and sorry about the long post! 

B rgds
Keo

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