[Jewelry making - Article 00240] - Re: [Orchid] Palladium alloy for 18K white

[Daniel Ballard]

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Hi,

    I have been studying and selling pd alloys for gold twenty years and
    950pd for nearly three years. I'm seeing a few familiar issues
    through this thread-First let me say the 950pd's are tougher for the
    small custom shop, as palladium is not easy to torch cast. Not from
    anyone, anywhere. So, many who read this forum will be receiving
    somebody else's castings. The alloy these are made of will matter a
    great deal. 95pd/5ru acts very different from the products of Hoover
    and PMWest. Anybody else making 950pd for trade use like say, Larry
    of David Fell may want to weigh in here. PMWest makes two that act
    differently. 

    I see palladium white gold as the natural upgrade from nickel white,
    and if I may generalize, pd white gold alloys fall into two
    families-Elevated silver or the other side-elevated copper. The color
    for hardness factor should be evident here. If one chooses to use ten
    or twelve percent palladium in their 18kt gold, and ten or so silver,
    balance copper, you get a white gold that passes for "grade 1 white"
    and very few customers would desire rhodium plating. If you apply the
    same kind of alloy to 14kt you get great color. As soon as you cut
    the expensive part, the palladium color results fall off. If you
    elevate the copper and cut silver you can get stronger metal at a
    slight to moderate color penalty. 

    I wonder how many retail customers would really object to the grey,
    once they understood the temporary nature of plating? 

    I see 950Pd as the best upgrade from white gold. I have fallen in
    love with this mix, so throw out any idea I'm objective about it. I
    see the difficulties too which I try to cover on my palladium blog.
    In my blunt opinion, the 95pd/5ru blend is more problematic at the
    bench than the new formulas developed by Tyler Teague (and others)
    and promulgated all over the United States. 950 palladium may just be
    the beginning of the end of white gold's popularity. 

    Hey folks, I am very glad I do not depend on nickel white gold for a
    living!!!! I also would say of course, that anyone that can buy
    platinum and loves it should. All of the above is about the rest of
    us. 

    Please feel free to peruse our palladium blog- It is too much on a
    narrow topic to drop in here. I invite posts of the good news or the
    bad news on palladium. 

    Palladium-experience.blogspot.com 

Daniel Ballard
Precious Metals West
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