:: About Palladium ::
Palladium is the new kid on the block and has a lot to offer as a vastly superior alternative to white gold. Palladium can best be described as a sister metal to platinum and has the following key characteristics:
- Palladium is naturally white and will not tarnish. Like platinum, palladium does not require rhodium plating and will maintain its bright white color indefinitely. In contrast, white gold will yellow over time and require repeated rhodium plating to maintain its whiteness.
- Palladium is 30 times more rare than gold.
- Palladium is lighter than platinum. Palladium’s density is roughly half that of platinum, making it ideal for earrings, necklaces, and pendants that might otherwise be too heavy in platinum. In addition, for those that cannot afford platinum, the lighter weight and lower metal price makes for an affordable yet very high quality piece of jewelry.
- Palladium rarely causes allergic reactions. Many people who are unable to wear white gold alloys due to the wide use of nickel as an alloying element will find palladium to be a great alternative.
- Palladium is durable. In a study conducted by Hoover and Strong, after simulated wear tests TruPd™ 950 palladium had a 15% greater wear resistance over 14k white gold. For comparison, under identical test conditions 950 Platinum had a 23% greater wear resistance over 14k white gold.