Precious Metals | Palladium Jewelry

Palladium Jewellery

Source:Australia, Canada, North America, South Africa, South America, Ural Mountains

Palladium is a rare transition metal with the symbol (Pd) from the traditional abbreviation for the Latin Argentum. Palladium was originally discovered within platinum ores, and is chemically similar to platinum. Palladium occurs within naturally alloyed gold or platinum, and as a 'free metal.'

Palladium is a naturally silvery-white metal that is sometimes used in jewelry making as a precious metal substitute for white gold, which requires a rhodium plating to achieve its neutral color. Palladium can also be used instead of silver or nickel, to alloy white gold. White gold that is created with palladium has the added benefit of being hypoallergenic, as approximately 12.5% of the population is allergic to conventional white nickel-gold alloys.

Palladium vs Platinum

Palladium is also used as a substitute for platinum, with the main benefit being its lighter weight; approximately the density of silver. Palladium as a jewelry metal came into vogue during World War II, when platinum was declared to be a strategic government resource. Palladium is used in low voltage electrical contacts due to its high corrosion resistance, and in dental work because of its low toxicity.

In 1803, English chemist William Hyde Wollaston first identified the element palladium, which he found within platinum ore from South America. Wollaston's extraction technique involved dissolving the platinum ore in a corrosive solution, to create palladium cyanide from which the pure palladium was extracted. The metal "Palladium" was named after the "Pallas" asteroid, which was discovered in 1802, two years prior to the discovery of Palladium.

Palladium is a harder metal which has a hardness of 2.5 on the Mohs scale, with a Vickers Hardness (VHN) of between 200 and 250. Palladium's melting point is 1554.9º C.

Chemical composition: Pd

Atomic Number: 46