You are at : Site Map > Education and Guidance > Precious Metal Guide Precious Metal Guide The Secret of Precious Metals Some types of metal are called ‘precious’ metals because they are both rare and very valuable. The best known of these are platinum, gold, silver and palladium, and all are ideal to use in the making of fine jewellery. That’s because they are – to a greater or lesser extent – malleable and ductile. As part of The Blacklock Way, we choose our metals very carefully, because we believe only the finest quality materials will do justice to our diamonds. Our jewellery is made from platinum, gold or white gold – the most suitable precious metals for making beautiful, durable jewellery. All precious metals used in jewellery are mixed – or ‘alloyed’ – as the pure form is often too soft to use for items designed to be worn every day. Alloying helps to create precious metals with superior qualities such as improved malleability (making the metal more workable) or a more attractive colour.   Platinum Platinum is the rarest and most expensive of all precious metals. A hard white metal, it is often alloyed with cobalt, copper, gold, iridium, palladium and ruthenium – to produce platinum alloys with differing qualities. For example, cobalt improves fluidity and enhances the jewellery setting, whereas palladium produces a softer setting. An alloy is usually produced using 95% platinum – in which case a piece of jewellery made from the alloy would be hallmarked ‘950’. You can visit www.noble.matthey.com to find out more detailed information. Gold A yellow metal, gold is so soft that it needs to be alloyed to make jewellery. In the West, it is usually mixed with silver and copper (and less commonly palladium, zinc and nickel) as a 75% gold alloy, and hallmarked ‘750’ (18ct gold). However, depending on the ratios of the metals used, gold can alloy from 37.5% gold (9ct, hallmarked ‘375’) right up to 91.6% gold (22ct, hallmarked ‘916’) – and will appear in a range of colours from yellow to pink or even green. Visit www.gold.org to find out more fascinating facts and statistics about gold. Silver One of the most ancient of precious metals, silver has been used in jewellery making since the times of the Aztecs. It is a soft, white, lustrous metal, and usually alloyed with copper for jewellery manufacture. There are two alloys used in the UK: Britannia Silver 95% silver, hallmarked ‘958’, and Sterling Silver 92.5% Silver, hallmarked ‘925’. Palladium Palladium, the lightest of all the precious metals, is a lustrous, silvery-white metal with a low melting point. As recently as 2001, palladium was more expensive than platinum and rarely used in jewellery. Nowadays, it’s being used more and more as it’s become affordable, while the price of platinum has increased sharply. So, although previously used mainly as an alloy in the manufacture of white gold, palladium has, since 2004, been used much more – often as an alternative to platinum. Currently, however, there is no hallmarking requirement for palladium.