The lack of comprehensive information on palladium jewelry and the persistent ignorance among some members of the jewelry industry is really astounding. Many of the so called experts, giving advice on jewelry forums are probably too busy writing posts, to find some time to learn about this amazing metal. Another fact which is rarely mentioned is the incredibly low current price of this rare metal compared to the other big ones in the jewelry market - gold and platinum. Palladium is rarer than gold and platinum and just in the end of 2001 was by far more expensive than both of them. Whether the retail sector likes it or not palladium in gaining momentum and is fair to inform the customer before the prices sky rocket.

Although not new for the jewelry industry palladium was seldom used on its own due to special requirements in its casting process. It entered the jewelry market as solo media in mid 2005 and it is gaining momentum ever since. There should be some deep political and economical reasons to keep this amazing precious metal under the lid, considering the long list of benefits coming forward when compared to white gold and the huge price gap to its closest rival in quality – platinum. This reasons however are not the purpose of this article and whatever they are they don`t seem to hold on.

I was working with palladium as whitening metal for white gold alloys for many years. The first time I tried it as solo media was in 2009 and that caused complete change of my white metal preferences. I discovered the metal that has all the right qualities and never looked back. I have always liked working with platinum, mainly because this metal allows great articulation of detail and it is possible to achieve really "crisp" finish, impossible for any other precious metal alloy. It was however not so easy to sell, since the quotation caused customers to scratch heads and go home "to think about it". I can’t blame them for that. Platinum is great but ridiculously expensive. With palladium I've got metal with exactly the same properties at about a quarter of the price. It gets even better: palladium is 40% lighter than platinum and you get more ring for your gram. Although inexpensive, palladium engagement rings offer unmatched value for money. With this in mind, white gold was not longer viable alternative as I was able to offer far better product for less.

Why are palladium engagement rings superior to any other white precious metal?

Palladium is a noble metal from the Platinum Group of Metals. It is bright white in color, hypoallergenic, abrasion resistant and very tough. It is remarkably similar to platinum mechanically and even chemically. It is a dream metal for stone setting, producing strong grip with minimum thickness. It has the fantastic articulation of platinum, making it perfect for detail intensive pieces like antique style engagement rings and it is seriously under-priced. As for the white gold, there is no single point where palladium does not have huge advantage except one; the manufacturing process of this metal is far more demanding and need proper knowledge and technology. The good news is that this does not in any way affect the final product since once it is done it is trouble free.

Palladium engagement rings are great looking with 100% noble metal ( palladium +ruthenium ) content, low in maintenance, strong, hypoallergenic, long lasting and beyond doubt the best value for money currently on the market.