All platinum is not the same....

[Copper Catcher]

As the price of platinum continues to climb I would suspect the jewelry industry will continue to switch to the lower grade platinum and unfortunately the consumer will be none the wiser and get screwed, again!

The FTC sets guidelines for Platinum jewelry http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/jewel-gd.shtm

The FTC guides state that only items consisting of 950 parts or more per thousand of pure platinum can be marked “platinum” without the use of any qualifying statements. According to the guidelines, jewelry with fewer than 500 parts per thousand (or “ppt”) of pure platinum cannot be called “platinum” at all. Jewelry with between 500 and 950 ppt of pure Platinum must be market with the ppt of the platinum plus the ppt of the particular alloy from the platinum group of metals contained in the compound, for example, “700 Plat.300irid” for platinum with 700 ppt pure platinum and 300 ppt Iridium. Jewelry consisting of between 850 ppt of pure Platinum and 950 ppt pure platinum may be marked as “platinum” as long as the platinum marking is preceded by a number stating the amount in ppt of pure platinum. For example, “900Plat.” or “950Pt.” would be allowed.

A new type of platinum, called “585 platinum,” was introduced to the market several years ago. 585 Platinum is a combination of platinum, copper and cobalt, and is called 585 platinum because it is composed of 585 ppt pure platinum. Copper and cobalt are not part of the Platinum group, and therefore not regulated under the FTC Guides. The new 585 platinum falls under a loophole in the FTC Guides, and it is still unclear whether the FTC will allow it to be called platinum. When the FTC Guides were created in 1997, all of the alloys that were used with platinum contained platinum group metals, so other metals were not addressed in the Guides. If the FTC does allow 585 platinum to be labeled as platinum, it is unclear what qualifications will be required to warn consumers of the difference between the 585 platinum mixed with copper and cobalt and other, more pure compounds of platinum.

.585 Platinum
http://jewelrymaking.about.com/od/about ... 070205.htm

Platinum Doping
http://www.diamondcuttersintl.com/platinum-doping/

http://www.ftc.gov/os/fedreg/2010/decem ... desfrn.pdf

[zerocd]

I appreciate the education. Thanks!

0CD

[frugalcanuck]

Good to know

Thanks

[Snake42]

Appreciate the knowledge.

[AGCoinHunter]

Thanks for posting, good to know.