The Hardening of Platinum Alloys for Potential Jewellery Application

Authors: T. Biggs¹; S.S. Taylor²; E. van der Lingen²

Source: Platinum Metals Review, Volume 49, Number 1, January 2005 , pp. 2-15(14)

Publisher: Johnson Matthey

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Abstract:

Pure platinum is too soft to be used for jewellery and scratches easily. Alloying platinum increases its hardness significantly. However, platinum alloys used in jewellery do need to be easy to work and thus the alloy should be sufficiently soft, but not so soft that their wear resistance is low. A good compromise would be to work with a soft alloy during jewellery manufacture, then harden the alloy so the final finished properties were improved. In order to identify platinum alloys suitable for hardening, platinum with different alloying additions was studied. Platinum alloys with additions of less than 7 wt.% of Ag, Au, Cu, Co, Cr, Fe, Ga, Ge, In, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Si, Sn, Ta, Ti, V, W or Zr were examined, and the merits of each system were assessed for commercial viability. The platinum-titanium system was deemed to show the most promise.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1595/147106705X24409

Affiliations: 1: Formerly Mintek, now 513 Atkins Place, Bington, Ontario, L7T 2V2, Canada 2: Mintek, Private Bag X3015, Randburg, 2125, South Africa

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