Platinum wedding rings are becoming increasingly popular as awareness spreads of the benefits and unique properties of platinum. The rarity, durability and beguiling appearance of platinum place the material far ahead of others such as white gold and silver. At times people can misidentify platinum as another metal so we have compiled a quick list of five ways to correctly identify platinum.
1. Using a magnifying glass inspect the inside of the ring. Platinum will have symbols that read either ‘PT’, ‘PLAT’ or just ‘PLATINUM’.
2. Platinum metal test kits are available for purchase. These employ acid to check for platinum. If the reaction takes a long time to occur, it is likely that the ring is platinum. This is due to the high stability of platinum – it is such an unreactive metal that it is referred to as a noble metal because it will only react with other elements at an incredibly high temperature. This leads us nicely onto our next step when checking platinum wedding rings for their authenticity…
3. Be sure to use an oven mitt for the duration of this step! Place the ring in a metal spoon, and hold the spoon over a gas stove flame. Watch for any changes in colour in the spoon – if the spoon changes colour and the ring does not, it is most likely made of platinum (NB: if strange, squiggly Elvish characters appear on the ring, you have an entirely different ring all together!)
4. Use a golden ring that is similar in size to the ring you are trying to identify as platinum. Platinum is roughly 40 per cent heavier than gold as a consequence of the dense composition of the metal. There should be a noticeable difference in the weight of the rings.
5. As a final option - for one hundred per cent certainty as to the authenticity of platinum wedding rings - take the ring to a professional jeweller. The jeweller will be able to tell you what your ring is made out of. We hope that you’ve found our 5 steps for checking the authenticity of platinum useful.