As the US dollar keeps weakening and worldwide economic uncertainty keeps rising, precious metals, such as gold have become increasing more expensive. Gold is trading at over $1,100 an ounce. This is an all time record high price. This is due to speculators driving up the cost of these metals. The people who end up paying the price are young married couples who are struggling to achieve the American dream. They have to pay outrageous prices for their mens palladium wedding bands.
Firstly, palladium comes from the same rare metal family as platinum. Palladium is a naturally occurring shiny, white metal, which like platinum, means it does not have to be plated with rhodium to maintain a luxurious shine. White gold wedding bands generally are rhodium plated to provide that nice white shine. Rhodium plating eventually wears off rings, requiring more plating every so often to maintain that silvery shine and luster. Secondly, palladium is less costly than platinum, and a little more expensive than gold. So, you end up with a men’s palladium wedding bands with a platinum appearance, but not the associated price tag.
Palladium is rarer than gold. It is less expensive because of simple market economics. Few couples know about this metal and therefore, there is less demand for this metal, so the price is low. For example, 20 years ago, no one bought mens palladium wedding band. Gold was all the rage at the time, so platinum was a very affordable metal used in jewelry. Then the producers of platinum started creating consumer demand for platinum, which has paid off today because platinum is more expensive than gold. People who bought their platinum wedding rings 20 years ago got it for less than the price of 14k gold rings. This is impossible today because of the demand for platinum. Well, palladium now is like platinum 20 years ago. It has not caught on yet, so the price remains low. This is an excellent opportunity for young couples today to buy their wedding rings on a budget. In the years to come this opportunity may not exist anymore as more and more couples learn about the beauty and affordability of palladium wedding bands.
Proof of palladium’s acceptance by the market and its growing popularity can be measured by the number of jewelry makers that are producing their styles in palladium, which were traditionally reserved for platinum and white gold. The nation’s finest bridal jewelry makers (Frederick Goldman, Benchmark Rings and Novell Design Studio) all produce a palladium wedding ring line. In fact, the designer with the largest selection of wedding ring styles, Novell Design Studio, can make all their styles in all metals including Palladium. If you are shopping on-line, Larson Jewelers is an authorized dealer of Novell’s products which you can buy all their palladium rings styles from. To see Novell’s styles, simply go to visit Novell Design Studio’s website. Larson Jewelers does not display all of Novell’s styles on their site because they have hundreds of styles to choose from, but you can simply ask them for a quote by giving them Novell’s style number.
Palladium wedding rings showcase diamonds beautifully and the color of the metal will enhance the sparkle factor of your diamond engagement ring. The metal palladium also has a lower melting point then platinum, making it more jeweler friendly when looking for ornate ring designs and settings.
Many well known jewelery houses including Verragio and Tacori will create your engagement and wedding rings in palladium. There has been a lot of talk about the newest metal in the wedding ring industry; palladium. “What is palladium?” is the first question that comes to mind. Most people only know of platinum, white gold and gold as their wedding ring metal choices. Palladium is the newest white metal being used in the wedding ring industry. Its biggest selling point is that it is just as white as platinum, but its price point is comparable to 14k white gold. What is the difference between Platinum and Palladium? Platinum and palladium come from the same family of metals, the Platinum Group of Metals. This means both platinum and palladium share many of the same physical properties.
14k white gold rings are made of only 55% gold and 18k white gold rings are made of 75% gold. Palladium Wedding Bands are made of 95% pure palladium. The consumer gets more value by purchasing palladium rings because their price is the same as 14k white gold, but the purity level is much higher at 95%. Palladium is stronger and more scratch resistant than white gold. There is no difference in the coloring of the scratches as there is no plating to be rubbed off creating a difference in color.
