Platinum Brittle?

[Princess]

I am going to have a diamond set in a platinum head. My girlfriend said she heard that a platinum head is a good idea however having it with a platinum ring makes the setting "brittle"

Is it better to go with gold?

I like the look of platinum and since this will be an important diamond for me I don't want to risk losing it if it were to break off.

Any thoughts?

Princess

[Princess]

I have several pieces of white gold jewelry. A few years back one of the rings kept having prongs that were loosening and sometimes they would just break off. Should I have this ring checked for brittleness or bad casting? Can the average jeweler assess this?

[lemel_man]

I have several pieces of white gold jewelry. A few years back one of the rings kept having prongs that were loosening and sometimes they would just break off. Should I have this ring checked for brittleness or bad casting? Can the average jeweler assess this?

White gold can be brittle for a number of reasons - it could be a bad casting, but it could also be the result of contamination by salt water (eg. swimming in the sea). The chlorine atoms in salt can affect the molecular boundaries in the white gold alloy, causing it to crack and break easily. An experienced working jeweller should be able to check and advise you, and possibly fix it. But that bit (fixing) could be quite expensive 'cos the prongs would need to be replaced.

[lemel_man]

I am going to have a diamond set in a platinum head. My girlfriend said she heard that a platinum head is a good idea however having it with a platinum ring makes the setting "brittle"

Is it better to go with gold?

I like the look of platinum and since this will be an important diamond for me I don't want to risk losing it if it were to break off.

Any thoughts?

Princess
I'm not sure what you mean by 'brittle'. In my experience, platinum is the metal of choice for stone settings. It is far more durable than gold or silver and, being a 'dead' metal, also holds the stones far more securely. Its only real disadvantage (assuming you like white metal) is its expense.

[Jeff A.]

Just curious...why do you think that you're a lemel?

Jeff A.

[lemel_man]

Just curious...why do you think that you're a lemel?

Jeff A.
I'm not a lemel.
Lemel is the archaic name for the (precious) metal filings and offcuts that are produced when making jewellery. Since I make jewellery I produce lemel, hence I'm lemel_man.

[Jeff A.]

Thank you for clarifying...I just learned something new.

Jeff A. :)

[dbucfan]

Please read the post in this section entitled "platium or white gold".
D.