Wedding / metallurgy question

Fish_Cheer · July 14, 2006, 10:34pm

I’m not going to get married any time soon - but that doesn’t keep me from planning ahead.

I want to get wedding bands made of solid iridium or an iridum/platinum alloy. Is this feasible? Obviously, these are bound to cost more than their weight in gold, but how much more? Can I have them engraved? Will they last?

Charlie_Tan · July 14, 2006, 11:46pm

No reply to your OP, I just wanted to say that I opened it fully expecting wedding to be a typo, and thinking you meant welding.

Bill_Door · July 15, 2006, 12:03am

This is my opinion, and my opinion only. Platinum is so rare, and valuable for use as a catalyst and in chemical processes that anyone who uses it in jewelry is as shortsighted as someone who uses bald eagle eggs to make an omelet. Get yourself some nice gold. Titanium is attractive as well, and quite durable.

Squink · July 15, 2006, 12:38am

Platinum Wedding Rings

950 platinum with 50 parts per thousand iridium. This system has a Vickers hardness of 80 and that can lead to castings that are quite soft. As a fabrication alloy, however 95/5 Pt/Ir can be made reasonably hard through cold-working. It is still used in Germany and Japan for safety catches and pins.

900 platinum with 100 parts per thousand iridium-creating with its added hardness an American favorite for the hand fabrication of jewelry. This alloy has a melting range of 1800 C – 1780 C. This alloy has a Vickers hardness of 110.

Platinum Alloy Standard
In the United States of America, an item to be described as “platinum" it must be comprised of a fineness of no less than 95% platinum and 5% PGM’s. Above 95%, the item can be stamped “PLATINUM” or “PLAT”; whereas from 75-95% Platinum, the PGM’s also must be stamped; e.g. IRIDPLAT for 10% Iridium alloy. Only the USA allows “carat platinum” alloys. The most common alloys in America are 95% Platinum with 5% Ruthenium or 5% Cobalt and 90% Platinum with 10% Iridium.