Is all Platinum the same??
 

Laura and I are looking at our options for wedding rings but are confused by apparent huge differences in prices of seemingly near identical rings.

We used a lovely family jeweller based in Edinburgh for the engagement ring and obviously being a one shop company with a good city centre location they have considerably more overlay than a bigger high volume chain or an internet site.

However, the prices vary so much that I'm wondering if there is something I don't know about the metal or the way the rings are made that might explain the difference.

For example here is the pricing for the brides ring:

Style: Standard Court
Size: O
Metal: Platinum
Width: 3mm

Family Jeweller: £500 (approx, not a fixed quote yet but ball park)
H Samuel: £399
Online: £350

For mines in same style, size T, 5mm you are looking at:

Family Jeweller: £1000 (approx, as above)
H Samuel: £625
Online: £600

Taking the highest and lowest price there is a difference of about 30-40%. I guess my question is: Is that all mark-up and overheads or would there be some difference in quality between the online option and the family jeweller? I have a lot of loyalty to the family jeweller but not 30-40% worth if the rings at H Samuel or online are basically exactly the same?!

FWIW as far as I'm aware platinum is a pure metal that isn't mixed with others. In other words all the rings I'm talking about here should be 100% platinum :confused:

Good delivery (wholesale market) platinum bars are 99.95% or 99.99% pure. Retail products will be of (much) lower quality. As low as 58% pure apparently...

The Platinum Standard: Purity Issue Divides Jewelers - WSJ.com


Ask the jeweller what the purity of his metal actually is.

Ah, so it does get mixed with some other non-precious metals! Didn't know that, thanks. One of the online retailers says the rings are made of 950 Platinum. I wonder if that means it's 95% pure on the basis that the 58.5% pure stuff in that link is known as 585 Platinum. I'd not be interested it anything less than about 90% and would prefer 95%+ but, tbh, I have no idea what level of purity I should be shooting for. For all I know anything less than 95% might be the equivalent of buying a 9ct gold ring from Lizzy Dukes :D

The number on the hallmarks should give a clue; generally speaking the higher, the more pure the metal. So yes 950 is 95%, 900 = 90%, 850=85% etc.

Bit of info on hallmarks: The Goldsmiths' Company - Current Hallmarks

Be careful of the weight as it is not unkown for platinum to arrive in the shop a good few grams lighter than it should be. Local jewelers will do a deal for cash as well so haggle first then ask for the cash discount.

You also want to check the weights, some Extra Heavy platinum rings are the same weight as a Heavy one advertised elsewhere, I have seen heavy ones at 10.1 up to 14.3 gms.

I've never seen any described as 'heavy' or 'extra heavy' to be fair. The one I was looking at in 950 platinum is 12.6gms in my size - if that means anything to you?

Shark Man those are just numbers to me with no point of reference. What's the Mondeo, what the M3 and what's the Ferrari of purity to give me some idea of where I'd like to come in on the scale :D Also I think I hate you; after reading that link and learning something about hallmarking I've just knackered my eyes squinting to try and read the hall mark on laura engagement ring!!

Managed to find a shanny old magnifying glass and the engagement ring is 950 so I guess I'll be looking for that at a minimum again.

Good jewellers should use 95% pure platinum and the other 5% could be ruthenium.
Some will use 5% cobalt but this can oxidise and so dull the lustre of platinum over a short period of time.

Maybe it is like gold. Welsh gold is supposed to be a reddish colour. I dont know why but perhap's there are trace elements which cause it. Perhap's platinum is the same.

Les

I think I recall hearing some time ago that the other issue with jewellery is that there is no RRP when it is sold from wholesale so you may find the same thing in one store with a 10% mark up and the same item in another store with 50% markup.