1. Palladium, Platinum’s Cheaper Sister, Makes a Bid for Love
By Elizabeth Holmes do understand that there are eco- able in the 1930s. Although it was ica), compared with platinum’s 1.74
nomics involved.” used occasionally for jewelry dur- million ounces (240,000 from North
L
ike so many others this Valen- So does Audrey Lu, a 25-year-old ing World War II when the U.S. gov- America), according to Johnson Mat-
tine’s Day, palladium will be law student living in New York who ernment reserved platinum for mili- they PLC, which tracks precious met-
looking for love. calls the price of platinum “ridicu- tary purposes, its primary role has als. About 80% of sales of palladium
With her silvery tone and the lous.” Her engagement ring, which been in catalytic converters to help jewelry comes from China, accord-
way she holds her shine, palladium she designed with her fiancé, is reduce auto pollution. Found ing to John Stark, chair of Palladium
is a dead ringer for her more popu- made from palladium. Most people mostly in South Africa, with small Alliance International. The group
lar sister, platinum. Jewelers say assume her ring is platinum, and deposits in places like Russia and was formed in March 2006 to pro-
she is just as precious a metal and, the word “palladium” often draws Montana, palladium is mined and mote the metal for use in jewelry.
even better, weighs less. Yet, in an puzzled looks. “It’s just one of those produced with platinum. In theU.S., palladium jewelry is hit-
industry where image is all, she unknown things,” she says. The world-wide demand for palla- ting stores slowly. About 2,000 stores
lacks platinum’s cachet. Palladium has been in use for cen- dium in jewelry in 2006 was 1.12 mil- carry it, of which about 600 stores
Now, though, palladium may turies but first became widely avail- lion ounces (40,000 in North Amer- carry a line by celebrity jewelry de-
have the advantage she needs: She signer Scott Kay, chief executive of
is cheap—in a good way. Scott Kay Inc. “I call it a hidden trea-
The skyrocketing price of plati-
num has made palladium, a lesser-
All That Glitters sure,” says Mr. Kay, who has worked
with a variety of metals and has been
known platinum-group metal, sud- Palladium's price, especially in comparison to platinum, is a big selling point for a vocal proponent of palladium.
denly much more desirable. An the little-known metal (pictured below). Having a recognizable brand like
ounce of platinum was selling for Mr. Kay’s helps, but experts say it
about $1,190 yesterday, compared Platinum Palladium 14k yellow gold 14k white gold takes more to get consumers and de-
with about $337 an ounce for palla- signers to accept a newcomer. “There
dium. With the same look and feel, Solitaire Women’s Men's Engraved cathedral- are a lot of crusty old jewelers out
jewelers are offering it up to their engagement ring*, wedding band, wedding band, style set 3.5mm* there,” says Stewart Grice, mill and re-
customers as a less expensive alter- 3 mm wide 3 mm wide 5 mm wide fining director for Hoover & Strong,
native. White gold, once used in the $1,460 a wholesale jewelry manufacturer. “It
same way, requires alloying to ob- takes something like the fairly recent
tain a silvery color. Palladium, how- metal-price hikes to do something.”
ever, is a white metal naturally. For palladium to really take off, it
Even so, platinum remains the must make inroads in bridal jewelry—
gold standard of white metals, espe- and that means this time of year is
cially for setting diamonds. Plati- $700 particularly important. “Engage-
num’s price and increasing rarity, $590 ment sales really spike on Valen-
partly a result of its immense popular- tine’s Day just because it’s a tar-
350 390 380 380
ity, raises its prestige even further. $320 geted day of romance,” says Mr. Kay.
“I wish I didn’t have to make any- 230 190 200 240 240 Some jewelers report a dramatic
160 150 150
thing but platinum jewelry,” says jump in demand for palladium set-
Bruce Pucciarello, owner of Novell tings. DanforthDiamond.com, an on-
Design Studio, which has a line of *Does not include the price of the diamond Source: DanforthDiamond.com (data and images) line jewelry retailer specializing in en-
palladium jewelry. But, he adds, “I Please turn to the next page

2. Platinum’s Cheaper Sister Bids for Love
Continued from the prior page signers and manufacturers in
Platinum’s high cost has made Sc
gagement rings, says palladium is China that produce palladium
Kay’s palladium rings more popu
outselling platinum 2 to 1. Dan- jewelry. Mr. Stark says a market-
forth extended the delivery time ing push in the U.S. is forthcom-
for palladium engagement rings ing, as the alliance gauges the ef-
to seven business days from five. fectiveness of the campaign in
A one-carat diamond wedding Asia. For now, though, price will
band costs $930 in white gold and be palladium’s allure. Even plati-
$970 in palladium. The platinum num’s biggest fans know there is
version of the same ring, how- a market for the rival metal.
ever, costs $1,780. (DanforthDia- “It may not be the choice I
mond.com sells sterling silver would make,” says Mr. Puccia-
but, like most jewelers, doesn’t rello, “but I have to give them
use it to set diamonds). choices.”
The platinum industry isn’t
buying into the trend, though.
James Courage, chief executive
of the trade group Platinum
Guild International, sees the
trend as something forced by the
palladium industry rather than a
response to consumer demand.
Platinum, Mr. Courage contends,
carries with it an innate desir-
ability. “If you go out and ask
REMEMBER A GOOD
young women what they’d like
their wedding diamonds to be
set in, the overwhelming major-
ity would say platinum,” he says.
Currently, palladium is
found mostly in boutiques and
middle-market stores. But it is
NIGHT’S SLEEP?
making its way into high-end re-
tailers, Mr. Stark says. Cartier
and Hermes carry a small selec-
tion of palladium pieces.
Mr. Pucciarello, the platinum
devotee, admits that with its den-
sity, platinum isn’t always practi-
cal. It especially is problematic
when creating larger “fashion
jewelry,” as opposed to more re-
strained bridal pieces. Mr. Puccia-
rello learned his lesson when he
created a pair of dangling plati-
num earrings for his wife. “Her
earlobes were knocking off her
shoes ’cause they were so damn
heavy,” he said. Mr. Pucciarello re-
made the same pair in palladium.
The comparison to platinum
is an obvious one, though indus-
try insiders believe palladium is It’s most likely you haven’t gotten one lately. Too busy
more of an appropriate alterna- mulling over the options, too concerned to truly relax. It’s
tive to white gold. “There’ll be
more diamonds set in palladium why people like you choose people like us to help identify
in the next five years than in
white gold,” predicts Mr. Kay. the options and capitalize on the best opportunities. It’s why
White gold is a mixture of yel-
low gold and another metal, usu- we use the integrated power of our entire institution—
ally nickel in the U.S.. “There’s no focused on emerging and mid-sized companies in select
point to have white gold,” says
Tyler Teague, a 47-year-old con- industries—to bring value to your business. And it’s why, at
sultant and the owner of Tennes-
see-based JETT Research firm. the end of the day, our clients do get a good night’s sleep.
“God made [gold] yellow. Man
made it white. Who do you
trust?”
Palladium jewelry has caught
on overseas. The Asian market is
due, in large part, to an intensive
marketing campaign by Palla-
dium Alliance International. The
push, launched last September
with print and television ads in
Beijing and Shanghai, is aimed
at 20-something, college-edu-
cated women and promotes the
metal’s day-to-night versatility. For more information, call Christopher M. Gorman, EVP,
There are about 18 jewelry de- at 216.689.3300, or go to key.com/kbcm.
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