Precious metals

A precious metal is a rare, high-economic-value metallic chemical element.

The concept of a precious metal fluctuates according to the era and civilizations depending on supply and demand: today, value is attributed to gold, platinum, rhodium, palladium, and silver.

Precious metals play a crucial role in the global economy; they also serve as a safe-haven asset during times of economic uncertainty, hence the increase in their price in recent years.

List of metals in order of preciousness

Rhodium: the most expensive and rarest metal. Belongs to the platinum group of metals. Resists oxidation and corrosion. Melting point at 2000 degrees.

Palladium: silvery-white, belongs to the platinum group of metals.
Requires no surface treatment.

Gold: yellow, white, grey, or pink, depending on the alloys. A noble metal and, in 24 karats, very malleable and soft. Only 18-karat gold is used in jewelry and fine jewelry.

Platinum: brilliant white, very hard, resistant metal, used for precious alloys.

Silver: solid, 925/1000, very widespread and widely used in jewelry.

Titanium: silver-grey semi-precious metal, can be plated. It is renowned for being hypoallergenic, robust, and lightweight.

Vermeil: semi-precious metal because it contains a deposit of at least 3 microns of 18-karat gold on solid silver.

 For more information: https://ocarat.com/guide/

 Precious metal ingots - photo credit Mondial-infos.fr

History

Over the centuries, precious metals have been used in many fields: jewelry, coins, and art objects.

In Ancient Greece, Corinthian bronze was an alloy considered more precious than gold or silver.

In the Ottoman Empire, under Suleiman the Magnificent, goldsmiths would inlay rubies and emeralds into zinc teapots.

This dull metal was almost unknown at the time and was therefore considered very rare.

Even in the 19th century, platinum was used by scammers to counterfeit certain gold coins (as platinum has the same density as gold).

In the 1860s, the discovery of silver veins in the American West made the metal superabundant, affecting the economy of nations using a monetary system based on bimetallism.

Usage
Precious metals have numerous industrial applications. In particular, electronics use platinum, palladium, rhodium, gold, and silver. Precious metals are also essential for the medical sector (prosthetics).

The production of these metals by extraction from the natural environment is no longer sufficient to meet the needs of global consumption.

For gold, the production of which has been declining since 2001, it is estimated that 10 to 20% of consumption comes from recycling

Fineness of precious metals

The KARAT

There are two types of "karats"

The precious metal karat: a unit of measurement to express its purity

The carat in gemology: a unit of weight
One carat is equivalent to one-fifth of a gram (0.20 grams), or 5 carats = 1 gram