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Ch. 1: Diamond Mountings

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40 DIAMOND MOUNTINGS
in the same period. It is generally found in the sand of placer mines and the usual yield is one ounce of platinum to a ton of sand.
For use it must be alloyed with iridium and when properly alloyed is very hard and retains a fine brilliant finish. As iridium is far more expensive even than platinum, some manu­facturers, in order to secure platinum at lower price, have not used enough iridium in their alloy, which has resulted in the metal becoming soft and turning dull or leady in color. Platinum of standard hardness of alloy weighs nearly sixty per cent more than fourteen-carat gold, and while fourteen-carat gold costs sixty-four cents per pennyweight, platinum now costs about $2.50 per pennyweight.
In computing as an example the value of a diamond mounting, it might be said that a diamond mounting weighing ten pennyweights would cost for the gold $6.40; a mounting of the same size in platinum would weigh nearly sixteen pennyweight and cost nearly #40 for the material.
The cost of working platinum is also far greater than that of gold, but its brilliant finish and hardness and harmonizing color make it far the best metal for fine diamond and pearl mountings.
Ch. 1: Diamond Mountings Page of 111 Ch. 1: Diamond Mountings
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