The Birmingham Assay Office charts the growth in palladium jewellery volume since the launch of the palladium hallmark, and outlines some of the metal’s important characteristics. Palladium is finally coming into its own, as the trend for white metal continues but gold and platinum prices remain high. Jewellers are rethinking their ranges as platinum and even nine carat white gold become unaffordable to a large sector of their customers. Palladium has been growing in popularity since it was officially recognised as a precious metal with a voluntary hallmark in July 2009, compulsory from January 2010. Its new status coincided with a huge rise in the price of gold and platinum, and jewellery designers have increasingly developed the opportunities presented by this third white metal. Palladium has proved popular from the start, with 40,000 pieces hallmarked in the UK in the first six months. This is in stark contrast to platinum, which saw less than 100 units per year being hallmarked from 1975 to 1984. Total palladium hallmarking units in 2011 hit 106,000 units, and volumes have remained buoyant in 2012 with...CONTINUE READING To read more about WORKING WITH PALLADIUM and to find out how Palladium faired in 2012 make sure to visit our meet the experts page on The Birmingham Assay Office website – http://www.theassayoffice.co.uk/meet_the_experts/working-palladium-baoexpert.html

CATEGORIES