Platinum has been named the "Lesser Silver" by the Spanish conquistadors 300 years ago. Either knowingly or by accident, Egyptians used platinum on hieroglyphs in the burial chambers 4000 years ago. In the 20th Century platinum became a very important metal in technology, during both World Wars and there¬after. At the doorsteps of the 21st Century, platinum still projects an image as a new metal.

When I was growing up in Soviet Armenia in the 60's I heard the name of the metal long before I had the chance to see it. There was fear and danger attached to this mysterious metal. Platinum was declared as a very important strategic metal by the Soviet govern¬ment; therefore, whoever was caught selling, buying or trying to smuggle platinum from the country was severely punished.

In the 70's when I started experi¬menting with platinum, it was very hard to find help or technical sup¬port on how to manipulate the metal. People who knew how to work with platinum were very discreet with their knowledge. Therefore, trial and error was the only way for me to explore this challenging metal. During that time platinum market in United States was relatively small until Platinum Guild International USA was formed to market the metal. With the leadership of Laurie Hudson, president of PGI,-USA, platinum was successfully introduced to the jewelry industry in the American market and along came technical support with manuals, books and magazines. Demand for platinum jewelry soared year by year. Platinum became permanent part of every retail jewelry store across the country.

After all this, platinum kept its "magical" image as a "new metal of choice." For an artist, property of medium creates an opportunity for a new approach to his craft. Platinum with its own characteristics per¬suades the craftsman to think differ¬ently. Extraordinary heat resistance makes it easy to fuse, weld and solder. Other important factors for jewelry use are platinum's high level of puri¬ty and its resistance to chemical reactions. Platinum alloys play a major role in casting or fabricating with the metal. Luminosity of Platinum complements diamonds, and the natural whiteness of the metal works extremely well with intense color gemstones.

Artist or designer role in exploration of plat¬inum is very important. Their cre¬ative approach to take the metal out of its boundaries, and experiment new possibilities will keep platinum in the forefront of the precious met¬als. Continuous new designs and products by the designers will always enable the platinum to be the "new metal" and the "metal of choice."

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Platinum - The Mysterious Metal
Alishan Halebian
ALISHAN

This is an abbreviated version of the original work. For full technical details, please consult the original paper.