Platinum vs. White gold

Platinum and white gold are both popular choices of metals for jewelry. Platinum is denser, heavier, and harder than white gold and it has many other uses, including industrial. Platinum is rarer than white gold and requires much platinum ore to produce a small amount of pure platinum. Therefore, platinum is much more expensive and white gold has become a popular imitation for use in jewelry.

Platinum is a very heavy metallic element with a grayish-white color. It is non-corroding and malleable, making it useful for chemical ware, dental alloys, and jewelry. Platinum is naturally-occurring and extremely expensive.

White gold is an alloy of gold that has been combined with nickel, silver, or palladium in order to change its color to resemble platinum. Naturally-occurring gold has a deep metallic yellow color, but this alloy has a paler white color. It is often coated in a thin plate of rhodium to strengthen it and enhance its white color. White gold is expensive, but much less so than platinum. Its main purpose is jewelry.

Both metals are very durable but can lose their shine. It can be restored through periodic re-plating. When platinum is scratched, it merely displaces the metal, rather than losing volume. White gold, on the other hand, actually loses substance when scratched.