Rare (annual world supplies barely exceed a hundred metric tons), unalterable, inoxidizable, malleable yet harder than gold, platinum is the most expensive of all precious metals. Some ten metric tons of ore must be extracted to obtain just one ounce (31 grams) of platinum. Its name (“little silver” in Spanish) was given by the conquistadors who discovered its use, mixed with gold, among Inca tribes. Its very high melting point (1,772°C) meant that it was not until the invention, in the mid-eighteenth century, of the modern blowtorch that pure platinum was isolated from other platinoids and easily worked. Empress Marie-Louise, wife of Napoleon I, was one of the first women to fall in love with this uniquely luminous metal. Many of her ceremonial dresses were embroidered with platinum threads. However, only with the discovery of rich platinum deposits in the Ural, and the liberalization of the platinum market by the czar in the late nineteenth century could jewelers exploit the qualities of this precious metal to the full. The first to do so was Cartier, “le joaillier du platine”, who began using platinum as from the second half of the nineteenth century. In the early years of the twentieth century he had the genius to consistently use platinum instead of silver to set diamonds. Hardwearing, bright and inoxidizable (unlike silver), platinum is the ideal material from which to create delicate, luminous mounts that show off the diamond's fire. Platinum has remained one of Cartier’s specialties ever since, in jewelry but also for accessories such as watches and pens. Hardness: 4. South Africa, Canada, Colombia, Russia.
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