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Platinum is a metal that has only recently been used in a different application. Since its discovery, its uses have been very limited to jewelry due to the difficulties in melting and refining this metal. It was only during the 19th century that platinum was used for commercial applications when William Hyde Wollaston discovered its refinement process.
This breakthrough in platinum processing led to several developments in industrial fields to use platinum for a variety of applications.
Industrial Platinum Uses
In today’s modern world, platinum is considered to be a precious metal for a number of reasons. Almost 60% of the world’s production of platinum is used by the automotive industry for its use as a catalytic converter. The use of palladium in catalytic converters is slowly replacing platinum because of the expensive production costs of platinum. Nevertheless, it is still the current choice because of its high tolerance to extreme temperatures, chemical corrosion and stability as an electrical component.
Platinum is highly valued as an option for jewelry making. Aside from its other precious metal brethren such as gold and silver, platinum is also used in producing fine jewelries for its high-silver appearance. And like gold and silver, it is tarnish resistant, thus making it one of the most valued elements in jewelry making.
Its versatility can also be found in medical and dental fields. Since platinum alloy is highly resistant to tarnish and corrosion, it is one of top choice for use in dentistry, medical equipments and electrical products.
Platinum Investing
Lastly, platinum is also valued highly as a precious metal investment. Aside from the general choices of stocks, bonds, real estate and other investment tools, platinum is emerging to be one of the safer choices when it comes to precious metals investing. Similar to gold and silver investments, it is deemed to be an inflation-proof instrument that can serve as a back up to other investments, in an event of market instability or volatility. This can also be a great addition to investment portfolios that lack a stable investment vehicle.
And although people may prefer gold and silver since they are the most popular choices, platinum clearly outperforms them in terms of value and high returns. This goes to show that platinum investing will likely overtake gold and silver as the preferred choice when it comes to preserving one’s personal wealth. In fact, its value today has already surpassed the value of gold and silver, making it one of the most expensive precious metals today.
Conclusion
Platinum may be one of the youngest metals in the investment market today, but its value and projected growth has already exceeded the value of other established metals such as gold and silver. There can be no doubt that with more developments in its application in the future, more and more people will see the value of platinum as a highly versatile precious metal that has the capacity to provide better solutions in different industries.
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