The most precious of the metals used regularly in jewelry has to be platinum. This white-silver metal is the most popular metal used in bridal jewelry today, far surpassing the use of yellow gold and even white gold in engagement rings and wedding bands. A pure metal element, platinum is prized for its color, malleability and wear and tarnish resistant properties. Purchasing platinum is a guaranteed way to make sure that your jewelry will stay in the best condition possible.

Platinum is not only used in the jewelry industry. The fact that it does not corrode but does conduct electricity makes it a prized material in the auto industry, where it is used in catalytic converters and at the tips of spark plugs. Platinum does not oxidize in air the way some other metals do (including silver, which is one of the reasons it is a preferred metal for jewelry), and it is very resistant to many acids and other chemicals. The stability of the electrical conduction that platinum is able to maintain means it can also be used in other spots, such as on the electrodes for electrolysis machines.

Of course, platinum's most obvious spot in the world is as a precious jeweler's metal. Platinum has always been rarer than any other precious metal, and it usually is priced at about twice the cost per ounce as gold. The fact that platinum is so rare and expensive led Louis XV of France to declare that it was the “only metal fit for a king”. It was first used in jewelry by the pre-Columbian Native Americans (found in historical evidence) and was first documented in Europe in 1557.

The rarity of platinum (it is estimated to be found at only five parts per billion in the Earth's crust) is only matched by how hard it is to obtain the metal. It is created today as a byproduct of nickel ore processing, but is only found at .5 ppm in the ore. Platinum jewelry, as well as platinum in general, has come to represent the highest and finest things in life – for instance, a platinum credit card is preferable to a gold credit card.

Platinum will continue to be a popular metal for jewelry as long as it can be found, mined and refined. The scarcity of the metal only serves to increase the demand and popularity, as less people can afford to have this type of jewelry, making it popular with those who want the top quality in jewelry.