White metals steal the show now
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Anything white is doing brisk business in precious metal market nowadays. Whether its is silver, platinum or palladium, all these white precious metals are a big hit with consumers in this year.
With a wide spectrum of white metals now available in the jewellery trade, from white gold and platinum to palladium, sterling silver, titanium and stainless steel, more and more people are lining up to buy the white wonder now.
White gold continues to reign supreme in the bridal category. Pairing white gold with black is a particularly fashion-forward look.
White gold, though immensely popular, is not without certain shortcomings. White gold, being composed of gold and white-blending metals, has a yellowish, white appearance, resulting in the need to continually rhodium-plate it to make it really white.
The density of platinum means that the metal is heavier than white gold, resulting in a more solid feel and like pure gold and palladium, platinum is non-allergenic as well as very easy to maintain, as it does not require plating after a period of time.
One metal that has really caught the eye of people is palladium. Major factors favouring palladium jewellery are affordability (it looks like platinum but it's cheaper), weight (it's 40 per cent lighter than platinum) and purity (it comprises 95 per cent pure palladium).
Titanium is another of the new-breed of white metals getting big support from buyers.
Titanium is often marketed as a modern and cutting-edge metal as it is used in high-end racing cars, space shuttles, fighter jets and even top-end golf clubs. While many consumers are aware of titanium's cool factor, there are many other benefits to wearing titanium than just its reputation.
Titanium earrings are popular due to the hypo-allergenic nature of the metal, but finer aspects, such as posts and butterfly clips, are difficult to produce in titanium. This is the reason why many titanium earrings on the market actually come complete with stainless steel posts and clips.
Stainless steel also continues to generate interest - and strong sales. Also at the more affordable end and going great guns is sterling silver. Sterling silver has become really popular with Australian consumers over the past five or so years due to a number of factors, including the high price of gold and the growth in the accessories market.