Unlike gold and silver, Platinum is regarded by many as a relatively 'new' metal. Archaeologists, have found traces of Platinum in Egyptian gold pieces dating back to 1400 B.C. But the Egyptian don't seem to have had a separate name for Platinum and probably regarded it as some form of silver. It was only around 100 to 300 A.D that platinum was understood as a separate metal by the Incas or South American Indian. Their level of technological development was low compared to the Egyptian civilization but they developed a smelting process that produced a crudely refined form of Platinum a grade 1500 yrs before anyone else.

Samples of South American platinum one reached Europe in the mid 1700's when it came to be called 'platina', spanish for little silver.

One of the earliest decorative works of platinum stems back to Marc Etienne Janety, a parsian artist metal worker who was known for his mastery of the arsenic process, a method that made platinum malleable. His only known work today, a glass lined platinum sugar bowl dates back to 1786. The first platinum jewellery in Europe appeared around the year 1780, at the court of Louis XVI of France. William Hyde Wollaston and Smithson Tennant produced common grade Platinum in England in the early 1800's, but it wasn't until the invention of the Oxyhydrogen torch in the mid 19th century that jewellery had a tool that could reach the high temperature required to work in platinum. By 1817, Norton Johnson had a refinery in London to produce malleable platinum, palladium & refine iridium (Iridium was used for tipping gold pen points). It was George Mathey, an employee at Johnsons firm, who finally developed the alloy of 90% platinum and 10% iridium which is still the most commonly used platinum alloy for jewellery today.

By the 1880s, platinum began to replace silver (silver tarnishes easily) for setting diamonds and was widely patronized by premier jewellers as Cartier, Tiffany and the famed Russian jeweller Carl Faberge. As their clientele was very wealthy, platinum quickly became one of the jewellery world's greatest status symbols. It dominated fine jewellery design during the Edwardian era, from the 1880's until the end of W.W.1, ushering in the ornate designs of Art nouveau jewellery.

After WWI, in the 1920's & 30's, platinum lent itself to the streamlined look of Art deco jewellery. Even during the depression, grand jewellery Salons like Cartier & Harry Winston did booming business in diamond & platinum jewellery. The Duchess of Windsor declared platinum as the one and only jewellery choice for evening wear. The world's most legendary diamonds, the Hope, Jonker, Kohinoor, are all secured in platinum settings.The onset of WWII, curtailed the burgeoning popularity of this precious metal. Platinum was used in ammunition making and in early jet aircraft engines. During this time, white gold was developed as a replacement.

Post war, interest in platinum jewellery revived and grew until the late 50's & early 60's. The price of platinum rose about 5 times that of gold. Platinum jewellery lost a good part of its market share.

Even in this substantial price difference, trendsetting Italian designers & jewellers, started emphasizing platinum again in the 80's. This spurred interest in other countries as US and Japan.

Several other factors too have come into play to put platinum back on the map. New mines have opened and sophisticated mining processes have been developed. Price-wise, platinum remains stable even though it is 5 times as rare as gold & is the purest of all precious metals.

The combined ability of platinum to hold gemstones immovably secure, while enhancing their brilliance & depth makes it a setting without equal.