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THE USES OF PLATINUM
Platinum in Watch and Jewelry Industry
Article # : platinum169
Platinum in Watch and Jewelry Industry
As for the watch and jewelry industry, it only uses 20 percent of platinum produced around the world. The remaining ten percent are used in the production of a wide range of products, including cancer drugs, i-pods, fishing rods, pacemakers, ladders, parachute silk, fertilizers, and even the glue in Post-it notes.
The price for platinum watches hikes further due to the high cost of machining platinum watch components, such as cases, crowns, and dials. The production of a platinum watch case may sometime take three times longer than the production of a gold one.
This is mainly explained by the need for specially manufactured tools used for turning, milling and drilling the case components. To reduce friction of the tools, the specialists maintain slower tool speeds and lower pressures. To come up with the distinctive platinum finish, they also have to conduct successive hand-polishing processes.
According to the Swiss Watch Federation report for 2006, platinum watch sales increased by 23 percent, with a sales volume of over 390 million Swiss Francs (330 million US dollars).
You are probably puzzled by the increasing appeal of platinum watches when only a specialist is able to distinguish a platinum watch from a white gold one.
Source: watches.infoniac.com