What palladium 950 means and how it compares with platinum

What is palladium 950?

Palladium 950 is an alloy that is 95% palladium by weight. The number counts parts per thousand, so 950 means at least 950 parts in every thousand are palladium and the rest are other metals that make it strong enough to wear.

Palladium itself is a shiny, silvery white metal that resists corrosion, in the Royal Society of Chemistry's description. Most of it goes into catalytic converters for cars; it is also used in jewellery and in dental work. It is one of the metals that can whiten white gold, too.

For a ring, the point of palladium is its colour. Like platinum it is white all the way through, so there is no plating to wear off and nothing to renew.

What is 950 platinum?: The other white metal stamped 950: what it means, 950 against 999 and whether it is good for a ring.

What does 950 mean on a ring: palladium or platinum?

Both metals are hallmarked at 950, so the number alone does not say which you have. The symbol around it does. Under the Hallmarking Act 1973 (Application to Palladium) Order 2009, palladium is marked at three standards: 500, 950 and 999. Its traditional symbol is the head of Pallas Athene. Platinum has its own symbol.

A 950 is never gold. Gold is marked 375 for 9ct, 585 for 14ct, 750 for 18ct and 916 for 22ct. A white ring stamped 950 is palladium or platinum. The hallmark decoder tells you which from the symbol.

Hallmark decoder: Enter the numbers and symbols inside a ring and see the metal, its fineness and the assay office that marked it.

Does palladium have to be hallmarked?

Yes. Since July 2009 palladium has been a precious metal under the Hallmarking Act, alongside gold, silver and platinum. GOV.UK sets the threshold at 1 gram: anything sold as palladium that weighs more must carry a UK hallmark. Every wedding ring is well over that.

A full hallmark has three compulsory parts: the sponsor's mark, showing who sent the ring for testing; the fineness mark, 950 for palladium 950; and the mark of the assay office that tested it. A date letter is optional.

UK hallmarks explained: What each mark tells you and which rings have to carry a hallmark by law.

Is palladium 950 good for a wedding ring?

Yes. It is naturally white, so it never needs replating; it is hypoallergenic, so it suits sensitive skin; and it is a hallmarked precious metal with real weight, though less than platinum.

In our ring weight model a court band in UK size N weighs about 2.0g at 2mm wide, 3.9g at 4mm, 5.9g at 6mm, 7.8g at 8mm and 9.8g at 10mm, from Morris & Watson's palladium 950 casting alloy at 12.0 grams per cubic centimetre. The same 6mm band is about 9.8g in platinum 950 and 7.7g in 18ct gold. So palladium is the white precious metal for someone who wants a wide band without the weight of platinum.

It rates about 4.75 on the Mohs scale, close to platinum at 4.5 and harder than gold at 2.5 to 3, so it wears much as platinum does: fine marks with daily wear that a jeweller polishes back. A plain palladium band can be resized by a jeweller like any precious metal ring.

Palladium ring weight: Every width from 2 to 10mm in sizes H to X, against other metals.

Palladium or platinum?: The two white precious metals side by side: weight, wear, resizing and hallmarks.

Palladium or platinum: which should you choose?

Choose platinum for the most weight on the finger and the metal most people picture when they think of a white precious ring. Choose palladium for the same white colour and hallmark at a little over half the weight.

We do not make palladium rings at the moment. The naturally white precious metal in our range is platinum 950, set as a solid line into two titanium bands made to order in your size. Our guide to 950 platinum covers how it wears.

Platinum rings: Titanium bands with solid platinum 950 lines, made to order in your size.

Metal allergies and hypoallergenic rings: Which ring metals suit sensitive skin and what to look for in white gold.