Palladium

Palladium is a silvery-white metal in the platinum group, the family that also includes platinum and rhodium. It does not tarnish in air, and it is the least dense and lowest-melting of the platinum-group metals. It was discovered in 1803, and it occurs in nickel-copper deposits, including some in Ontario.

Most palladium is used outside jewellery. In the US, catalytic converters are the leading use of platinum-group metals, with jewellery among the other uses. Palladium also appears inside white gold, which is gold decolourised by adding palladium or another white metal.

Jewellery palladium is usually an alloy, and 950 palladium means 950 parts per thousand, or 95%, palladium. Palladium is abbreviated Pd and marked in parts per thousand.

Canada's Precious Metals Marking Regulations allow “palladium” or “pall.” on an article when palladium is at least 95 per cent of its metallic content. They also allow it when palladium is alloyed with platinum, iridium, ruthenium, rhodium, osmium or gold, as long as palladium is at least 90 per cent and the whole alloy at least 95 per cent. “Pd” is the usual abbreviation, but it is not among the marks the Canadian regulations list. In the UK, palladium was added to the hallmarking standards in 2009, with fineness marks of 500, 950 and 999. For how Canadian stamps work, see precious metal quality marks.

The biggest difference is weight. Palladium's density is 12.0 g/cm³ against 21.46 for platinum, so a palladium ring of the same size is much lighter on the hand. Palladium is strong and light; platinum is denser and stronger than gold.

That lightness is the main reason to choose palladium: you get a naturally white platinum-group metal without the heft. Both metals are generally considered hypoallergenic, and neither needs rhodium plating to look white.

Annealed palladium is soft and ductile, and cold-working greatly increases its strength and hardness. Its melting point is also lower than platinum's, so it takes less heat to melt.

How a finished ring behaves depends on the alloy and how it was made. If you may need the ring resized later, ask the maker whether that particular palladium ring can be sized, and how.

Palladium is often described as an affordable white metal, but metal prices change, and the US Geological Survey's annual averages show how far. Palladium averaged about US$2,419 per troy ounce in 2021 and US$2,134 in 2022, then about US$1,352 in 2023 and US$995 in 2024, with about US$1,100 estimated for 2025.

It is easy to assume palladium is always the cheaper metal per ounce. It was not: platinum averaged about US$1,094 in 2021 and US$961 in 2024, below palladium in each year from 2021 to 2024. Only in USGS's 2025 estimate (about US$1,200) did platinum come out higher. Because a palladium ring weighs less, the cost of a finished piece depends on weight as well as price per ounce.

Supply is concentrated. USGS estimates Russia and South Africa produced about 154,000 of the 190,000 kilograms of palladium mined worldwide in 2025, and Canada about 16,000, third among producers. Metal prices move both ways, so treat any comparison with platinum as true for one year, not for good.

Palladium suits you if you want a white metal that stays white without plating, does not tarnish, and feels light. Its trade-offs are the same lightness, which some wearers do not like, and a price position against platinum that has changed from year to year.

If you want to compare palladium with platinum or white gold, use the design studio or visit a showroom. When you plan a piece through custom jewellery design, ask early whether palladium can be used for the design you have in mind.