F.P. Journe

BluNotte
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It is indeed unfortunate to see that Platinum is falling....

In terms of its price on the commodity exchange! But this DOES NOT changes the chemical and physical properties of platinum.　Now I started out in the haute horlogerie scene by making a goal to have the majority of my collection in Platinum, if not all. ( I'm totally in love with this metal, not for its price, nor status that it brings when you wear a platinum timepiece[ you can count these as bonuses along the way], but for the metal ITSELF, and the intrinsic properties, from a chemical point of view, whether its a million dollars or no value at all) Even though the price of the metal itself is dropping, and this may "make" the value of the watches that I own in PT 950 less, this drop , on the other hand means that the brands may price their Platinum pieces much less than they used to, thus allowing me to buy MORE pieces in platinum! Bravo! Hurrah!

Whether Platinum costs US$2000 or US $1 ( an impossibility , but just to emphasize my point), it does not change the fact that platinum is a metal that is pure, rare & eternal.

Pure=Platinum items (such as watch cases) are often 95% pure platinum (in watches we almost solely see PT cases being machined from PT 950, unlike in the wedding ring industry, where PT 900 is also common, even PT 1000), as opposed to 18 karat gold, be it white, red/rose/pink, or yellow gold which is 75% pure. The other constituents of the alloy in gold, while this probably dont matter to most people, can cause allergic reactions in those with highly sensitive skin. Platinum itself is also hypo-allergenic, meaning that it doesnt cause allergies as readily as other metals. The fact that it is purer, means also that you get more of the metal itself, thus contributing to the value in terms of money, and for people like me, the "feel-good" part.

Rare=Platinum is 30 times more rare than gold. True that if the demand for Platinum drops the price will too, but that does not mean one bit at all that the TOTAL VOLUME of Platinum on our planet Earth will increase. It will remain the same amount, and that is being 30 times less than gold.

Eternal=Unlike other metals utilised in watch cases (gold, steel etc.), when a platinum case is scratched, you merely DISPLACE the metal, rather than lose the total volume. To give a simple analogy for understanding, imagine a piece of soft clay that you rub your finger across its surface. You wont actually take any clay off the major block, but rather you shift some parts of it to the direction that your fingers are moving. In the same case for platinum, you dont cause the atoms of the Platinum in the case to come off, but rather you "shift" their position. Thus you will see things such as a dent, but the dent isnt a piece(or thousands of platinum atoms that have fallen of), but rather that they move aside from their usual position to another place nearby, say to the sides. This ensures that even if you get many scratches over the years, when you get your watch overhauled, polished and such, you will end up with virtually the same amount of platinum as you did at the start. Not to mention also that as platinum doesnt tarnish as readily as other metals used in watch making, you will get that pure shine for a longer period of time. But even if it dulls over time, you can ALWAYS get it polished from say Lange and they will deliver your watch back to you in superb condition, it shall be as "mirror" shiny as the day you bought your piece.

About your original question, Platinum is also much much harder to work with than gold, so even if the actual price of the metal itself falls, lets be real pessimistic and say that it costs even LESS than gold, IMHO manufacturers will still price their platinum timepieces slightly more than their piece in gold, for the fee in working with the metal (cutting, molding, polishing)

I hope this gives you some insight into this STILL MOST NOBLEST OF METALS. And i'd love to see more discussions on this , anyone please feel free to post any thoughts, comments!

This is to my MOST FAVOURITE AND MOST NOBLE OF METALS EVER.

Thanks for reading this far!

Merci beaucoup e a bientot!

Stephen Tjandra