GreatPilot@me.com
1847
Hi Amanico
Tantalum is my favorite metal followed by platium. I own a Panerai 172 and the FPJ Bleu, the bluish tent of Tantalum and it’s hardness are what does it for me. Platium is also more durable and unlike gold does not come off the surface when scratched but only “moves’ to another location on the watch thus a talented watch maker can polish it without losing any or very little material. It will last longer and keep it’s color longer than gold as well...Jim
Platinum watches
Dear all, I know platinum is slightly harder to work with, I know that its density is slightly higher than the one of gold. Still.. how can platinum watches be much more expensive than gold ones whereas the price of platinum is more that twice *lower* tha...
As you said, purity, density, and difficulty in machining/polishing account for some of the difference
But I'm pretty sure the majority of the price difference is just markup in most cases
The market. All other points are secondary.
Platinum is nice, but I've been thinking about a high palladium 18k white gold lately.
I think it is because the market is willing to pay
to keep it very exclusive - in addition to the issue of workability.
It‘s going to be a mixture of a lot of factors. Some based on physics, some just in our or their heads.
Explaining just one factor: density. Vacheron is using 18k (750) gold and 950 platinum. 750 gold has a density of around 16 g/cm3. 950 platinum has a density of around 20,5 g/cm3. Gold and Platinum prices are based on weight. A watch case has a specific v...
I suspect the image factor is important.
Prestige levels: - steel -yellow gold - red gold - white gold - platinum -tantalium (And in the end, anything will sell at the price someone is willing to pay - just look at the ridiculously priced steel Rolex models in the grey market)
I doubt it's rarer, but tantalum certainly isn't extremely valuable. Back in high school we had a giant bar of tantalum as our bathroom hall pass.
That bar of tantalum was valuable, but if it had been a bar of gold or platinum, that bar would've been worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Hi Amanico
Tantalum is my favorite metal followed by platium. I own a Panerai 172 and the FPJ Bleu, the bluish tent of Tantalum and it’s hardness are what does it for me. Platium is also more durable and unlike gold does not come off the surface when scratched but o...
Tantalum is only valuable because of the FBJ Bleu
Before that watch skyrocketed in popularity it was reasonably priced, and several other companies made tantalum watches. Even though a PITA to work with it wasn't a very expensive or prestigious material
No. Of course not.
But I believe image is a decisive factor when it comes to pricing.
Oh, and one more reason. (and probably not a small one). You‘ve stated, that gold is double the price of platinum. This is only true for the past months.
If you order a watch from Patek you‘ll have a fixed list price. That price was set several years or maybe months ago. Platinum has been above or around 1000€ for a long time and only dropped a lot in the past months. For gold it‘s been the other way aroun...
Production, difficulty of manufacturing..
I think Platinum has become a sort of benchmark for excellence both for Patek Philippe and Collectors so reputation probably has a big role to play in that - likewise for other brands. This reputation is probably due to the difficulty to produce the metal...
Marketing
If you can double your margins out of thin air why wouldn't you? Only FP Journe prices platinum watches somewhat closer to fair. Similarly, it is not like the price of diamonds has much to do with the price of high end jewelry. It has all to do with findi...
Spot price Pt is $799.65 and Au $1713.19. Now what is the ...
Current reason for some much more expensive PT watches?
Tune in to an risked of the new watch podcast “Minutia Repeater” by Kiran Speake.
He discusses this very issue and gives an excellent answer. It’s a great watch podcast all round. Highly recommended 👍🏻