PLATINUM

The marking "Platinum" or "Plat." means that the item consists of 985 parts per 1,000 of platinum and its elements, with at least 935 parts being pure platinum and no more than 50 parts being the other elements. If the item is soldered, the total amount of platinum has to be in the proportion of 900 parts of platinum and 50 parts of the other elements of platinum.

If less than those amounts of platinum are used, you must be informed of that fact. Jewelry that contains between 500 and 935 parts per 1,000 of pure platinum (500 to 900 when solder is used), with the remainder being one or more of the other platinum elements, can be marked platinum only under certain circumstances.

The following markings are indicative of what you should look for: if the amount of platinum is at least 750 parts per 1,000 and at least 50 parts of one of the other elements, such as rhodium, the marking would read "Rhod., Plat."; if the amount of platinum is between 500 and 750 parts pure platinum, the exact amounts of the other metals must be included, with the marking reading "600 Plat., 350 Pall." or "500 Plat., 200 Pall., 150 Ruth., 100 Rhod."

When less than 500 parts of pure platinum is used, the article cannot be marked platinum under any circumstances. It must be marked with the element that predominates, and that element must be spelled out and not abbreviated.