Will platinum scratch or damage rose quartz?

[cookies]

I have a rose quartz pendant, which is attached to a platinum (Pt950, Pt/Ru alloy) rolo chain. So far I have been careful enough not to let the chain touch the crown/table of the stone, but I was wondering, if the chain does accidentally touch the stone, will the stone get scratched or damaged in any way? I know on the mohs scale of hardness, pure platinum is 4-4.5, and quartz is 7. But the chain is platinum alloy, not pure platinum..

 

[T L]

I have a rose quartz pendant, which is attached to a platinum (Pt950, Pt/Ru alloy) rolo chain. So far I have been careful enough not to let the chain touch the crown/table of the stone, but I was wondering, if the chain does accidentally touch the stone, will the stone get scratched or damaged in any way? I know on the mohs scale of hardness, pure platinum is 4-4.5, and quartz is 7. But the chain is platinum alloy, not pure platinum..

I think it depends on who you're getting to set it. Someone could easily damage it by setting it, and platinum is more difficult to work with than gold.

Did you get your stone yet? Pictures?

 

[cookies]

I have a rose quartz pendant, which is attached to a platinum (Pt950, Pt/Ru alloy) rolo chain. So far I have been careful enough not to let the chain touch the crown/table of the stone, but I was wondering, if the chain does accidentally touch the stone, will the stone get scratched or damaged in any way? I know on the mohs scale of hardness, pure platinum is 4-4.5, and quartz is 7. But the chain is platinum alloy, not pure platinum..

I think it depends on who you're getting to set it. Someone could easily damage it by setting it, and platinum is more difficult to work with than gold.

Did you get your stone yet? Pictures?

The stone I am asking about came from RH, and it's already set in a bezel pendant by LM. It was not scratched during the setting. I am asking now because I am not sure how to take good care of it. I feel like the platinum chain can easily touch the surface of the stone if I am not careful when handling it.

The star rose quartz I bought from Ed arrived a couple days ago. It's beautiful, but difficult to photograph. Ed's photos are way better (except he didn't catch the inclusions near the bottom of the stone):
http://www.wildfishgems.com/inc/sdetail/10979/14630

 

[pregcurious]

I couldn't find the hardness of a Pt950/Ru, but Pt950/Iridium has a hardness of 6.5 Mohs. (http://www.timezone.com/library/archives/archives631704753221240074)

I believe Pt950/Ru is supposed to be harder than Pt950/Iridium (https://www.pricescope.com/journal/overview_common_alloys_used_jewelry), which would mean it is probably has a Mohs hardness greater or equal to 7.0 (quartz). If this is correct, than your chain may be able to scratch your rose quartz.

 

[T L]

I couldn't find the hardness of a Pt950/Ru, but Pt950/Iridium has a hardness of 6.5 Mohs. (http://www.timezone.com/library/archives/archives631704753221240074)

I believe Pt950/Ru is supposed to be harder than Pt950/Iridium (https://www.pricescope.com/journal/overview_common_alloys_used_jewelry), which would mean it is probably has a Mohs hardness greater or equal to 7.0 (quartz). If this is correct, than your chain may be able to scratch your rose quartz.

Glad you pointed that out, as I have read that iridium is the hardest metal on Earth.

 

[cookies]

I couldn't find the hardness of a Pt950/Ru, but Pt950/Iridium has a hardness of 6.5 Mohs. (http://www.timezone.com/library/archives/archives631704753221240074)

I believe Pt950/Ru is supposed to be harder than Pt950/Iridium (https://www.pricescope.com/journal/overview_common_alloys_used_jewelry), which would mean it is probably has a Mohs hardness greater or equal to 7.0 (quartz). If this is correct, than your chain may be able to scratch your rose quartz.

Thank you pregcurious, so it seems I need to be extra careful!

 

[pregcurious]

I would really want to know for sure. You could buy a cheap piece of quartz and try to scratch it with your chain (on an area that is not very important to you).

 

[cookies]

I would really want to know for sure. You could buy a cheap piece of quartz and try to scratch it with your chain (on an area that is not very important to you).

That's a great idea. I will look on eBay for a cheap quartz. I assume I will need to learn how to tell fake quartz apart?

 

[T L]

Most rose quartz on ebay is real as it's such an inexpensive gem, that there's no point faking it. There's hydrothermal quartz too, but its the same hardness, so your scratch test should work on both.

 

[cookies]

Most rose quartz on ebay is real as it's such an inexpensive gem, that there's no point faking it. There's hydrothermal quartz too, but its the same hardness, so your scratch test should work on both.

That's great to know. Thank you TL. I will report back once I do the scratch test.

I read that rose quartz is usually only worth $6 or so per carat. So sometimes I do feel silly paying thousands for them, just to get the color, the star, and/or the cut.

 

[pregcurious]

I'm not sure if the rose quartz in question is the same one you had in bezel pendant before, but I think it was lovely and almost ethereal.

 

[gsellis]

Your biggest danger is that rose, like all the other quartz, will tend to pressure flake. So the prongs just need a little more care when mounting. I personally tend to make my girdles annoying to jewelers to overcompensate for it (~.4mm). That is just me I think.

 

[cookies]

Thank you pregcurious. Yes, it is the same one I had in bezel pendant before. I had it reset recently, in a different bezel pendant, and started wearing it.

George: the rose quartz is already bezel set. So I guess pressure flake is no longer an issue?

 

[gsellis]

George: the rose quartz is already bezel set. So I guess pressure flake is no longer an issue?

Sounds good to me. No banging it against brick walls and you are set. Full time use on the hand or wrist will wear it down on the crown over the years. But it will also scratch the metal. So, don't do what I do and forget to remove it before sluicing for rubies in North Carolina (fortunately, I have a wheel and Zam and can make my wedding band look like new in seconds).