The jewelry world has many different metals, the most famous of which are gold, silver and platinum. But the fact that everyone in the world knows them does not mean that they are the most expensive. There are metals whose price seems unrealistic.

Types of expensive metals

Among expensive metals, natural and artificially derived are distinguished. The first type includes osmium, rhodium, ruthenium, platinum, gold, etc., and the second type has only two — Osmium 187, California.

artificial metals

— 252 California. Hold on tight — the metal is worth approximately $6.5 million per gram. It began to be produced in the middle of the last century at the University of California, hence the name. Only 6 grams have been produced throughout history. Since the metal has radioactive properties (and what else: the power of one nuclear reactor is equal to one gram of metal energy), it is used to scan parts of reactors and parts of aircraft, helicopters in order to find faults.

— Osmii 187. It has a deep dark gray color. In general, at its core, osmium is the smallest sand, which slightly gives off purple. The metal has an incredibly high density. Used to create precision instruments. Osmium is mined for almost a whole year.

natural metals

— Ruthenian. The material was discovered in a nearby XIX century. It is very brittle despite the fact that it is hard and infusible. Produced only in South Africa. The price varies from 8 to 10 dollars per gram. Has a silver gray color.

— Osmium. Its cost also depends on the quality; they ask for 12 to 15 dollars per gram. Color — delicate silver-white, gives blue. Despite the beauty, Jewelers do not use it for their own purposes, all osmium is extremely toxic and can cause great harm to the body.

— Palladium. The cost is from 30 to 33 dollars. Color is a beautiful light silver. It is characterized by plasticity and fusibility. A very important advantage is that the material is resistant to corrosion and does not fade over time. It is almost impossible to find accessories made of palladium alone; more often it is complemented with white gold jewelry.

— Platinum. The metal is valued at about $30 per gram. Typical light silver color. It was considered less valuable than even silver due to its refractoriness, even the name translates as «tiny silver». It is quite difficult to get platinum because it does not exist in the natural environment in its pure form, only in combination with other metals. To isolate 1 gram from alloys, it is necessary to process approximately 3 tons of ore. Platinum accessories are very popular among Asian nations.

— Gold. The cost is approximately 40 dollars. The color depends on the type of gold, most often you can find golden yellow. This is probably the very first metal discovered by mankind. Without the addition of other metals, gold has an incredible plasticity, so that it can be smoothed into a very thin film. For a very thin 28 km string, only 10 grams of gold is used.

— Iridium. The cost per gram is approximately $44. Differs in hardness, but at the same time fragility. Used in alloys with platinum. Resistant to corrosion. Metal is very difficult to process. One of the metals found on meteorites.

— Rhodium. One gram costs about $70. To get the metal, you need to smelt platinum. It was first opened in XIX century. Rhodium accessories do not exist as such — it is only used to cover silver or gold jewelry to give a dazzling shine. The advantage of rhodium is that it is absolutely resistant to corrosion and moisture.