DEARER THAN GOLD

Evening Star, Issue 18807, 4 December 1924, Page 5

DEARER THAN GOLD

PLATINUM AND ITS USES. FINS FOR FALSE TEETH. Diamonds sparkle on the third finger 0? the left hand of the bright summery girl in the tram (says the Auckland ' Herald ’). She prefers not to wear gloves. She knows that this eye and that have caught the flash of the gems, and she knows time a number of the people are thinking that it is a very pretty ring, indeed, and that she will make a very pretty bride. She likes the interest. It gives her a sense of well-being that 18 entirely to the good to supplement her happiness, and perhaps dispel that slight suggestion of anxiety which sometimes raises the wonder, “ Will this happiness last? ”

But. what would she think if someone with a fine commercial taste in metals, having seen the ring, remarked to his neighbor, ‘‘Speaking of false teeth!” It is almost profane to associate false teeth with an engagement ring, but, lackaday! there is no getting away from it, that is, if (lie diamonds have the fashionable platinum setting. As a matter of fact, it is quite possible that the platinum mounting of the jewels in the ring of the summery girl once played an important part in the mastication of some elderly bachelor’s food, for in former years, and to some extent now, tiny pins of platinum were used to fasten the porcelain teeth to the vulcanite, or any other material, of which plates are made. Occasionally the whole plate was made of platinum, there being sufficient of that precious material to show to advantage, the diamonds of many rings, FORMER UTILITARIAN USK Consider the possibility of the platinum claws round a stone having done their part in consuming countless pound* of steak and sacks of onions. - And, yet, why should the thought be horrible? Wq do not object to gold because it may have been put to base uses or handled by base people. It really does not matter where the platinum came from—so long as it is platinum, . and in this connection a man versed in metals whispers “ Beware.’’ Us displayed a large and resplendent cluster of diamonds mounted entirely in a white metal that had become black. “ Cheap fc alloy.” be said. “ Mostly silver.” Ona hopes the stones, were not paste. ft is because sets of false teeth, particularly if they were made in the piping days of peace, before the war, often contain platinum, that there is an_ active inquiry for discarded sets, and, judging by the sire of a collection seen recently, i'» is evident tbaft folk place no sentimental value upon their artificial masticators. They are not regarded as heirlooms. It will' not be possible for many men of future generations to strut tp the oaken ra,so and remark: ‘‘There are my great-great-grandfather’s false teeth. Lived in Auckland in {lie very early days. Was alive during the Great War. Tho old boy bad a- notable bile.” No! If one can judge by the hundreds and hundreds of sets, placed aside in one local establishment because they have no platinum pins, and hence no value, worn-out artificial teeth are. willingly sold.

These hundreds of teeth, grinning falsely from every angle. vividly sug gested nti overwhelming toothache, and 1 hr- pangs of tin* dentist's chair. A very depressing sight', indeed. and not pretty. From the point of view of a seller, the thing that matters is whether teeth contain platinum or not. and this can be found out with fair certainty bv detaching one of flic teeth from (lie plate. If the two little pins at the had; are of white im-tal, showing no sign of corrosion nr dullness, it can he taken for granted that they are of platinum. INCREASED DEMAND. As already mentioned, it is in pre-war teeth that platinum was generally used. The metal was then much cheaper than it is to-day. Its price over a period before the war ranged from £2 10s to £7 an ounce. The cutting off of supplies and the great increase in its use in jewellery swelled the price, which is now £2O an ounce, or about five times the value of gold. Platinum is now regarded as the most, reliable metal for mounting diamonds, because it is strong and of enduring lustre. No single acid or fire will mrnish it. Tims it improves the brilliance of the stones. It is comparatively i-are to find a good piece of jewellery with stones not set in platinum, because the vellow of gold gives a tingo of yellow to die gems. The price of platinum "actuates. H has been as high ns £4B an ounce, and the view is held by the trade that If the largo platinum resources of Russia wore tapped the price would fa!' with a crash. Tt lias a more utilitarian value, how* ever, Ilian attaches to jewellery. It is used for contact tips in magnetos, because of if*; iufusihility. Tinv holts lipped with the mefi! are manufactured by a smelter in Auckland, and their retail price is somewhere in tile vicinity of £l. Platinum is found in New Zealand usually associated witli gold in gravel, and in Southland it is secured, sluicing being the method employed. In the great gold-mining days the platinum caught was not. of sufficient value to interest minors, and it. was thrown away. To-day serious efforts are being made In make it more than a side-line of some sluicing ventures in Southland. A sannile seen yesterday took the form of flakes shining among gold dust and black sand. It is stated that a new process is being tested, by which the recovery of the nlatinuni will he made much more easy than has been t’ne ease in the past.