Platinum occurs naturally in the alluvial sands of various rivers, though there is little evidence of its use by ancient peoples. However, the metal was used by pre-Columbian Americans near modern-day Esmeraldas, Ecuador to produce artifacts of a white gold-platinum alloy. The first European reference to platinum appears in 1557 in the writings of the Italian humanist Julius Caesar Scaliger as a description of an unknown noble metal found between Darien and Mexico, which no fire nor any Spanish artifice has yet been able to liquefy. The alchemical symbol for platinum (shown above) was made by joining the symbols of silver and gold.
In 1741, Charles Wood, a British metallurgist, found various samples of Columbian platinum in Jamaica, which he sent to William Brownring for further investigation. Antonio Ulloa, also credited with the discovery of platinum, returned to Spain from the French Geodesic Mission in 1746 after having been there for eight years. His historical account of the expedition included a description of platinum as being neither separable nor calcinable. Ulloa also anticipated the discovery of platinum mines. After publishing the report in 1748, Ulloa did not continue to investigate the new metal. In 1758, he was sent to superintend mercury mining operations in Huancavelica.
In an exemplary tribute to fine craftsmanship, a floral motif of diamonds forms a wreath around stunning grossularite. Drop earrings with oval grossularites and pear-shaped and round brilliant diamonds in platinum, for pierced ears. Let’s view the specification of this diamond drop earrings in platinum valued $32,500: Oval grossularites, carat total weight 7.36; pear-shaped diamonds, carat total weight 1.72; round brilliant diamonds, carat total weight .79.