Rhodium is a wonderful metal because it is non-corrosive, like gold, but, unlike gold, is quite scratch resistant. For this reason, it is often use as a final coating on silver and gold jewelry. But how hard is hard? And what does that mean? It turns out that there are a number of hardness scales. Two which jewelers and metal workers use are mohs and vickers. I'm still looking for a non-web source (no, it isn't in the CRC) so, for the time being, the reference goes to artisanplating.com.
Now I bet you are wondering what mohs and vickers are. Posted by torque at July 29, 2004 6:14 PM | TrackBack
material vickers mohs rhodium 600-700 5.5 platinum 500-600 4.3 nickel 200-500 7.0 gold 90-190 2.75 silver 90 3.25