It seems people (not me) are back to investments in gold and other precious metals to minimize the risks of inflation, and for other various reasons.
I've recently learnt, about a very rare and expensive metal - rhodium. Its symbol on the periodic table of elements is Rh and its atomic number 45. It is used in industry primarily as an agent of hardening, increase of resistance to corrosion, and reflectivity.
Rhodium is much more expensive than the other known precious metals (gold, titanium, silver) because of its rarity. It cannot be mined on its own; it's a by product of titanium mining. The main country source for rhodium is South Africa.
The name 'rhodium' has been brought up , the other day, in a discussion on plated jewelry. Rhodium is used to coat mainly white gold and or platinum jewlery to give it durability and improve its brightness.
I've got no plated jewlery at all, so I'm not familiar with the process. I do own a few personal jewlery pieces made of gold, silver, titanium of various karat values, but these pieces are not coated with some other metal for protection and shine.
They say, that unlike nickel, this silver-white metal rhodium, has no allergenes, so the plating is hypoallergenic. When added to a white gold ring with a diamond, it enhances the brilliance of the diamond.
Anyway, rhodium is not for people with modest means. It's too expensive, but like anything found in nature, 'rhodium' is an interesting topic, and not only to those looking for metal investment or jewelry plating (I'm not looking for either).