gold or platinum.

[Ot Mean Loi]

Should have been here in the early days YTP.

Everything that moved along the old bamboo railway was and remains a Norry.

And "contenner" is another example of a corrupted foreign word as spoken in Khmer.

OML

[kansaicanuck]

"Platin" is just one of those Cambodian pronunciations for a foreign word and in this case for the words "Plating or Plated" as in electro-plating/plated. Exactly the same applies to the original word "Lorry" for a truck which becomes Norry in spoken Khmer.

...

With very little experience it is possible to tell the purity of a gold article simply by weighing it in the palm of one's hand.

This is interesting. I assumed the reason gold is called platin here was to do with something like this.

Curious how 'Platin' has entered the local lexicon to now mean proper 18k, 20k gold jewellery ect rather than gold plated jewellery as you mentioned it originated from. Often now people will say 'platin dap pram bai" for 18k as an example.

I would argue your assertion that with very little experience people can tell the purity of gold simply by holding it in their hand as quite incorrect though. Seasoned goldsmiths wouldn't be able to tell accurately if something is 22karat or 18 karat just by holding a small bracelet, ring or chain in their hands. That even an experienced Goldsmith would be able to hold something in their hand and tell you what purity it is, just isn't possible. But, if a Goldsmith were to inspect two exact copies of two gold rings one of which is 14-karat and one of which is 22 carat most if not all would be able to give a very educated guess as to which one has more gold content by the weight but probably not by how much more or less karat wise. I would say it takes years of experience and it's not at all easy to even give an educated guess without testing or properly weighing a piece of gold jewelry.

[Ot Mean Loi]

Should have been here in the early days YTP.

Everything that moved along the full length of the old bamboo railway was and remains a Norry.

And "Contenner" is another example of a foreign word as spoken in Khmer.

OML

[Ot Mean Loi]

Yes, it is relatively easy to develop a fine feel for gold and to be able to tell the approximate purity of the gold from its "feel"

But one would NOT buy gold on feel alone. A quick touch on the thma som ret followed by the Tuk Dorp Meas” would confirm things.


OML

[pedros]

I had very little interest in platin until today. The wife has some bangles, and my fairly inexpensive wedding ring is made out of the stuff (indeed I only found out it was low quality gold about a year ago, that's how much of a rat's cock I gave).

However, somewhat coincidentally, just received this 80cm long bit of bling as collateral on a $250 short term loan for Mrs P's fledgling forays into the loan shark racket.

Platin with some black stone Buddha, valued at $1500, I'm told. Now I'm going to wear it shirtless and prance around the village like Mr T until we get paid in full with interest.

បិទបាំងល្ងីល្ងើ/ខ្ញុំមិនទទួលបានយន្តហោះគ្មានទោសទេ/ខ្ញុំអាណិតអ្នកឆ្កួតឆ្កួត etc.

[kansaicanuck]

Yes, it is relatively easy to develop a fine feel for gold and to be able to tell the approximate purity of the gold from its "feel"


OML

Some people are just better than others at voodoo.

Weight in the hand is more of an indicator of the gold content but guessing the purity would be really difficult. I agree you could guess which piece of gold had a higher gold content due to weight if you had a similar piece to compare it against.

As to the feel. Do you mean feeling by touch or by weight in the hand?

Other than the weight difference (and possibly color if they contain the exact same alloy) three rings made of 14 karat, 18 karat, 20 karat if finished and polished the exact same way would "feel" exactly the same by touch. But they would weigh differently. It may be possible to tell in the palm of your hands which is which. Not much can be figured not by touch or feeling gold though.

[Ot Mean Loi]

Entirely by feel in the palm of one's hand. Never by touch or feel.

Ditto for silver but by colour. You develop an eye for the subtleties.

I've been collecting old Khmer silver since my time in UNTAC.

OML

[Ot Mean Loi]

In reality, one will find very little Platinum, the precious metal, in Cambodia, as it is not favoured by Khmers. Platinum is far more a western precious metal.

Gold is and always has been the portable wealth and store of wealth of choice for Cambodians. And with good reason. Platinum is only worth US$832. per troy ounce and Gold fetches US$1,222. per troy ounce and is instantly sellable whereas Platinum is far more difficult to sell. Pure silver, which very rarely encountered in Cambodia but that's a different story, is only US$15-16 per troy ounce on the spot market today.

Diamonds are not proving to be a girls best friend on resale in Cambodia.

OML

[YaTingPom]

Diamonds are not a girls best friend on resale anywhere in the world. It's the whole De beers marketing nonsense plus if everyone sells their diamonds it will fuck up the whole cartel.
You'll only get a fraction of what they are "worth" and often the dealer won't even want them.

Not many women sell their diamonds.

[jackrossi]

Platin is a broad term used to refer to gold mixed with other metals.
Platin is rarely used to refer to 24k gold, never referring to platinum.
You should buy 14k gold if she wants platin because that's I think is the closest standard for platin but could be anything between (18k to 8k) and it could refer to a mix of gold and silver or gold and copper, usually copper.

Generally if someone says platin here they mean:
~14k rose gold or similar.

[andy1]

where does the word seaclaw come from when refering to a neclace,As in i want platin seaclaw?

[YaTingPom]

Should have been here in the early days YTP.

OML

I very nearly did in 94 whilst in Koh Samui.

Met a chap (US) who was off to Cambodia to work/explore(can’t remember who for) and invited me to join.
All I knew at the time of Cambodia was the shit storm fighting and poverty (I’m as hungry as a Cambodian, was the saying at school) so I declined his offer.

Ended up in bloody Australia.

I saw him off with a hug and fist pump (which I’d never did before) and off he went. I did have his address but no one had email the, or it wasn’t common anyway.

[spitthedog]

^^ Australia and Cambodia are both owned by China, so not too different i should imagine.

[gold]

Some amazingly misinformed comments here.
Platin is karat gold, often 18 kt (750 parts per thousand) or as low as .600 fine.
It is not plated or platinum.