About
Reasons to work with osmium
- Highest value density of all precious metals
- Perfect processing as Osmavé (osmium “diamond” carpet)
- Absolutely impossible to counterfeit
- Highest abrasion resistance of all materials
- Global osmium customs database
Let yourself be captivated and enchanted by the most fantastic metal of all time.
Rarity
Osmium is not only the rarest precious metal in the. world but also the rarest non-radioactive element of all. Osmium is mined together with platinum. Only traces of osmium are contained in the platinum ores. Separating the metals is complex and expensive.
When the production of platinum decreases as a result of the advancement of electromobility, as catalytic converters (being the main market for platinum mining) are no longer needed, osmium will also be mined in significantly smaller quantities. Without being extracted as a by-product metal, the mining of osmium is absolutely unprofitable. This will further increase its rarity. In addition, raw osmium cannot and should not be purchased from war-torn regions due to the ESG-M regulations adhered to by the osmium institutes. This means that possible quotas for production are no longer available. Based on these figures, crystallization in Switzerland is expected to be terminated on 31.12.2026 according to current plans as soon as the institutes' current stocks have been fully crystallized. The current stocks for crystallization are around 300 kg.
Assuming that prices continue to rise, we are therefore talking about a residual market of around one billion euros, which will be distributed among investors in kind. As soon as these stocks are available on the international tangible asset market, the stock of crystalline osmium will - due to it being used by jewelry manufacturers - decrease continuously as part of the forecast thin-out and can no longer be supplemented by newly crystallized goods.
Although the end of crystallization on 31.12.2026 will mark the end of supply and thus herald the start of the osmium big bang, this does not mean that no more crystalline osmium will be sold. Of course, the institutes will continue to place the remaining stocks on the market beyond this date until they are fully in the hands of investors. From this date onwards, the tangible asset market will be the sole source for the production of jewelry containing osmium. A significant price development is to be expected with the sale of the remaining stocks, which of course cannot be guaranteed, but is nevertheless to be strongly expected.
However, the Swiss crystallizers have promised that offcuts, i.e. the cut remnants of the osmium shaping process, will continue to be recycled despite the high costs and effort involved. According to the osmium institutes, any remaining raw osmium that might still be available for sale on the world market will no longer be purchased or processed. The prices for non-ESG-M compliant raw osmium will presumably collapse internationally as there are no significant uses for raw osmium other than crystallization. This means that osmium cannot be used as a pawn by international players to finance war economy. In the same way that the raw osmium market is disappearing, we are now seeing the use of crystalline osmium in the jewelry and luxury industry taking off. The brand new glass laboratory with flagship store in Murnau is therefore being expanded and made available for use just in time for certification, work preparation and inlay production.
The tasks of the Osmium Institutes will therefore also undergo major changes. In the next 20 years, after market distribution has completed, the institutes will have the task of maintaining the certification of cut osmium, the world database for tangible investment assets and, of course, the creation of certifications for pieces of jewelry.
Opportunities with osmium
Crystalline osmium is seen on the market as an investment metal as well as an art and jewelry metal. There could of course be many other industrial applications resulting from the special properties of osmium, but osmium is too rare and too expensive for any of these application options to become reality.
In the long term, investors are therefore primarily speculating that osmium will become increasingly difficult for jewelers to acquire due to its rarity. In the future, private and institutional investors will supply the jewelry market with crystalline osmium in the form of osmium disks, osmium diamonds and osmium stars.
When used in jewelry, it is processed together with metals such as gold, silver, platinum or titanium to create spectacular pieces of jewelry. These pieces of jewelry take additional material from the commodity market for osmium. As the pieces of jewelry remain in private hands, the osmium cannot be recovered from them.
Pieces of osmium jewelry are too valuable to be sent back into recycling, which is also very costly and therefore only carried out to a very limited extent.
However, with the sharp drop of prices on the diamond market, it is now possible for osmium in its use as an osmavé, to replace diamonds in many areas.
There are many reasons for this. Firstly, the sparkle of osmium can be perceived much more widely than the glitter of diamonds, due to the perfect reflection of parallel sunlight. Secondly, osmium does not refract light and therefore does not reduce the density of the emitted light. Thirdly, osmium can replace the diamond carpet, because very pointed shapes and also very soft shapes are possible, as osmium can be cut perfectly.
As the eternal metal, however, its mythical status may lead to osmium even overtaking metals such as gold in the future.
Properties
Osmium is referred to as the ultimate precious metal, as its physical properties are particularly unusual.
Just as it has a special position among the investment metals, it is also seen as special in jewelry production.
In physics, however, its status is also exceptional. We would like to mention a few examples from its many special features.
1) Osmium has the highest abrasion resistance of all materials. It would therefore be the most durable nail file in the world.
2) It also has the highest density of all elements and all compounds in chemistry. This alone, in addition to the crystal structure, is a physical constant that is a compelling indicator of authenticity, as there can be no denser metal.
3) Osmium has an extraordinary ability to withstand pressure. It has the highest compression modulus of all materials.
4) Osmium also shields a whole spectrum of radiation particularly well. If enough osmium were available, it would be possible to protect spaceships from radiation on their journey through space.
5) It has a unique blue-silver to blue-white luster, which is particularly evident in the reflection of parallel sunlight and LED artificial light. Its high reflectivity results in an impressively sparkling and stunning crystal structure.
It is undisputedly the most beautiful jewelry metal in the world.
Osmium-Institut zur Inverkehrbringung und Zertifizierung von Osmium GmbH
Kemmelallee 682418 Murnau am Staffelsee
Germany
