Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

platinum-iridium
     
         A standard, against which all others of the same
        category are measured.  Usage: silly.
     
        The notion is that one of whatever it is has actually been
        cast in platinum-iridium alloy and placed in the vault beside
        the Standard Kilogram at the International Bureau of Weights
        and Measures near Paris, as the bar defining the standard
        {metre} once was.
     
        "This {garbage collection} {algorithm} has been tested against
        the platinum-iridium cons cell in Paris."
     
        Compare {golden}.
     
        [{Jargon File}]
     
        (1997-02-20)