The polyol process which applies to cobalt, nickel. copper and precious metals is a interesting and unexpected example of such a method for preparing uniform metal powders. The reaction proceeds via dissolution, and the polyol acts simultaneously as a solvent, a reducing agent, and to some extent a protective agent. Submicrometer uniform cobalt particles can be obtained by seeding the reactive medium ($AgNO_3$) to achieve a complete substitution of homogeneous by heterogeneous nucleation. By varying the number of nuclei it is possible to control to some extent the average particle size in the submicrometer (0.5$mu$m) range.