[Jewelry making - Article 00283] - Re: [Orchid] Rose gold alloy

[Peter W . Rowe]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

>     can anyone tell me what alloy is used to create Rose Gold ? 

    Copper is what gives a rose or red gold alloy it's color. An 18K red
    gold made of just gold and copper will be a very "red" gold color,
    though it needs careful handling when heating or annealing to avoid
    it becoming very brittle and hard (It must be quenched from above
    about 800 degrees F. Don't slow cool or air cool it. Alcohol
    quenching avoids the possibility of stress cracks from quenching. 

    If a straight gold/copper color is too rich, add silver to tone down
    the color. The more silver you add, the more the color moves to the
    standard gold alloy colors. A little silver with mostly copper in the
    alloy (mixed of course with the desired percentage of gold for the
    karat you're making) still gives a nice rose color, and helps avoid
    those problems with a brittle structure. 

    There's no one exact formula, since "rose gold" covers a range of
    colors, but the basic alloy is simply copper, or copper with a
    variable amount of silver. 

    Some commercial rose golds may add things like small amounts of zinc
    or other deoxidizers to make it more castable, but these need to be
    small additions or they affect the color negatively... 

Peter
____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________