I would strongly - very strongly - recommend that you use 22k
instead. 24kt will be like a band of butter around his finger,
I can’t resist jumping in again. I have the advantage that I think
like a customer, not a jeweler, and one who has worn a 24k ring for
44 years and wouldn’t change it.
First, it isn’t that bad. Sure, it’s soft and will distort, but it’s
easily reshaped on a mandrel when needed. It also loses its polish
with normal wear, but again, that’s easily fixed, or the wearer may
not care. (I don’t.) The customer may have his own reasons. Maybe he
likes the symbolism of purity.
I say explain the tradeoffs, but don’t discourage his choice.
Does anyone know anything about the “24K” gold from Germany that is
supposedly micro alloyed to give it a similar hardness to 18k. I
think the company that developed it was Nissing(?),who does a lot of
tension settings. Seems like I heard about it 3 or 4 years ago.
The Thai's and the Chinese (among others) will be very unhappy to
hear this since they've been making and wearing.9999 gold for
centuries!
I hadn’t known this. I had thought (wrongly) that the jewelry was
plated…but that doesn’t really make sense. There is a jeweler by
the name of Gurhan (I can never ever get his website to load, it
takes forever) who does very nice work in 24k gold. I had been taught
that it was too soft, but I see it done. I happen to think it is the
most beautiful material.
I create 24k gold jewelry and wear it every day (as well as.9999
silver jewelry).
I have made a ring (a 5/8 inch wide band with a ruby cab)in fine
silver. It sold right away. I simply told the woman exactly what the
fragility factor is for fine silver and, if anything happened, to
bring it to me and I would fix it no problem. She loved the look. I
happened to drop the ring once (I drop a lot of stuff) and it dented
pretty well. I just hammered the dent right out. I don’t see anything
wrong with using 24k or fine silver when everyone understands the
nature of the materials. I would love to create exclusively in high
karat gold someday.
I would strongly - very strongly - recommend that you use 22k
instead. 24kt will be like a band of butter around his finger,
Butter?? I have a 24k (.9999) ring on right now and have worn it for
20 years. It ain’t anything like butter! I also have a 24K chain
around my neck which I’ve worn for 15. It ain’t butter either. Poor
King Tut and the pre-Colombians and all the peoples of Asia: they’re
all wearing butter. They need smart folks like us in the west to
explain things to them.
The Thai's and the Chinese (among others) will be very unhappy to
hear this since they've been making and wearing.9999 gold for
centuries!
.998.999 even I would agree with you but.9999 is not so easy to
achieve due to the difficulty in removing contaminates at the.0001
level. I think that outside of laboratory uses you will find.999 is
as pure as it gets.
I create 24k gold jewelry and wear it every day (as well as.9999
silver jewelry). This company's practice of calling unpure gold 24k
means that I need to have a.9999 stamp made since my 24k stamp is
now polluted.
Talk to the US government not PureGold they are the ones that set
the standard in the US for 24K to be as follows:
“Under the National Stamping Act, articles or parts made of gold or
of gold alloy that contain no solder have a permissible tolerance of
three parts per thousand. If the part tested contains solder, the
permissible tolerance is seven parts per thousand. For full text,
see 15 U.S.C. 295, et seq.”
Jim
James Binnion @James_Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts
Pure 24k gold is far to soft to wear on the daily basis. To address
the point that there are 24k jewellery that have been worn for
generations, one has to realize that presence of small amount of
other metals can significantly change mechanical properties of the
alloy and make it more wearable than commercial alloy of 22k or even
18k. Just ask yourself how alloy of 23.9k gold and 0.1k of titanium
would behave.
When we use term 24k gold we have to be careful to distinguish
whether we are using 24k to mean chemically pure, or as practical
limit of our refining ability at a certain point in time.
.998.999 even I would agree with you but .9999 is not so easy to
achieve due to the difficulty in removing contaminates at the .0001
level. I think that outside of laboratory uses you will find .999
is as pure as it gets.
I traveled to Hong Kong last year and, just for fun, bought a 24k
band. It’s stamped .9999 inside. I suspect they add the extra 9 (as I
will when I get my stamp made) so nobody gets confused or weird when
they accidently read the stamping from the bottom and see 666. (I
live in the south US where things like that matter…)
Talk to the US government not PureGold they are the ones that set
the standard in the US for 24K to be as follows:
It would be easier and make more sense to talk to a rock.
I’m making a necklase in 24k. I’m having trouble with the casting
process. My castings have been rough, requiring more clean up than I
wish. I started casting with Kerr Labs Saten cast 20. I’d read that
it could be the sour= ce of rough castings in 24k, because of the
higher temp 24k requires for melt. I switched to R&R Ultravest, but
no improvement. I casted with a vacume table, Oxy & Propane torch,
1100 degree f for the 24k. I was careful to not overheat, but the
metal was very liquid. I used an open crusible, dedicated to 24k to
melt and pour. I did an 8 hr. burnout. Flask size 2.5"x 3.0. Sprues
about 50% larger than diameter of the links. Any tips, or maybe
someone here knows someone with plenty of experence casting 24k.
I'm making a necklase in 24k. I'm having trouble with the casting
process. My castings have been rough, requiring more clean
Tom, perhaps the burnout is too long. We cast 24K here with the
Satincast 20 and use the normal 5 hour burnout cycle… and just
cast the flask hotter. Our 24K castings come out ok.
Hello Tom, The 1100 degree casting temp seems high. I have found that
24k runs like water. Try bringing the flask temp. down to 800 or 900
and see if that isn’t better.
I'm making a necklase in 24k. I'm having trouble with the casting
process. My castings have been rough, requiring more clean up than
I wish. I started casting with Kerr Labs Saten cast 20. I'd read
that it could be the sour= ce of rough castings in 24k, because of
the higher temp 24k requires for melt. I switched to R&R Ultravest,
but no improvement.
Basically Satin Cast 20 and Ultravest are the same, some minor
differences with fans that swear by one or the other but
interchangeable for all intents and purposes. For higher temperature
performance try either Ultra-Vest MAXX or Satin Cast Xtrem
At the elevated temps of fine gold surface roughness can be a problem
also make sure to follow burnout schedules recommended by the
manufacturer as improper burnout procedures can cause rough surfaces.
I'm making a necklase in 24k. I'm having trouble with the casting
process. My castings have been rough, requiring more clean up than
I wish. I started casting with Kerr Labs Saten cast 20. I'd read
We had a custom bring a 10 oz bar of 24k and want three chains made
from it. Rather than it just sitting in the safe deposit box. We use
good old Satin Cast 20. The difference was it took a lot more heat
and time to melt the 24k. We had a person working, who just did
casting. So not really a problem.
The next thing we found out was, you can’t polish 24k the normal
way. So we put the chain in the tumbler and it worked great. The
tumbling harden the surface and polish it.
The last thing we found out was that you need a large cross section
on the link to it will keep its shape, handling to much made the chain
longer.
Jim
Jim Zimmerman
Alpine Custom Jewellers & Repair
I didn't think people made 24k jewellery, I thought the gold was
too soft.
Charles, it is soft. Chains wear really quickly as does anything
else made in 24K… That being said, I have three customers that are
ordering more & more of it. I made 6 pieces this week…and when
they don’t want the 24K they are going to 18K. I have no idea why.
20 years ago, we were all smarter I guess. You couldn’t sell and
didn’t try to sell much 24K at all. We even made sure any coins in
coin rings were well recessed to avoid wear. Now most folks stick
them right up on top where they touch everything.
Just please the customer. I like working in 24K… you can move it
around like clay at the bench. If you channel set and have a little
bump or bulge somewhere, you can take a burnisher and just smooth it
right out with one pass.
In travels to the Mideast and India I noticed quite a bit of jewelry
in 22K and 24K. When I bought it the vendor simply placed it on a
scale and sold it by weight which led me to think craftsmanship was
not much considered. In many area gold jewelry of high purity is
primarily for reasons of wealth rather than as jewelry per se,
although it does serve as adornment.
I didn't think people made 24k jewellery, I thought the gold was
too soft.
Depends on the culture. Many cultures prefer 24ct and the physical
property most prized is good weight and softness. Remember the bite
test? If you can make a toothprint in the heavy yellow metal it
surely is good.
I forever remember the comment from an Indian customer…9ct is “just
brass”. 18Ct is OK, 22ct is getting warm, and 24ct is pure goodness.
That’s why I have a 24ct stamp.
