Hi, Charles, The question about fusing white gold was actually from
me. Your answer interests me very much. Electrum sounds ideal, but I
wonder-- Why don’t people use it instead of the usual white gold
alloys? Why can’t one buy it? It seems as though it must have some
major drawback. You know, if it sounds too good to be true… What
happens if the proportions are a little off? How ductile is the
finished metal? How stiff or soft, compared to other alloys we use?
Thanks! I have to say, I like the idea of selling “electrum jewelry”.
Sounds very impressive. --Noel
The big drawback to electrum is you can’t quality mark it as more
than 10K in the US. 14K is 58.5% gold and a 14k gold silver alloy
is definitely green not white. Most people associate 10K with cheap
so it will be hard to get a good price for your work. You will also
find it to be very ductile and quite soft.
I’ve always understood that “Electrum” was not a specific alloy of
gold and silver, but the name given to a group of naturally-occurring
gold-silver alloys containing from about 20 to 50 percent silver.
Consequently “it varies from pale yellow to silver white in colour
and is usually associated with silver sulfide mineral deposits”.
It’s Jennifer not Charles. Why don’t people use it? I lot don’t know
about it and it isn’t manufactured. Therefore if you can’t buy it
already manufactured and milled, some people won’t alloy their own
metal. The best way to test your alloy mix is to make up a small
amount and try to fuse it. If it doesn’t fuse then the mixture was
not pure enough. I really like the material and its ductility. It
has the weight of gold and color and maleability of silver.
Lots of jewelers and others put it down, mostly to ignorance. But
this metal was around during the Byzantine times and is older than
s----.
problem as i see it is people don’t understand where the metal fits.
it’s no6t pure silver and not gold… so there are no metal market
references. also little history of it’s use. i have several rings i
have made from the alloy and they seem to oxidize but not at the
same rate.they also seem to be a little brighter when polished.
ringman
Forgive me if I’m wrong, but an alloy of 50%Au and 50%Ag (fine and
fine) would be 12k GREEN gold and could certainly be marketed as
such. Perhaps I am missing something in my math…