Good afternoon Orchid community! I’ve been compiling a massive list of alloys over the past two years, some gold, silver, platinum, palladium, brass, bronze, iron etc. It’s got over 50 recipes and growing and I’m slowly testing all of them when I have time, but I had been quite curious about certain gold alloys, mainly ones that fall between yellow gold and rose gold. I realize that red/rose/pink are sometimes merely marketing terms, but for the purpose of this topic, these terms will obviously be specifically defined by a deeper or lighter tone based on copper and silver content. I recently came across some articles that referred to multiple different alloy terms. Some of these terms may be interchangeable and may only be differently named due to branding purposes, but I want to hear all of your opinions.
Firstly, I want to discuss 18K peach gold, specifically anything 18K or higher. This color really fascinates me, especially since it closely resembles the vintage ‘rose gold’ and is a bit brighter than a contemporary rose gold. This color is phenomenal. It’s not as modest as rose gold, yet still not as bold as yellow gold. It’s perfection in my opinion and I would like to try some rings in it and see what your thoughts on percentages and proportions should be. I’ve also heard of alloys being defined as 20K peach gold, 22K apricot gold, 18K chartreuse, A. Lange & Söhne’s ‘Lange 1 Honey Gold’, and the famed Chanel ‘Beige Gold’. Obviously, these colors fall in between yellow and rose, but it’s difficult to tell exactly where. Of course, I am experimenting, but to hear from others who are willing to share is always helpful in the road to creating the perfect color.
If any of you are interested in my alloy list, I am more than willing to share it! Some of the recipes are not complete and I have yet to add sections for specific gravity, density, hardness, and quench time. I do have things like melting, flowing, casting, and flask temperatures, but these are not yet complete. It’s a massive work in progress, but I’m eager to always add to it. I realize that everyone has their own unique recipes, but it’s nice to have a starting point!
Thank you very much for the alloy list
My pleasure. It’s not much, but I’m certainly proud of the research I’ve done to compile it.
Hoover and Strong sells a nice peach gold. You should be proud of your research and I think it’s interesting to alloy your own gold and even create your own alloy to satisfy your own intellectual curiosity. But I did not find it saved much money over buying karated gold in the color needed. Theoretically you buy 24K and then alloy what you need, I figured that saved me about $1 per dwt when I was doing it. So the savings wasn’t great and I occasionally got an imperfect melt where a little bit of alloy had not fully mixed into the molten solution, spoiling a casting. Plus you always have the button left over, so you’re not just making only what you need. And there is the cost of that 24K. So I just buy what I need already mixed, it’s easier. What you are doing would be more useful if you were to sell premixed alloy or gold to others I’d think.
Very interesting list. Thank you!
I was just Googling around and found this article on Titanium Gold (3/1 ratio)- https://phys.org/news/2016-07-lab-titanium-gold-alloy-harder-steels.html
It’s probably a long/expensive way from being commercialized, but I’d sure love to have a gold(ish) option strong enough to use for my wedding bands.
Jeff
Thank you!