I’d like to work more with high karat gold, but it’s not in the budget (yet!). This is my compromise, my first experiments using 24k Accent Gold with argentium. (Tourmaline, topaz, natural zircon, garnet, rhodolite garnet).
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Congrats! Keep going! Gold scares the hell out of me still lol. But I know when I melt it into the silver, that’s my tuition in the school of self taught smithing 
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I have been fortunate to have enough bits and pieces of gold lying around or given to me (broken chains, lone earrings, etc) that I have used quite a lot of recycled gold, I bought a testing kit so everything I use is 14k or better. By chance I came into the possession of a 1/2 oz gold coin (long story) and have used that to raise any 10k to 14, and I’ve bought gold wire for some things - I really like gold & silver together. There’s definitely a learning curve to adding gold pieces to silver, you have to be pretty careful not to “lose” the gold. Anyway, I really love the colour of 24k, but it’s a bit pricey for me, so I was pleased to discover Accent Gold. It’s sold by the gram, as dust (basically), just add distilled water, paint it on and fire, and that one gram, though not cheap, goes a surprisingly long way. It’s a thicker layer than plate, and while it would eventually wear off on the parts of a ring that rub, if you essentially recess it or put it in places which get no wear it’ll be fine. Another arrow in the quiver 
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(When I posted the pics I decided I didn’t like the plainness of the hoops so I’ve textured them, they look a lot better now).
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Thank you for the accent gold tip! That’s lovely
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Best priced source I found was Rio. There are some good videos on YT.
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Don’t forget Keum Bo! 24K fabulousness. Not hard to do. It hasn’t the precision of painting that the liquid golds have, like Accent gold, but it has a big impact.
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Thanks - I watched a bunch of videos on that, too, but decided for what I wanted to do the Accent Gold would be a better fit. But I just got a beehive kiln so I’ll probably play with keum bo at some point. Nice pieces
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I have used paint on gold alot too. PMC (which is now out of production) had a product, Aura 22, that is similar to accent gold and it is wonderful for precise placement. Have fun! We can’t all work with solid high karat gold, sigh… Here is a piece with the old Aura 22
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Super cool!
Thank you so much for the explanation! I had no clue really what you meant by accent gold but I’m going to look into it now.
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Best price I found was from Rio. Have fun!
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I haven’t heard of this before. Doesn’t seem to be anywhere in NZ that sells it.
Does it wash off?
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No, it doesn’t. It’s 24k gold and fuses to fine or argentium silver. It’s thicker than plate, but I wouldn’t put it on a ring band - it would eventually wear off. It’s good in recessed areas or areas which don’t get much wear. It’s in powder form & you add distilled water to make a “paint”. You can probably order it online.
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Thanks I might try it. I have tried Keum boo but it needs dedicated practice to use it well and it’s too expensive for a hobby jeweller like me to practice on.
Liz
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Anything using 24k gold is not going to be cheap, but I think Accent Gold is easier to use and you just need a torch.
have you tired doing applique work with gold on silver?.. I’ve used thin gauge gold wire and thin cut outs sheets to add it to a silver base for accents. Coin gold is about 22K. Austrian 1/5 oz. coins were the cheapest with Kruggerands second…scrap of course is the cheapest but usually not high karat. 24K gold has a higher melting point than silver. gold will bond to silver using soft silver solder or gold solder.
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