Whoppers jewelers have told to make a sale

Jewelry Discussion
21

Thanks so much to all who have replied to my query about “alpaca” as
applied to metals, not cosy socks.

Love this forum: you learn something every day!

Now another query - apparently wikipedia says that electrum is a
synonym for alpaca/nickel etc.

I was always under the impression that electrum - used extensively
in ancient Egypt, of course - was an alloy of silver and gold?

Any thoughts anyone? And a Merry Christmas to all!

Janet

22

I am amazed at the variety of ‘stories’ people have heard. It really
makes you wonder who you can trust anymore.

23

A few days ago, I spoke of a non-jeweler retailer whose website
advertised ‘Alpaca’ as a form of Sterling. I visited his website
today, and he has CHANGED the description of his goods. Yeah! Good on
’im!

24 
Now another query - apparently wikipedia says that electrum is a
synonym for alpaca/nickel etc. 

I was always under the impression that electrum - used extensively
in ancient Egypt, of course - was an alloy of silver and gold?

Apparently electrum was a trade name used for a few decades
exclusively by manufacturers of technical drawing instruments. It had
nothing to do with classical electrum. One supposes the name was
chosen to lend a certain cachet to the alloy, especially as in the
late 19th century electricity was still a bit mystical and at the
same time super-modern.

The link in the Wikipedia footnote leads to this informative
discussion: Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos

Elliot Nesterman

25

Janet- Electrum is an old alloy that was mostly used for coinage.
Modern Electrum as I’ve known it is a 50 50 alloy of pure silver and
pure gold.

It’s a pale beige and soft.

I’ve had cosmic woo woo folks ask specifically for it, so that they
have a pure metal alloy to set their special healing crystals in.

Have fun and make lots of jewelry.
Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com

26

Joe Haemer said,

I've had cosmic woo woo folks ask specifically for it, so that
they have a pure metal alloy to set their special healing crystals
in.

I haven’t heard the term “cosmic woo woo folks” in a long time. It’s
perfectly descriptive, and we all know what you mean by it. You gave
me a chuckle there, thanks!

27

Here is some info on electrum

electrum

Metallurgy) an alloy of gold (55-88 per cent) and silver used for
jewellery and ornaments [C14: from Latin, from Greek "lektron amber]
Collins English Dictionary " Complete and Unabridged ©
HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

Electrum (Concise Encyclopedia)

Natural or artificial alloy of gold with at least 20% silver, used
to make the first known coins in the Western world. Most natural
electrum also contains copper, iron, palladium, bismuth, and perhaps
other metals. The colour varies from white-gold to brassy, depending
on the percentages of the major constituents and copper. The first
Western coinage, possibly begun by King Gyges of Lydia (7th century
BC), consisted of irregular ingots of electrum bearing his stamp as
a guarantee of negotiability at a predetermined value.