I have been making questions about alloys of green gold with good working properties and good green colour. Now I am looking for the same information on yellow gold. More specifically what sort of alloys yield a rich but not too coppery looking alloy in 18k?
Would the traditional 18k of 750 pure gold, 125 Pure silver, 125 pure copper be a good choice or would it be more advisable to go with a more silver rich, green tinted alloy instead? Or the other way and go with a more copper rich alloy?
I have seen alloys ranging all the way from 19% of silver to 17% of copper. Which of these would give the results of a richly yellow but not too dark 18k Yellow Gold Alloy with good mechanical working properties?
The amount of “yellowness” in 18k yellow is a personal preference but can also, at times, be cultural/regional. Personally I really like a strong yellow.
But my understanding, at least from the recent past, is that the European market preferred a greener yellow. Broadly speaking the higher the copper ratio is the stronger the yellow until, as you noted, pinker tones start to come forward.
But working properties vary across this 18k yellow spectrum.
Generally speaking, and in my experience, the greener (higher silver) alloys are easier to work. But that’s only half the story because the making is the first part of the equation. The life of the “made” when the piece goes out in the world is important to me and I’d rather work with a stiffer, tougher gold that will hold up better.
A little more work on the front end for the payoff on the back end.
As I said, my preference is for a strong yellow. I’ve found that the Hoover & Strong Standard 18k yellow is a really nice yellow and a tough alloy as well. A nice combination for me.
When I moved years ago from casting gold to forging and fabricating it I started by rolling out, drawing or forging the sprues from the castings. As I became more comfortable with it I just started pouring ingots from the left over buttons and then just pouring from the casting shot. I still work this way in 18yellow, 14K yellow, rose, nickel and palladium whites.
Yep. Forged from an ingot poured from Standard 18y casting shot.
Here’s another 2 images of the same gold. The carved (with a bur) bands are a little browner due to photography. Again, fabricated.
I like those Andy. There is a nice visual flow to the upper photo. And the lower is a handsome, solid piece. Can you give me an idea of width and size?
Hi, There are a lot of exact metal percentages for each alloy here in the technical data sheets. They sell grains of the alloyed base metals, copper, nickel, zinc to add to fine gold and also the individual base metals. To get started they will supply small quantities to test. That is the Italian branch, but hopefully the US branch would offer the same assistance. http://products.legor.com/EN/division/2?cat_id=241
