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When it comes to gold, we can easily imagine pieces of jewelry that are bright and brilliant and can be bought only at high prizes these days. Gold is a dense, malleable metal that can be extended physically, that is why a cube centimeter of gold weighs more than the same amount of iron.
Gold is one of the elements that can be found in the nature in its pure form, however, it is not possible to make jewelry out of pure gold. In other words, pieces of jewelry are made of the «gold alloy» which is a combination of gold and some other metals. In this article, we will discuss the gold alloy and its components.
Gold Alloy
The word alloy is a non-Persian word, which refers to a metal that is not pure and results from combining some metal or non-metallic elements. There are many alloys that you may have heard about like bronze which is a combination of copper and tin, stainless steel which is a combination of silicon, manganese, nickel and chromium, Cast iron that results from combining iron, carbon, and silicon, and finally brass that is a combination of copper and zinc.
The main reason for combining some metallic and non-metallic elements is that all metals have shortcomings that are improved by combining them with other metals. These metals are sometimes added to improve the characteristics of metals such as malleability, or strength.
Gold Stone
You might remember western movies with the theme of gold exploration where people sieve the water in the river to find gold. Scientists believe that the gold which is found on the earth is the remaining of dead stars which have died millions of years ago. These stars were dropped to the ground in a star shower and some of them went deep down into the earth . The gradual erosion of the stones has brought these elements to the surface of the ground.
Some of these stones have been built up in the river banks in the form of alluvial sediments and some others have reached the earth surface as a result of earthquakes that happen deep down in the oceans. High pressure and sudden evaporation turn the silica stones nearby gold into quartz. Gold nuggets are usually transparent and in most cases gold stones have round edges.
18 Karat Gold
We have already discussed what gold is, in previous EG articles. Although pure 24 Karat gold is naturally found in the nature, consumers won’t have it in its pure form which is due to the extreme softness of pure gold. To facilitate working with gold in workshops, gold is combined with some other elements that will improve gold malleability. This is why pieces of gold are found in 18 Karat and even lower levels.
However, malleability is not the only advantage of combining gold with other elements. Besides strengthening gold, adding different metals will change the color of gold to various colors. As a result, other colors of gold such as white gold, rose gold, red, purple, blue, green and even black gold are available these days.
It is also important to note that the elements added to gold for alloy formation, are not of the same amount and any change in them can change both the Karat level and the color. In the following we will discuss a few metals used for making gold alloy with different colors. As an example, gold, copper, and silver are used for making yellow gold and any change in the amount of alloy copper will add a pink shade and make rose gold color. In other words, in making the rose gold alloy there will be more copper than silver.
18K white gold alloy, on the other hand, is formed by gold, nickel, and palladium. After the white gold alloy is produced, it will be plated with rhodium to resist possible blows and scratches.
Cobalt and gold are used for making black gold which is still not very popular in Iran. As a result, 3 parts of black gold are used for each piece of yellow gold. This is while many workshops simply use a rhodium cover which will go away over time and the underlaying layer will become visible after a while. Any changes in the amount of cobalt will result in different shades of brown.
purple gold is another alloy which is formed with yellow gold, aluminum, or indium. The formation process of this alloy is not easy and should take place in the void. Despite all the difficulties on the way of producing this type of gold, the final product is not very popular. Although this type of gold may be a good decorative object for jewelry shop windows, it is not a good one for producing jewelry.
Blue gold, results from combining yellow gold with metals such as gallium or indium, but since both metals are soft like 24K gold, the final alloy can’t be used for producing jewelry.
قیمت طلای زرد بالاتر است یا طلای سفید
This question occurred to people frequently until a few decades ago. Yellow gold brightness is unique and can’t be seen in any other type of gold; however, other colors of this alloy offer astonishing beauty as well. 24K gold is the purest form of gold that is 99/99% pure gold, but since it is not strong enough, it is not suitable for producing pieces of jewelry. در نتیجه در قیمت زیورآلاتی که با طلای زرد یا سفید ساخته میشوند چندان تفاوتی نیست، چون هر دو آنها برای تبدیل شدن به فلز چکشخوار با سایر فلزهای استحکامبخش ترکیب خواهند شد.
Producing Gold Alloy
The main purpose of producing gold alloy follows is improving pure gold so that it will become strong enough for producing jewelry. That is why strengthening elements such as silicon are used to improve gold up to three times.
Gold Alloy Conclusion
In this article, we studied the gold alloy from many aspects and it was said that in contrast to what the people normally think, pieces of jewelry are not made of pure gold. In other words, pieces of jewelry are made of the gold alloy as a result of which they come in different colors. Many alloys are further plated with other metals to reach the desirable strength.
In the following, we discussed the reasons for adding different metals to gold, the most important ones of which were modifying gold, improving its strength, changing the color of gold, and making gold alloys in different colors. To make a purchase, we suggest you visit EG brand jewelry.
