The Metallurgy of Some Carat Gold Jewellery Alloys

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Metallurgy of Some Carat Gold Jewellery Alloys The Metallurgy of Some Carat Gold Jewellery Alloys PART I — COLOURED GOLD ALLOYS Allen S. McDonald and George H. Sistare Handy & Harman, Fairfield, Connecticut, U.S.A. The classification of gold alloys in terms of caratage and colour provides no guidance as to the properties and working characteristics of the many carat gold alloys used in jewellery fabrication. Logical relationships do exist, however, between the composition, metallurgical structure and properties of such alloys, and these emerge from a study of the phase diagrams of the alloy systems involved. Part I of this review deals with coloured gold alloys. Part II will discuss their nickel containing counter- parts and will appear in the next issue of Gold Bulletin. Most carat gold for jewellery falls into one or other Three quasi-binary vertical sections of the ternary of two major categories, the coloured gold alloys diagram at constant gold contents characteristic of based on the gold-silver-copper or the gold-silver- jewellery alloys (10, 14 and 18 carat) are schematical- copper-zinc system and the white gold alloys. ly represented in Figure 4 where the parameter used Although many coloured gold alloys contain zinc on the abscissa is defined as: (from less than 1 to about 15 weight per cent), it is Ag wt.% valid to introduce this group in terms of the gold- Ag' = x 100 (per cent) silver-copper ternary system, from which all of the Ag wt.°Io + Cu wt.% alloys inherit certain fundamental metallurgical characteristics. After establishing these, the effects of Gold-silver-copper and gold-silver-copper-zinc- zinc will be introduced, and it will then be seen that alloys can be logically classified and discussed in in the amounts used this element does not change terms of two parameters, namely the caratage or gold these characteristics in kind but rather interacts to content and Ag'. modify them in a regular and symmetrical way. Given constant gold content sections of the ternary Figure I presents the gold-copper, copper-silver diagram, for example the 14 carat section in Figure 4, and silver-gold binary phase diagrams (1). The ter- the concept of three `types' of alloy based on the im- nary phase diagram can be established by progressive- miscibility gap and defined by values of Ag' can be ly adding gold to the copper-silver system. One might introduced. expect a liquidus valley to extend from the copper- Type I where Ag' ranges from 0 to about 10 per silver eutectic point at 780°C to the gold-copper cent or from about 90 to 100 per cent. These alloys liquidus minimum at 911°C. This valley exists and is exist primarily as homogeneous solid solutions at all shown in Figure 2. One might also expect the solid temperatures below the melting point. Alloys of this state immiscibility field in the copper-silver system to type are soft in the annealed condition and are not intrude into the ternary diagram to a considerable ex- age-hardenable. tent. Indeed it does, shrinking laterally and vertically, Type II where Ag' is in the range from about 10 to as compositions approach the gold corner. This is 25 per cent or 75 to 90 per cent. These alloys will illustrated in Figure 3, where the solid state isother- exist as homogeneous solid solutions at temperatures mal boundaries of the immiscibility field have been above the immiscibility gap, but if slowly cooled to projected onto the room temperature plane. The ex- equilibrium at room temperature _.0 (Ag Au) will _ istence of this immiscibility field is by far the most A in silver- precipitate in copper-rich alloys and cc (c„_ „) important factor in determining the basic rich alloys. Type II alloys are moderately soft in the metallurgical characteristics of the coloured jewellery annealed condition but are age-hardenable by heat gold alloys. treatment. r7.7 GOLD-COPPER COPPER-SILVER GOLD ATOMIC PER CENT °C COPPER ATOMIC PER CENT °C 9080 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 1100 1100 1084° WOO 1064 ° 1050 1000 TI1LLI 962° LIQUID LIQUID 1000 900 (Cu) 950 800 780° 281 88 (Ag) SOLID SOLUTION 921 a(AuCu) 1 900 911°,80.1°4 700 IMMISCIBILITY a (Cu)` a (Ag) 450 600 410°,75.6% 400 390°, 50.8°I 500 350 r - 4 00 Cu 90 80 70 60 50 40 30EH' 20 10 Ag AuCu3 X^ COPPER WEIGHT PER CENT AuCu 300 SILVER-GOLD 250 240° ii ° SILVER ATOMIC PER CENT jI^ ( 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 200 90 80 Au 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 Cu 10 70 ' 1064 GOLD WEIGHT PER CENT 1050 Fig. 1 Gold-copper, copper-silver and silver-gold 1030 _..._.- -- — LIQUID ---- --- 'r-- ----_..- binary phase diagrams. On the gold-copper diagram, i note the minimum liquidus temperature and the ex- 1010 istence of two ordered phases, AuCu and AuCu 3 . The SOLID SOLUTION copper-silver diagram shows that due to the eutectic 990 a (Ag,Au) decomposition of the homogeneous liquid phase into copper-rich and silver-rich phases, binary alloys are two-phase in the solid state except when either of cop- 970 per or silver is present in a very small quantity only. 962 ° 950 TIILt Silver-gold binary alloys are single phase at all concen- Ag 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 Au trations. After (1) SILVER WEIGHT PER CENT Au Au 10 -- 90 010 20 80 889° ° /30 --- 70 ° 40 60 ci 50 -- 843 ° 50 - /60 40 80 Cu 10 20 30 40 50 60 70\ 80 90 Ag Cu 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Ag SILVER WEIGHT PER CENT SILVER WEIGHT PER CENT Fig. 2 Projection on the room temperature plane of the Fig. 3 Projection on the room temperature plane of the gold-silver-copper ternary phase diagram of some gold-silver- copper ternary phase diagram of some isotherms on the liquidus surface. A liquidus valley ex- is6thermal solid state boundaries of the immiscibility tends frone the silvel`edpper eutectic point to the gold- field. After 11) copper liquidus minimum. After (1) 67 IS CARAT 14 CARAT 10 CARAT Ag, Wt. °/° Ag,Wt, % Ag, Wt. % 0 10 20 0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40 50 1100 1000 OJ5 v^OJ\ 900 SOLI DU S SOLID \ 0LUTION 600 DUS a(Au,Ag,Cu 700 SOLID SOLUTION SOLID SOLUTION W a(Au,Ag,Cu) a (Au,AgCu) a IMMISCIBILITY 600 a (Cu-Au)'(Ag-Au) Ui a 500 Ui I- IMMISCIBILITY 400 a(Cu-Au)`a(Ag-Au) 300 ' (IMMISCI- BILITY 200 AuCu^ a(Cu-Au) (Ag-Au) ‚vu - 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100 Ag' 'I, Ag %° Ag', °% Fig. 4 Schematic quasi-binary sections at constant caratage of the gold-silver-copper ternary phase diagram. The parameter Ag' is defined in the text Au RY_REDYELLOW copper alloys could be expected to range from 10 Q 90 DY-GREEN `copper-red' near the copper-rich corner, to 'gold- YELLOW 20 80 18Ct. o yellow' near the gold-rich corner, to `silver-white' 30 > 0V 70 near the silver-rich corner. A more precise delinea- e46 i tion (2) of the actual colour fields is illustrated in 40 14Ct. 60 = x cti^ Figure 5. 3 3 50 .p^ It will be noted in Figure 5 that `copper-red' _ 1 oct. — J W°— 40 dominates not only the copper-rich corner but most of W /70RED 30 the copper- and gold-rich side of the diagram. Alloys in these red and reddish areas can be, and are, made uj, 20 yellowish by an addition of zinc. WHITISH 90 W 10 The effect of zinc on the concept of alloy types as defined above, will be understood if it is borne in Cu 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Ag mind that the addition of this element tends to reduce SILVER WEIGHT PER CENT (3) the volume of solid state immiscibility in the ter- Fig. 5 Relationship between the colour and com- nary phase diagram. position of gold-silver-copper alloys. After (2) The small amounts of zinc (about 0.5 per cent or less) added as a deoxidizer in 10 and 14 carat alloys have no significant effect on the metallurgical Type III where Ag' is in the range from about 25 to characteristics under discussion. Larger additions (up 75 per cent. These alloys are homogeneous solid solu- to about 15 weight per cent) are, however, used to tions at temperatures above the immiscibility gap, but change the red colour of low and middle caratage if slowly cooled to equilibrium at room temperature copper-rich alloys to reddish yellow or dark yellow. they decompose into both '(Ag-Au) and -C(Cu.Au) . Alloys These soften the alloys in both the annealed and of this type are hard in the annealed condition. They precipitation hardened state. This is a consequence of harden markedly during air cooling and are difficult the narrowing and reduction in height of the two to quench. Type III alloys are age-hardenable. phase area on each of the constant gold content sec- In the jewellery industry, alloys are usually tions of the ternary diagram shown in Figure 4. classified in terms of caratage and colour rather than These general concepts will aid a survey of some of metallurgical properties. The hue of gold-silver- commercial alloys. For this purpose, the reader will 68 find it useful to imagine the metallurgical concept of ing schedule best suited to each particular alloy.
Recommended publications
  • 2000 Stainless Steels: an Introduction to Their Metallurgy and Corrosion
    Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation, Vol. 20, No. 7, Pages 506-517 Copyright© International Association for Food Protection, 6200 Aurora Ave., Suite 200W, Des Moines, IA 50322 Stainless Steels: An Introduction to Their Metallurgy and Corrosion Resistance Roger A. Covert and Arthur H. Tuthill* and why they sometimes do not. In most cases, selection of the proper stainless steel leads to satisfactory performance. COMPOSITION, NOMEN- CLATURE AND GENERAL PROPERTIES Most metals are mixtures of a primary metallic element and one or more intentionally added other ele- This article has been peer-reviewed by two professionals. ments. These mixtures of elements are called alloys. Stainless steels are alloys, as are brasses (copper + zinc), bronzes (copper + tin), the many alu- INTRODUCTION better understanding of stainless minum alloys, and many other me- Worldwide, in industry, in busi- steels, especially to the non-metal- tallic materials. In general, solid ness and in the home, metals called lurgist. metals and alloys consist of randomly stainless steels are used daily. It is Industries are concerned with oriented grains that have a well-de- important to understand what these integrity of equipment and product fined crystalline structure, or lattice, materials are and why they behave purity. To achieve these, stainless within the grains. In stainless steels, the way they do. This is especially steels are often the economical and the crystalline structures within the true because the word “stainless” is practical materials of choice for pro- grains have been given names such as itself somewhat of a misnomer; these cess equipment. However, before ferrite, austenite, martensite, or a materials can stain and can corrode intelligent decisions can be made mixture of two or more of these.
    [Show full text]
  • Dental Jewellery - a Review N
    Review Article Dental jewellery - A review N. Monisha1, Dhanraj Ganapathy2, P. Sherlyn Sheeba3*, Naveen Kanniappan1 ABSTRACT Today, people are becoming increasingly self-conscious about their appearance and smile. Intraoral jewellery has nowadays gained popularity and is slowly becoming a trend, but this fashion tagline is also associated with some serious health risks. The different jewellery in use today are lip studs, lip rings, tooth rings, grill jewellery, dazzlers and twinkles, veneer jewellery cheek studs, etc. There is an age-old history for dental jewellery as it was considered as a symbol of religion, tribe, culture, and sex. These accessories though are said to enhance beauty cause problems such as increase in plaque levels, inflammation of the gingiva and/or recession, decay, defective occlusion, and metal allergy. There are also some life-threatening complications such as airway obstruction due to aspiration, bleeding, erythema, and endocarditis. If there is a usage of unsterile instruments, it can act as a vector in the transmission of communicable diseases such as hepatitis, tetanus, and tuberculosis in susceptible patients. This review highlights the prevalence, complications, and side effects of dental jewellery. KEY WORDS: Dazzlers, Endocarditis, Gems, Hemorrhage, Intraoral jewellery, Ludwig’s Angina, Oral piercings, Twinkles INTRODUCTION niobium, or even plastic may be used.[4] A majority of complications are also associated. All body “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder,” is the famous piercings present a risk of infection and cause pain.[5] saying. The need and want for beauty has prevailed Complications that most commonly occur related to since ages. Our ancestors and religious rituals based the jewellery include aspiration, allergy or permanent on traditions, earlier defined beauty.
    [Show full text]
  • The Neolithic Copper Melting Crucibles from Switzerland
    In: A. Shortland, I. Freestone and Th. FromRehren mine (eds) to microbe 2009, From Mine to Microscope, 155-162 155 Chapter 15 From mine to microbe – the Neolithic copper melting crucibles from Switzerland Th. Rehren1 Abstract The occurrence of chalcopyrite in several late Neolithic crucibles from NW Switzerland and SW Germany has been variously interpreted as indicating evidence for local copper smelting, or being due to post-depositional phenomena. This study uses optical microscopy and a discussion based on textural and micro-stratigraphical arguments to demonstrate that chalcopyrite is a late formation and not indicative of copper smelting. This has significant implications for the technological and archaeological interpetation of these finds, but also illustrates the potential of image-based studies in science-based archaeology. Introduction these cultures back into line with their neighbours. The emergence and spread of metallurgy in Europe Only after a further half a millennium or so metal- is a major concern of archaeological and archaeo- lurgy emerges again in Central Europe, heralding the metallurgical research. In the 1960s scholars such as beginning of the Bronze Age throughout the Contin- Renfrew and Branigan focused their attention – and ent. This time, it is a broad and sustained develop- consequently that of others – on the role which metals ment with no particular emphasis on the Swiss or have played in the development of stratified societies southwest German regions. and the emergence of elites, showing off with their It is against this background that the crucible access to these new materials. The Balkans and fragments of the Pfyn culture have attracted attention Western Asia are now both known to have had for more than a century, having been found at a wide metallurgically competent Neolithic cultures, and range of sites and representing certainly several issues of technology transfer and autochthonous dozen different vessels.
    [Show full text]
  • The Magazine 2020-2021
    THE MAGAZINE 2020-2021 ITALIAN grace Inspired by Venetian lace, Buccellati’s Macri collection is elegant, everyday wearable sophistication. Hinged cuff bracelets in 18k white gold with black DLC treatment, 18k white gold and 18k yellow gold. Ring in 18k white gold with black DLC. Earrings in 18k yellow gold. Opposite page, eternity rings, Rombi Eternelle, Ramage Eternelle and Pizzo Venezia Ertenelle. 4 KERNS magazine I S S U E N U M B E R 5 These pages are just a taste of what you will find at Kerns Fine Jewelry. Call for an appointment to come in or for us to assist you virtually. Dear Friends, This has been quite a year! Even though 2020 has had its challenges, Be Part we are thankful for all the good things... family dinners, reduced of Our commutes and time to reflect are among a few. We have all become creative problem solvers and are stronger than we ever thought we Story could be. We miss shaking hands and giving hugs, but those will return in due time. Our new and improved normal will be unlike anything we could have fathomed and hopefully we won’t take all the little things for granted. You may have noticed a few changes at Kerns this year. We, like all of you, have adapted to our “new norm”. We are now open by appointment only, so please call us to schedule a time to come in. This new protocol felt strange at first, but now it feels better than #MyKernsMoment previous practices. We can space appointments throughout the day, Don’t forget to tag us on your social media plan ahead for your visit, and be more efficient with your time.
    [Show full text]
  • Oral Piercing – Pain Or Pleasure?? a Review Article
    IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences (IOSR-JDMS) e-ISSN: 2279-0853, p-ISSN: 2279-0861.Volume 13, Issue 10 Ver. I (Oct. 2014), PP 20-26 www.iosrjournals.org Oral Piercing – Pain Or Pleasure?? A Review Article Dr. Nitin Agarwal1, Dr. Haider Iqbal2, Dr. Kirti Agarwal3, Dr. Saurabh Mathur4, Dr. Siddharth Saurabh5, Dr. Ankit Saha6 1(Department of Oral Medicine & Radiology,Sardar Patel Post Graduate Institute of Dental and Medical Sciences,India) 2(Department of Oral Medicine & Radiology,Sardar Patel Post Graduate Institute of Dental and Medical Sciences,India) 3(Department of Pedodontics & Preventive Dentistry, Saraswati Dental College, India) 4(Department of Oral Medicine &Radiology,Saraswati Dental College, India) 5(Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology,RKDF Dental College, India) 6(Department of Oral Medicine & Radiology,Sardar Patel Post Graduate Institute of Dental and Medical Sciences,India) Abstract: Oral piercing is a popular trend, but this fashion statement comes with some serious health risks. The oral and perioral piercing has a long history as part of religious, tribal, cultural or sexual symbolism. Nowadays there is a high incidence of oral and perioral piercing in the adolescent population. Oral and perioral piercing involve the insertion of jewellery into the tongue, lip, cheek, frenum, uvula or other parts of the mouth. This paper covers some of the commonly and uncommonly encountered complications related to oral piercing. Keywords: oral piercing, body art, oral jewellery I. Introduction A Systematic review of the scientific literature was done and a database of indexed journals (Pubmed, Science direct and Ovid) and search engines like google, was searched.
    [Show full text]
  • Investment Casting Or the Lost Wax Process
    Investment Casting or The Lost Wax Process Apecs Investment Castings was founded in 1963 and is now situated in the Melbourne suburb of Burwood where we have been since we outgrew our Canterbury factory in August 1987. The company name (APECS), stands for Anthony Philip Eccles Casting Service. Investment is a type of plaster that we use in our process of reproducing multiple copies of an original master pattern which is usually supplied to us by our customers. This is a classic 18ct yellow gold emerald and diamond ring taken from the Apecs catalogue. The next series of photos will show the steps involved in producing multiple copies of this ring. An original master pattern is designed and fabricated by our customers and supplied to us to reproduce in the quantities and metals of their choice. It is important to ensure that the master is made as accurately as possible and to pay particular attention to the finish of the master pattern. The better the quality of the master pattern the better the casting result. The finished master pattern ready for the caster. A picture of the master pattern is drawn and a mould number is allocated for identification. When the customer wants to reorder he quotes the mould number for the pattern he wants. A sprue is soldered onto the pattern. This sprue enables the pattern to be easily located in the mould and will provide the path for the wax to be injected into the rubber mould. To make a mould the master pattern is placed between sheets of uncured vulcanising rubber.
    [Show full text]
  • The Evolution of Engineering Materials
    Paper ID #20611 The Evolution of Engineering Materials Dr. Amber L. Genau, University of Alabama at Birmingham Dr. Amber Genau is an assistant professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She received her B.S. and M.S. from Iowa State University and Ph.D. from Northwestern University, all in materials engineering. Before coming to UAB, Dr. Genau spent two years as a guest scientist at the German Aerospace Center in Cologne, Germany, working on metal solidification and microstructural characterization. She is particularly interested in broadening participation in engineering and providing international experiences and perspectives to undergraduate students. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2017 The Evolution of Engineering Materials Abstract This paper describes the development of an upper level engineering elective entitled “The Evolution of Engineering Materials.” The course considers how the discovery of new materials and the ability of process materials in new ways has influenced the course of history, shaping both human societies and their surrounding environments, from the Stone Age to the Modern Era. Students become familiar with a variety of still-relevant technical content through the consideration of historical activity, from smelting and coking to polymerization reactions and cross linking. The course addresses a variety of ABET outcomes while also supporting the development of global competency through an increased appreciation of world history. Although this course was developed for and taught in the context of a three-week study abroad trip to Europe, the engaging and accessible nature of the content could also make it valuable as a service course for non-engineering majors.
    [Show full text]
  • M Have Certain Distinctive Properties Which Seem to Have Appealed To
    OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FIRSTPROOFS, Fri Dec 05 2014, NEWGEN !"#$%&' )* !"# $%&'( )#(*+,-&. */0 123&#''%-/' -4 5-6%*+ 8-,#& +,-.&' /&01, 2#%"#'34& 5#-.&' I!"#$%&'"($! M&%#-6 have certain distinctive properties which seem to have appealed to European Neolithic and later communities: brilliance, magical transformations behind their crea- tion, and potential for re-melting, re-casting, and re-modelling. 7ey were also valued for their colours: gold for the sun, high on the horizon, copper for the setting sun or the blood of life, and silver for the moon. In the formative years of metallurgy, copper and its ores appear to have held primarily aesthetic roles as cosmetic colours, beads, and other personal adornments. 7ey are likely to have been recognized as rare and precious, and were later mobilized in social di8erentiation. 7e adoption of metals altered economies and social relations, and triggered cra9 specialization. 7e roots of social di8erentia- tion were already present in some Neolithic communities, yet the uneven distribution of metal ores, like certain types of stone already, became elements in long-distance exchange networks and eventually trade. 7is paper attempts to go beyond simplistic ideas of metals in social strati:cation: it presents a more complex picture, outlining sim- ilarities and di8erences geographically in the presence and role of metallurgy during an early, middle, and late Copper Age. 03_3-part.indd 673 12/5/2014 7:57:19 PM OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FIRSTPROOFS, Fri Dec 05 2014, NEWGEN ;<= /&01, 5#-.&' T)* E+#,(*-" M*"+,,&#./ (! E&#$0*: A N*+# E+-"*#! O#(.(!2 The origins of metals can be found in the zone from which farming and animal husbandry came: the so-called ‘Fertile Crescent’ and adjacent Anatolia, the west- ernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of modern-day Turkey.
    [Show full text]
  • Carat Weight It's the Old Quandary. Is Bigger Better? Size Is Sought After, Naturally; but Overall Quality Counts in the Stretch
    Carat Weight It's the old quandary. Is bigger better? Size is sought after, naturally; but overall quality counts in the stretch. This balance of size and quality makes up much of the art of a professional gem cutter. It is the cutter's job to produce a gorgeous diamond while giving the consumer the highest CARATAGE for his or her money. Caratage means CARAT, the measurement used to weigh a diamond. The word carat is taken from the perfectly matched carob seeds that people once used in ancient times to balance scales. So uniform in shape and weight are these little seeds that even today's sophisticated instruments cannot detect more than three one-thousandths of a difference between them. Don't confuse it with KARAT, the method of determining the purity of gold. What's The Point? One Carat= 200 milligrams, or 0.2 grams. 142 carats adds up to one ounce. Carats are further divided into points. Carat Weight point system What does all this mean, and how does it work? The price of a diamond will always rise proportionately to the size of the stone. Larger diamond crystals are more rare and have a greater value per carat. So, a one carat diamond of a given color and clarity will be much more valuable than 2 one half carat diamonds of equal quality. Cut As the single human contribution to a polished diamond's beauty, cut is perhaps the most important, yet most over-looked, of the Four Cs of diamond quality. How does cut affect a diamond's value and beauty? A good cut gives a diamond its brilliance, its dispersion, its scintillation-in short, its life.
    [Show full text]
  • Transformative Copper Metallurgy in Chalcolithic Cyprus: a Reappraisal Bleda S
    Antiquity 2021 Vol. 95 (381): 670–685 https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.171 Research Article Transformative copper metallurgy in Chalcolithic Cyprus: a reappraisal Bleda S. Düring1,*, Sarah De Ceuster2, Patrick Degryse1,2 & Vasiliki Kassianidou3 1 Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, the Netherlands 2 Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium 3 Archaeological Research Unit, Department of History and Archaeology, University of Cyprus, Cyprus * Author for correspondence: ✉ [email protected] The extraction and smelting of the rich copper ore deposits of Cyprus and the manufacture of copper objects on the island are thought to have begun dur- ing the Philia phase (c. 2400–2200 BC). Here, the authors present the results of lead isotope analysis undertaken on Late Chalcolithic (2900–2400 BC) metal objects from the site of Chlorakas-Palloures. The results facilitate a reassessment of the timing of the start of transformative copper technologies on Cyprus and the re-evaluation of contemporaneous copper artefacts from Jordan and Crete previously suggested to have been consistent with Cypriot ores. They conclude that there is no compelling evi- dence for transformative metallurgy in Chalcolithic Cyprus. Keywords: Cyprus, Chalcolithic, Philia phase, archaeometallurgy, copper, lead isotope analysis Introduction Cyprus was a major producer of copper in antiquity, and, as a consequence, the metal and the island toponym (from the Greek ‘Kúpros’) became synonymous (Kassianidou 2014). The question of when and how copper production and metallurgy started on the island, however, has proven difficult to answer. The earliest references to Cypriot copper exports date to the nineteenth to seventeenth centuries BC, occurring in cuneiform texts from Mari and Alalakh —both in the Northern Levant—and from Babylonia (Muhly 1972; Knapp 1996).
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to Precious Metals 1 / Introduction
    Introduction to precious metals 1 / introduction Introduction to Precious Metals Metallurgy for Jewelers & Silversmiths Mark Grimwade Introduction to precious metals Introduction to Precious Metals Metallurgy for Jewelers and SIlversmiths by Mark Grimwade Copyright 2009 Mark Grimwade Brynmorgen Press Brunswick, Maine 04011 USA www.brynmorgen.com ISBN: 978-1-929565-30-6 First printing Editors Tim McCreight All rights reserved. No part of this publication Abby Johnston may be reproduced or transmitted in any form Illustrations Michael Deles or by any means, electronic or mechanical, Proofreading Jay McCreight including photocopying, recording, or any storage Index Margery Niblock and retrieval system except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, web posting, or broadcast. [ iv ] Introduction to precious metals Table of Contents Introduction xi Chapter 1 Physical Properties of the Precious Metals 16 Chapter 2 Mechanical Properties of the Precious Metals 26 Chapter 3 Chemical Properties of the Precious Metals 39 Chapter 4 Occurrence, Extraction, and Refining 44 Chapter 5 Alloying Behavior 56 Chapter 6 Principles of Solidification 72 Chapter 7 Principles of Working and Annealing 83 Chapter 8 Silver and Its Alloys 91 Chapter 9 Gold and Its Alloys: the Karat Golds 100 Chapter 10 The Platinum Group Metals and Their Alloys 116 Chapter 11 Melting, Alloying, and Casting 126 Chapter 12 Working and Annealing Practice 144 Chapter 13 Joining Techniques 165 Chapter 14 Electroplating and Allied Processes 180 Chapter 15 The Use of Powder Metallurgy in Jewelry Manufacture 193 Chapter 16 Surface Decoration and Other Decorative Techniques 200 Chapter 17 Assaying and Hallmarking 207 [ [47 v ] ] Introduction to precious metals Foreword If you work with precious metal, you need to read this book.
    [Show full text]
  • Weight of Production of Emeralds, Rubies, Sapphires, and Tanzanite from 1995 Through 2005
    Weight of Production of Emeralds, Rubies, Sapphires, and Tanzanite from 1995 Through 2005 By Thomas R. Yager, W. David Menzie, and Donald W. Olson Open-File Report 2008–1013 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Mark D. Myers, Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2008 For product and ordering information: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS Suggested citation: Yager, T.R., Menzie, W.D., and Olson, D. W., 2008, Weight of production of emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and tanzanite from 1995 through 2005: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2008-1013, 9 p., available only online, http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1013. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted material contained within this report. ii Contents Introduction ...................................................................................................................................1 Emeralds.......................................................................................................................................2
    [Show full text]