Precious metals, gold, platinum, and silver all wonderful materials for the jeweler to work with. Yet each is quite different to work with and each has characteristics that make it special for pieces of fine jewelry.
From the first discoveries of gold in ancient times, its beauty and the ease with which it could be worked inspired craftsmen to create it into ornaments, not just for adornment, but as symbols of wealth and power. The skills of the goldsmith from ancient Egypt to Benvenuto Cellini or Carl Faberge still amaze us. As Pindar wrote nearly 2,500 years ago, "Gold is the child of Zeus, neither moth nor rust devoureth it". Today, gold jewelry is more a mass-market product, although in many countries still treasured as a basic form of saving. Jewelry fabrication is the crucial cornerstone of the gold market, annually consuming all gold that is newly mined.
Pure gold is used in those parts of the world where jewelry is purchased as much for investment as it is for adornment, but it tends to be vulnerable to scratching. Elsewhere, it is usually mixed, or alloyed, with other metals. Not only do they harden it, but influence the color; white shades are achieved by alloying gold with silver, nickel, or palladium; red alloys contain copper. Adding nickel or a tiny percentage of titanium makes a harder alloy. At
Etienne Perret we alloy or own gold to achieve the distinct rose and royal yellow 18 kt we have become known for.The proportion of gold in jewelry is measured on the carat or [karat] scale. The word carat comes from the carob seed, which was originally used to balance scales in Oriental bazaars. Pure gold is designated 24 carat, which compares with the "fineness" by which br gold is defined.
The most widely used alloys for jewelry in Europe are 18 and 14 karat, although 9 karat is popular in Britain. Portugal has a unique designation of 19.2 karats. In the United States 14 karat predominates, with some 18 and some 10 karat. In much of the Middle East, India and South East Asia, jewelry is traditionally 22 karat [sometimes even 23 karat]. In China, Hong Kong and some parts of Asia, "chuk kam" or gold jewelry of 990 fineness [almost 24 karat] is popular.
In many countries the law requires that every item of gold jewelry be clearly stamped with its karatage. This is often controlled through hallmarking, a system which originated in London at Goldsmiths' Hall in the 14th century. Today it is compulsory in such countries as Britain, France, the Netherlands, Morocco, Egypt, and Bahrain. Where there is no compulsory marking manufacturers themselves usually stamp the jewelry both with their own individual identifying mark and the karatage or fineness. At Etienne Perret .com we use only 18 karat for the
Etienne Perret Collection and The Private Collection. 18 kt is 75 % gold with 25 % alloy mixture or 750/1000ths gold.The earliest known gold jewelry dates from the Sumer civilization, which inhabited what is now southern Iraq around 3000 BC. Articles displaying various techniques such as repousse, chain making, alloying and casting have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs, with the best known examples coming from the treasures of King Tutankhamun who died in 1352 BC. The Minoans on Crete produced the first known cable chain, still very popular today, and the Etruscans in Italy had developed granulation, whereby items are decorated with tiny granules of gold, by the 7th century BC.
Italy has remained in the forefront of the jewelry industry. The Italian Renaissance coincided with the discoveries of the New World sources of gold, and wealthy Italian patrons encouraged goldsmiths as they did painters and sculptors. The Spanish acquisition of South American gold, however, was achieved at the expense of the ancient heritage of Pre-Columbian goldsmiths. These craftsmen were producing exquisite items as early as 1200 BC and their art reached its zenith during the Chimu civilization from the 12th to the 15th centuries AD, halted only by the mass looting and slaughter by the "conquistador's".
Historically, gold was a rare metal, afforded only by the wealthy. But gold rushes to California and Australia in the mid-19th century ushered in a new dimension of gold supply. They coincided, too, with the development of machinery for making chain and other articles and of a much wider consumer market. In the 29th century gold jewelry has come within the pocket of most people.
The way ahead was pointed by Italy, which has become jewelry manufacture to the world, using over 400 tons of gold annually, more than two-thirds of it for export. Factories often housing several hundred machines that "knit" gold wire into chain flourish in the towns of Arezzo, Bassano del Grappa and Vicenza.
Important new centers emerged in the early 1990's, notably Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, catering particularly for the growing market for chuk kam [pure gold] jewelry in China, which requires several hundred tons a year. In Japan jewelry fabrication for the domestic market has become a major industry, using around 100 tons a year.
Attitudes to jewelry still vary. In the industrial countries gold jewelry is primarily a fashion item. But in the Middle East and much of Asia gold ornaments are seen equally as investment; 22 karat articles are bought on a low mark-up of only 10-20 per cent over gold price of the day, and may be traded in at a profit if the price rises or, more often, for new articles.
The importance of jewelry to the gold mining industry cannot be under estimated. Between 1970 and 1992 around 65 per cent of all gold available to the market was used in jewelry, and from the late 1980s into the 1990s, it absorbed much of the rise in production. Since 1991 over 2,000 tons of gold has been used annually. The continuing success of the mining industry is inextricably linked with the fortunes of the jewelry trade.
Platinum, is more precious, and more enduring than gold. It is the hardest of the precious metals and never tarnishes. The intense luster remains intact over the years, and it is completely hypoallergenic.
Platinum is extremely dense, and remarkably heavy. With a specific gravity of 21 it is almost 50% greater than silver or 18 kt gold. This property of platinum enhances and ennobles the quality of the jewelry from which it is created.
The mixture of platinum that we use at
Etienne Perret .com is 95 % pure platinum and 5 % ruthenium a very rare metals also in the platinum family. Most platinum in the United States is only 90 % pure. We however choose to use the European standard of 95 % purity.The ultimate stability of platinum over the years is unmatched. It does not wear, and its extreme level of durability offers a profound guarantee of strength and longevity. When a customer comes into our showroom to have their great grandmother's ring cleaned, invariably, the ring is made from platinum and has given the owners generations of enjoyment.
Platinum requires special skills and tools to work with. Its' resistance to abrasion means that each step in finishing takes much longer and must be performed in its entirety. If a single step is skipped it will show, forcing you to go back to that step and completing it in the proper manner.
Platinum has an extremely high melting temperature. In its purest form it melts at 3214 degrees F, almost twice the temperature needed to melt 14 kt gold.
All the platinum ever mined would produce a cube 17 feet on each side, less than 5000 cubic feet.
It takes 10 tons of ore to produce on ounce of platinum, more than twice as much ore than it typically take for an ounce of gold.
Platinum is not susceptible to problems like stress corrosion or stress cracking as can be the case with white gold.