Metallurgy
How metal behaves: alloys, annealing, hardness, rolling and wire drawing.
16 entries
Buying guides
14 karat or 18 karat gold: differences and which to choose
Differences between 14 and 18 karat gold: purity (58.5% and 75%), color, hardness, price and which suits rings, wedding bands and daily wear.
Techniques
Annealing: how to soften metal
Annealing softens metal with controlled heat so it can keep being worked; how it is done, how to cool it and how to avoid firescale.
Jeweler's dictionary
Basic metallurgy for jewelers: how metal behaves
Precious and base metal, alloy, fineness, karats, hardness, malleability, melting point, cold working and annealing: a jeweler's basic metallurgy.
Jeweler's dictionary
Basic metalworking operations: cutting, filing, bending, annealing…
Basic jewelry metalworking operations defined one by one, with the Spanish term: cutting, piercing, filing, bending, annealing, forging, doming and riveting.
Buying guides
Carat of gems and karats of gold: not the same thing
Carat measures the weight of gems, 0.2 grams; karats of gold measure its purity out of 24 parts. Explanation and chart.
Techniques
Forging and hammering metal
Forging shapes metal with hammer and anvil: stretching, bending and planishing sheet and wire, and hardening it by working it.
Materials
Gemstones
Precious and semi-precious gemstones in jewelry: the difference, types, Mohs hardness, care and a guide to the most used gems.
Buying guides
Gold plated, gold filled, vermeil and solid gold: differences
Differences between solid gold, vermeil, gold filled and gold plated: gold layer, durability, price and which to choose for everyday wear.
Materials
Gold-filled
Gold-filled is a base metal covered with a thick layer of gold bonded by heat and pressure; more durable than gold plating and much cheaper than solid gold.
Techniques
Jewelry alloys: how they are made
How gold and silver alloys are made: weighing the metals, melting with flux, stirring with graphite and pouring into an ingot mold; 18K gold in yellow, white and rose.
Techniques
Refining and cupellation of precious metals
Refining purifies gold and silver; cupellation separates precious metals from base metals with lead and bone ash, an ancient assay technique.
Techniques
Reticulation: wrinkled metal
Reticulation heats a silver alloy until the surface wrinkles into ridges and valleys, creating an unmistakable organic texture.
Techniques
Rolling and wire drawing: sheet and wire
Rolling reduces an ingot to sheet and wire drawing stretches it into wire through a draw plate; steps, gauges and lubrication.
Tools
Rolling mills: how to flatten metal
The rolling mill flattens and stretches metal into sheet and grooved wire; manual and electric types, how to use it and how to care for it.
Buying guides
The 4Cs of diamonds: cut, color, clarity and carat
The 4Cs of diamonds explained: cut, color (D-Z), clarity (FL to I3) and carat weight, and how to balance them for your budget.
Techniques
Wood jewelry: turning and laminating
Wood jewelry is made by turning, carving, laminating (glued layers) and bentwood rings; finishes with oil and resin.