Colored alloys of gold.

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cuchugold

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 25, 2017
Messages
243
Hi guys. My daughter has shown some artful/acute interest in jewellery, and I helped her with the basic colors of alloys yellow, red/pink, and green. I'm interested in any comments from people that have actually worked with the blue and purple types shown in the bottom of this table:
https://www.thoughtco.com/composition-of-gold-alloys-608016

Cheers and thanks in advance.
 
Maybe some good info here...
https://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=22551&p=236299&hilit=blue+gold+alloy#p236299

Take care!

Phil
 
philddreamer said:
Maybe some good info here...
https://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=22551&p=236299&hilit=blue+gold+alloy#p236299

Take care!

Phil
Thanks Phild. I've done a dozen experimental attempts at the blue (iron+gold), and 5 at the purple (aluminium + gold), and have not gotten a workable jewellery alloy yet. I've put this aside for now. The other alloys are fairly easily obtained.
 
I've made the "blue" gold alloy. 75% gold 25% iron.
You cannot roll it, I tried and it shattered.

I melted in a eletric furnace under melted borax, must keep O2 away.

The alloy is grey, the blue color comes from an oxide layer from heat treatment. It was like 30s in 500°C oven.
 
A more easily attained blue with indium instead.

Most of these are in fact intermetallics, hence their brittle nature.
 
All I can add to your search is that the little I know of those colours of gold is that they are very brittle and working them will be near impossible but casting may well produce a usable piece, the alloys made are very similar in my mind to gold contaminated with 5% or more pgms which fracture very easily.
I knew someone who spent a lot of time trying to make purple gold for inlays into rings and who failed miserably, I wonder whether it could be machined carefully if a rod or bar could be produced, scrap rates would be horrendous so that the items would be very expensive.
 
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