Postby gingerkid » Wed Aug 04, 2010 5:46 pm
hi there, opal addicts!!
wondering if anyone were familiar with "pinchbeck?" i read that it were some type of metal similar to brass-closest thing yet created to gold?? many thanks for any info!!
"Man is the Only Animal that Blushes...
or Needs To..."
Mark Twain
Re: pinchbeck
Postby Gemjunkie » Wed Aug 04, 2010 6:29 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinchbeck_%28alloy%29
The only place I've heard of it.
Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will pee on your computer. -Bruce Graham
Store bought computers are for those that don’t know any better! -Bryan Lord
Re: pinchbeck
Postby PinkDiamond » Wed Aug 04, 2010 7:17 pm
Never heard of it before, but thanks for bringing it up Gingie, and for the wiki-link GJ. Good to know to watch out for it, especially in today's atmosphere where we have to watch for scammers in all aspects of the trade. More's the pity, but that's reality, so thanks for the info.
PinkDiamond
ISG RG
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While creating women, God promised men that good and obedient wives would be found in all corners of the earth.
And then God smiled and made the earth round.
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Re: pinchbeck
Postby GemAddicts » Wed Aug 04, 2010 11:49 pm
I believe that same basic material is now made and sold under a number of names, like NuGold/OK Gold/etc.
"We are all just Plagiarists of a real Artist, and her name is Mother Nature."-Me
Self-Taught Gemologist & ISG Registered Gemologist
Gemstone Cutter
Re: pinchbeck
Postby PinkDiamond » Thu Aug 05, 2010 3:50 pm
Good to know; thanks!
PinkDiamond
ISG RG
Member IGS
While creating women, God promised men that good and obedient wives would be found in all corners of the earth.
And then God smiled and made the earth round.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
("")("")
Re: pinchbeck
Postby gingerkid » Fri Aug 06, 2010 8:25 am
many thanks, gemjunkie, for the wiki link on 'pinchbeck!'
i read about it in a book on jewelry history a couple of months ago. sad to know that this guy produced the metal to make ornaments, so those who couldn't afford the real deal (gold)could have "nice" pieces of jewelry, and that "...dishonest jewellers passed pinchbeck off as gold and it came to mean a cheap and tawdry imitation of gold (wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinchbeck_%28alloy%29)."geewhiz,
, what a name for it, "OK Gold?!!""Man is the Only Animal that Blushes...
or Needs To..."
Mark Twain
Re: pinchbeck
Postby brightlights » Fri Aug 06, 2010 12:40 pm
gingerkid wrote:
many thanks, gemjunkie, for the wiki link on 'pinchbeck!'
i read about it in a book on jewelry history a couple of months ago. sad to know that this guy produced the metal to make ornaments, so those who couldn't afford the real deal (gold)could have "nice" pieces of jewelry, and that "...dishonest jewellers passed pinchbeck off as gold and it came to mean a cheap and tawdry imitation of gold (wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinchbeck_%28alloy%29)."geewhiz,
, what a name for it, "OK Gold?!!"It wouldn't be "OK" if my gold was 0K!
On a serious note, a setting friend of mine from Toronto had told me last year that he was working on bringing to market a "Sterling Gold" But they were trying to figure out the TM name, etc... It had all the properties of 925 Sterling for working, casting, etc... But looked like 14K Gold but could carry the 925 stamp because of the amount of silver. I asked it if was plated but he said no and it was priced around same as sterling so that people who didn't want silvers color but couldn't afford gold would have an alternative. I Don't know if this is what he was talking about (Pinchbeck) but he seemed to indicate it was a NEW alloy they developed. Sounds as if Pinchbeck has been around for a while.
BTW, I haven't seen it on market yet, and haven't had an email in a while from Him. I should track him down and find out. From the Hobbiest side, I would be interested as long as I could still have it as 925 and represent it as such. Argentium came out and made a big splash very shortly before that. Maybe he was confused? Dunno....
"It's a wonder that humankind has constructed any kind of civilization with this monumental distraction at hand."
Re: pinchbeck
Postby gingerkid » Sat Aug 07, 2010 10:04 pm
hi brightlights! hope you are doing well! please do send your friend an email if you get the chance and let us know about this new metal. "Man is the Only Animal that Blushes...
or Needs To..."
Mark Twain
Re: pinchbeck
Postby GemAddicts » Sun Aug 08, 2010 6:16 pm
I am actually surprised that no one has done so with .925 as of yet honestly. It shouldn't be too difficult to do, just a use of a copper as a base metal to mix with fine silver to yield the sterling may even be enough, not sure. I do not know about "mixing" metals too much, sorry. :/. I keep up on the current types, but never experimented on making them myself, yet, lol.
Oh, and the OK Gold, was named that because I believe the Manufacturer of the metal was based in Oklahoma if my memory serves properly. Alpha Supply used to carry it, but they are no longer in business.
"We are all just Plagiarists of a real Artist, and her name is Mother Nature."-Me
Self-Taught Gemologist & ISG Registered Gemologist
Gemstone Cutter
Re: pinchbeck
Postby JimA » Mon Dec 20, 2010 2:18 pm
Most likely because the non noble base metals are what cause the majority of skin irratations, and allergies.
Black Hills Gold came to be - the mixing of copper to get the red gold, and the nickle to get the green with the 22k miners gold, to create a "filler" if you will to get more weight from the gold, and why the Asians feel that anything under 24k is junk.
Re: pinchbeck
Postby medusa » Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:05 am
GemAddicts wrote:
I am actually surprised that no one has done so with .925 as of yet honestly. It shouldn't be too difficult to do, just a use of a copper as a base metal to mix with fine silver to yield the sterling may even be enough, not sure. I do not know about "mixing" metals too much, sorry. :/. I keep up on the current types, but never experimented on making them myself, yet, lol.
Oh, and the OK Gold, was named that because I believe the Manufacturer of the metal was based in Oklahoma if my memory serves properly. Alpha Supply used to carry it, but they are no longer in business.
Ummm sterling IS fine silver and copper. Even when you have fine silver and copper at 800 fineness, the silver is still silver coloured. Even electrum needs at least 40% gold to get a yellow colour, so copper would have to be alloyed with silver at probably a similar rate.
you could always go the Tiffany route and make a version of Rubedo, which has so little gold and silver it can't actually be assayed.
(I know this is an old thread but am new, was browsing and I'm killing time
)Re: pinchbeck
Postby PinkDiamond » Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:52 pm
We appreciate your input so have at it.
PinkDiamond
ISG RG
Member IGS
While creating women, God promised men that good and obedient wives would be found in all corners of the earth.
And then God smiled and made the earth round.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
("")("")
Re: pinchbeck
Postby medusa » Thu Sep 25, 2014 1:34 pm
heh, thank you
It would be truly awesome if someone came up with a gold coloured 925 sterling like bright lights mentioned, though. I think people would go crazy for it (unlike rubedo. One minute everyone was talking about it and the next… zilch, nada, zip). And if it actually worked like sterling...
Re: pinchbeck
Postby gingerkid » Fri Sep 26, 2014 9:38 am
Looks like gold but priced like silver would be nice, too.
Well, prices like before the precious metal prices skyrocketed. "Man is the Only Animal that Blushes...
or Needs To..."
Mark Twain
Re: pinchbeck
Postby medusa » Fri Sep 26, 2014 2:28 pm
I was having a poke about on google (like you do) and came across a couple of pink 'silvers'. One was 19% silver and the rest copper (so can't be called silver) and the other was called Karatium Pink which also had up to 20% gold (to reduce the tarnishing apparently and around 40% silver, the rest being copper. Again it can't be hallmarked, but if Tiffany can flog their no-carat alloy for thousands….
