24 carat hard gold electroforming and karat precision
24 carat hard gold electroforming: 24 Carat gold is ‘pure gold’ on the carat precision scale and is renowned for being too soft and malleable to have a practical use, particularly in the jewellery industry.
Although it is excellent for being beaten into sheets or drawn out into wire, the very softness of the metal makes it impractical for a jeweller to create a beautiful item, especially those that involve stones or other inlays.
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Gold would be unable to grasp onto a diamond or retain the shape of an intricate design. The very softness of the gold means it would be squashed or pushed out of shape. A simple act of wearing the item would cause it to become misshapen or break. This is why most jewellers use 22, 18 or 9 carat gold, which contains other metals to help maintain their strength.
However, modern technology has come up with a way of creating the most beautiful and intricate items with all the beauty of 24 Carat gold, but with all the strength and hardness to overcome previous drawbacks: 24 carat hard gold electroforming.
What is 24 carat hard gold electroforming?
Electroforming is not to be confused with electroplating, the process of coating an item with a metal. Electroforming is the process of creating the finished item using the chosen metals with the various layers of precious and non-precious metals and then a final layer of protective coating. This requires creating a form, or mandrel, of the desired piece.
A coating of a base metal is applied followed by a layer of the precious metal and finally a non-metallic protective coating. In the process of 24 carat electroforming, the soft and malleable metal is used as the central layer of the process thereby creating an extremely hard and strengthened piece of jewellery that. Until now, had been impossible to achieve.
What is the future of karat precision?
This transformation in the use of 24 carat gold in the jewellery industry now means that the most complex and intricate designs can be achieved in the karat precision.
Jewellers will now be able to create the most delicate gold chains for necklaces, bracelets and anklets. Or have the ability to design pendants, rings or brooches in labyrinthine and fluid shapes.
All in the knowledge that 24 carat electroforming has provided them with a material that is both strong and hard. The mandrel can take any form, from a complicated, 3D modern design to a more natural or ethereal item such as a flower or shell. Delicate and lightweight designs, that were once the domain of the Master jeweller and had astronomical prices to match, will now be available to everyone.
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Any number of pieces, both large and small, can be made simultaneously whilst varying numbers of each design can be produced more economically and efficiently. The use of 24 carat hard gold electroforming will now provide the 24 carat precision that has been unobtainable throughout the millennia. It is set to transform not just the jewellery industry but many others as well in the foreseeable future.
