There exists in the market strong demand for 24K gold jewellery, because of precious metal’s beautiful warm colour and high purity. This is especially the case in the Far East.

From a goldsmith’s perspective, high-karat gold is very ductile and easy to work with. The downside is that it tends to be soft, so 24K jewellery is generally heavier and more prone to distortion, scratching and wear and tear. In contrast, middle and low-karat gold jewellery is stronger and harder, and also is less expensive.

Given the demand, however, it would undoubtedly be desirable to be able to obtain stronger 24K and other high-karat gold alloys, with properties approaching those of 18K gold. This would enable lighter, more elegant designs to be produced that would wear less in service.

The good news is that several hallmarkable high strength 24K gold alloys, and some 22K golds too, have been developed in recent years. Some are commercially available but the uptake in the Western jewellery market has been disappointing to say the least.

Is it just a question of them being too expensive? Or they are not easily available? Or is it that they are not easy to work with, making it difficult to fabricate jewellery in these materials?

The first development in the 1980s was ‘990’ gold – a gold of 990 fineness alloyed with 1 percent of titanium and with considerably enhanced strength and hardness. However, its production requires sophisticated vacuum melting and processing facilities and scrap cannot be simply remelted and re-used. As a consequence, it has only really found significant application in the watch industry.

In the late 1990s, new types of 24K gold was developed, known collectively as ‘micro-alloyed’ golds, initially in Japan. These contain tiny amounts (usually less than 0.3 percent) of unusual alloying metals such as calcium, gadolinium and cerium. They also require sophisticated melting and processing to produce, and they are also not easily remelted and recycled.

But jewellery using these stronger alloys is made commercially and available on the market, which suggests they are technically satisfactory to use, at least for mass manufacturers. Even craft jewelers are using them, suggesting that such materials can be used without too many technical problems.

The high strength and hardness of 24K golds are often claimed to be nearly the same as 18K golds. But we can see that annealed and cold-worked hardness values tend to be closer to those of 22K gold and certainly not as good as 18K gold, but they certainly are a lot better than normal pure gold.

The big difference is that some of the 24K high strength golds are age-hardenable, as are 18Kconventional golds containing copper, and we see that they can attain hardnesses better than cold-worked conventional 22K gold but not quite as well as conventional cold-worked 18K gold. However, ‘990’ Gold can achieve age-hardening equivalent to that of age-hardened 18K gold. Ductility values in the cold-worked and age-hardened conditions tend to be lower than for the conventional alloys, but cold-worked ductilities are more than acceptable for jewellery making purposes.

There are a number of other basic properties that are important to jewellery producers. The first of these is colour. Do the new alloys match their conventional counterparts? The answer is a clear “yes” in all cases! The same is true for density, and tarnish resistance remains excellent.

None of the new alloys contain nickel, so there is no problem here. The 22K alloys contain about 2 percent cobalt, and cobalt release could be of future concern with regard to skin allergy.

We should note that the melting temperatures for these 24K golds tend to be higher than for pure gold. Because they contain reactive alloying metals that easily oxidise away in air, they must be melted under neutral, non-oxidising conditions.

Malleability – the ability to form and shape metal – is important for jewellery manufacture. All the alloys have very good ductility and are workable, but more frequent annealing may be necessary. Techniques such as spinning can be utilised successfully. Annealing of worked alloys can be carried out at normal temperatures, typically 500 -550 degrees celsius, but higher temperatures may be needed at times.

Annealing at very high temperatures can result in loss of hardness, as exceeding the solution annealing temperature will result in the precipitates dissolving back into the matrix grains.

All the high strength alloys can be soldered using conventional solders, without any additional difficulties, although colour matching may not be perfect. However, depending on soldering temperature, some loss of strength can occur where the temperature is above the solutionising temperature needed for age-hardening. Lower melting solders are therefore preferred.

The conventional techniques of grinding and polishing can be used successfully on these new alloys, although they will feel a little different due to their higher hardness values. It is desirable to keep surfaces cool to prevent overheating and loss of hardness and change of surface colour. The new micro-abrasive wheels and papers work well. All alloys can be polished to a high quality level.

One of the downsides of the new high-strength 24K golds is that their higher strength derives by alloying with reactive metals such as calcium, cerium, gadolinium and titanium. These are easily oxidised away if the gold scraps are remelted, and so the remelted alloy will lose the original high hardness; it will be essentially nearly pure gold! This does impact process economics. Thus, such scraps need to be refined and re-alloyed, which can only be done by alloy suppliers with the appropriate facilities.

So why are these high strength golds not more widely used? I believe this is due to the following factors:

(1) The alloys cannot be made in-house; they need to be purchased as casting grain or wrought stock.

(2) They are more expensive and the market is small. The scraps are not recyclable and this adds to costs.

(3) There is a general unfamiliarity with working with these high strength alloys with little published practical information and experience to be shared.

Making jewellery and other objects in these new high strength golds therefore presents a challenge to manufacturers. There is little experience published in the trade literature and it requires some courage to try them out.

However, some people have braved the ‘cold waters’ and shown it is possible to use these high strength materials successfully.

For more information on these strong high-karat golds, please contact Dr. Christopher W. Corti, COReGOLD Technology Consultancy, Tel: +44 (0)118 947 8343 or e-mail: Chris@corti.force9.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Christopher W.Corti is managing director of COReGOLD Technology Consultancy, in Reading, United Kingdom. He took retirement from World Gold Council in 2004 where he had been Director of Technology, responsible for jewellery technology and industrial applications of gold. Through COReGOLD Technology Consultancy, he consulted for the World Gold Council until 2009, and he continues to consult for the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, particularly writing many articles in their Technical Bulletin. He recently co-edited a book, “Gold: Science and Applications”, published by Taylor & Francis , writing the chapter on jewellery manufacturing technology. He has a PhD and first degree in Metallurgy from the University of Surrey in the UK, is a Fellow of the Institute of Metals, Minerals and Mining, a Fellow of the City & Guilds Institute and is a Chartered Scientist and Chartered Engineer in the United Kingdom. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Santa Fe Symposium in 2012.

Almost every single item of fine jewellery that is produced today involves the combined efforts of hundreds and sometimes hundreds of thousands of people, located all over the world. Every individual or company who was in some way responsible for the manufacture of a piece of jewellery, from the miner to the refinery worker, to the diamond cutter and the jewellery designer, depends upon the work and the integrity of those came before them, as well as those who come after them in the supply chain.

If only one component in an item of jewellery is ethically challenged – let us say, for example, its gems were polished in a factory where the worker’s lungs were damaged as the result of poor ventilation – then the integrity of the entire product is threatened. In other words, if the consumer will not buy the jewellery because of the poor health and safety record of a gem cutting factory, then everybody else who was involved in creating that piece will also pay the price.

We deal in what commonly are considered luxury items. In other words fine jewellery is non-essential, unlike food, energy or pharmaceutical products. Consequently, there is a tendency to view our industry as having limited significance.

But that is not the case. On a global scale the number of individuals directly and indirectly employed by the greater jewellery industry runs into millions. Indeed, there are entire countries whose economic wellbeing is dependent upon the products we produce and sell. Jewellery may not be an essential item, but the jewellery business most definitely is, and it is in this context that I would like to outline a doctrine for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the jewellery industry, which is pertinent for the times in which we live.

The industry-wide perception of Corporate Social Responsibility that developed as a result of the conflict diamond experience in the early part of the 21 century predominantly involved the creation of defensive systems, like the Kimberley Process, all of which were designed to ensure that jewellery and its components do no harm, or as the ancient Romans said: “primum non nocere.”

Around 2004 we began discussing within CIBJO an expanded vision of Corporate Social Responsibility, by which the jewellery industry would seek not only to NOT impact negatively on society and the environment, but also to serve as a positive economic and social force, especially in the countries in which we are active.

It was this new understanding which inspired us to initiate contact with the United Nations, eventually leading to CIBJO’s becoming the jewellery industry first and only member in the UN’s Economic and Social Council, or ECOSOC, in 2006.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, in its publication “Making Good Business Sense” by Lord Holme and Richard Watts, used the following definition for CSR: “Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development, while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.”

As businesspeople we behave ethically through the quality of our management of people and processes, as well as the way in which we impact upon society. And because we have the ability to make a difference to those around us – both negatively and positively – outside stakeholders take an interest in our activity.

When we talk about Corporate Social Responsibility it is essential to qualify exactly to whom are responsible. I would define three main groups:

(1) Our business community, which includes all the executives and employees along the entire length of the chain of distribution, or as they say, from the mine through to the jewellery retailer.

(2) Our consumers, who buy jewellery for its beauty, heritage and its ability to express human emotion, and who rely upon us to protect its value and reputation.

(3) Our stakeholders, who include the millions of individuals living in the countries and regions around the world in which are active, and for whom we represent a resource for sustainable economic and social development.

To be responsible corporate citizens in the modern jewellery business, we have to follow three basic rules of practice:

(1) To defend the industry from the various challenges that could threaten our reputation and integrity;

(2) To function as a positive influence, serving as a means for sustainable economic and social development in the communities and countries in which we are active; and

(3) To be fully transparent in the way we operate our businesses and about what we sell.

Disclosure lies at the heart of our transparency requirement, and from the consumer’s perspective our responsibility is clear. We have to inform them exactly what we are selling. Treated and synthetic gemstones, for example, are not inherently immoral nor are they illegal, as long as the consumer understands exactly what they are.

But in order to be transparent – in other words to be able to disclose clearly – one needs to be able to describe the product in a language that is understood throughout the trade. It was to advance this requirement that CIBJO developed its Blue Books, which are today the most universally recognized and accepted set of jewellery and gemstone standards in the world.

In 2007 the annual CIBJO congress took place in Cape Town, and it was the first time that such an industry event was held in Africa. In the presence of the South African deputy president and ministers from governments throughout the region, our General Assembly ratified a statement that has since become known as the Cape Town Declaration. It noted the role of the world jewellery industry in promoting Corporate Social Responsibility, and recognised “that the jewellery industry, as a member of the international business community, shares a responsibility toward the greater society in seeking practical solutions towards the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, as well as to developing a global partnership for development.”

In my opening speech at the congress in South Africa I made the following call: “Let the word go out from Cape Town that, while jewellery may described as a luxury product, the industry that produces it is an essential item—certainly when it comes to economic development. When consumers buy jewellery, they should know that not only is it an expression of value, beauty and emotion, but they have contributed to making a better life for people who need it most dearly.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri is president of CIBJO. The above articles is based upon a presentation he delivered at the 3rd International Gem and Jewellery Conference GIT 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 12, 2012.

What is CIBJO, and what does the organisation do for me? These are among the questions that people usually ask when CIBJO is mentioned. CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, is active throughout the world and is the only organisation representing the entire global jewellery industry. So how is it that CIBJO is not known by more people? The answers may be complex, but the industry itself is the key.

CIBJO is financed by very modest subscriptions by members in 43 nations and from contributions by Associate Members. How can a global organisation exist and carry out its work if the industry does not provide its wholehearted support?

Would it not be possible for every single member of the jewellery industry from mine to retail to give just $1 to support this organisation? Thousands of outlets exist because they sell their products in order to make a livelihood and to make a profit. But if you ask them for a small contribution aimed at helping to run their industry in an ethical manner and to protect their interests, they ask why or simply ignore the request.

But at the first sign of trouble, the industry cries out for help. But where will the help come from? From a body that has no finance, only one office in Europe, and is run by a small number of unpaid volunteers who devote their lives to helping our industry overcome its difficulties. Can you imagine the World Bank conducting its affairs like this? Or a jewellery manufacturer with outlets on many continents?

The jewellery industry has to understand that such a vital organisation must be properly financed. The role of CIBJO is critical, it represents the entire jewellery industry at the United Nations and is a Special Status member of the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). In other words, CIBJOrepresents us all at the UN and discusses what the industry can do about the things that matter, not only to us personally, but for the survival of the entire jewellery industry worldwide.

The Global Compact and the Millennium Goalscontain objectives that are crucial to our very existence. It is no use hoping things will sort themselves out and somebody else will do the work.

This Compact and these goals guide us through our corporate and social responsibilities – without them we would not even have started to think about how we should be conducting our affairs.

Over the course of many years, CIBJO has achieved a great deal and produced guidelines for our industry with the publication of the Blue Books which are very widely recognised throughout the industry. Our organisation’s achievements, over such a long period of time, are extremely commendable, all the more so given our dire lack of funds.

The jewellery industry could easily correct this by providing proper funding for the organisation that everyone turns to when protection is needed or answers to international problems are required.

The services that CIBJO provides are unique in what it offers to our industry, and provides a forum for important discussions in which anyone can participate.

The new Centre of Excellence opened in Antwerp last May is proof of our commitment to the vital role of corporate social responsibility, With the help of the United Nations, our World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation can provide us all with the right training to prove to the consumer that we are both responsible and ethical in all that we do.