Alloy manufacturing

The goldsmith understands alloy production as the alloying of a pure precious metal (fine metal) with additives. He alloyed z. B. to change the color of the gold, to influence the melting point, the ductility and hardness and to be flexible in the pricing of his finished jewelry.

When producing alloys, the goldsmith differentiates between the alloy weight , which represents the mass of the finished alloy, and the fine weight , which indicates the mass of the actual fine metal . Known fineness of gold jewelry are 999/1000, 750/1000, 585/1000 and 333/1000. According to this, for example, one kilogram of 585/1000 yellow gold contains 585 g of fine gold and 415 g of additives. The additives consist of silver , copper , nickel , zinc or tin in various proportions. The different metals are fused together in a melting pot, poured into a heated mold and the casting is processed further.