GLORIOUS GOLD FILLED JEWELRY - PART 2
The manufacturing of gold filled jewelry is a remarkable feat of technology!
Two trade publication articles about this process dating from 1953 and 1958 supply a wealth of information, as well as some wonderful photographs. Here are the steps in the process:
Step 1 - . Pure gold (24 karat) and alloy metals such as silver, copper, zinc, or nickel are meticulously weighed out in the correct proportions to create the desired karat gold.
Weighing gold and alloy. From Jewelers’ Circular-Keystone, September 1958.
Step 2 - The gold and alloy are melted in a crucible and then poured into a mold to form an ingot.
Pouring the melt into a rectangular mold. From Jewelers’ Circular-Keystone, September 1958.
Step 3 - The karat gold ingots are rolled into rectangular sheets. These sheets are used like slices of bread to sandwich a “filling” of base metal such as bronze, brass, nickel, etc. A “dressing” of solder (usually silver and copper) is used to help the layers of the sandwich stick together firmly.
Making the "sandwich." From Jewelers’ Circular-Keystone, September 1958.
Step 4 - The “sandwich” is clamped between steel plates and guided into a gas-fired bonding furnace. Here it is heated to the melting point of the solder and that temperature is held absolutely constant until the gold is completely bonded to the inner reinforcing layer of base metal. This results in a gold filled ingot, which is then cooled slowly and evenly to maintain a perfect bond.
The bonding furnace. From Jewelers’ Circular-Keystone, September 1958.
Step 5 - The gold filled ingot is put through a series of giant rollers which compress it into sheets of the desired thickness. Throughout this pressing and rolling, the precise proportion of karat gold to base metal is maintained and the thickness of the gold plating remains absolutely uniform.
Break-down rolling mill. From Jewelry, September 1953.
Step 6 - Finishing rolls with a mirror-like surface create the final ultra-smooth finish of the gold filled flatstock sheets.
Mirror finished roll for the final rolling of the gold filled flatstock. The worker is holding a buckle which is reflected in the shiny finish of the roll, demonstrating its brilliance. From Jewelry, September 1953.
Step 7 - Gold filled tubes and wires are created through a similar process, with a machine known as a cupping and drawing press.
Cupping and drawing press for making gold filled tubes or wire. From Jewelry, September 1953.
Step 8 - These mirror-finish gold filled flatstock sheets, tubes, and wires are then sent to the jewelry manufacturer to be cut and shaped into finished products. Tubes of various sizes can be used to make pen, pencil, or pill cases, as well as jewelry components. The gold filled wire is used to make chains, as well as jewelry elements.
Gold filled sheets, tubes, and wires ready to be sent to the jewelry manufacturer. From Jewelry, September 1953.
Knowing more about the science and technology that underlie this beautiful and practical jewelry-making material allows us to appreciate it even more! We are grateful that this process was documented so well in the Jewelers’ Circular-Keystone and Jewelry trade publications during the 1950s. Be sure to visit our jewelry page to see the fabulous vintage gold filled jewelry that could be yours.
