Making necklaces from .9999 gold grams

Hello there,

I have some .9999 gold grams (small 1 gram bullion bars), and I would
like to make necklaces from them.

What would be the best way to do this?

Any hints/tips would be great.

For instance, could I get the materials from a craft store?

I would prefer not to drill holes in the gold.

Thanks!

wrote:
Hello there,

I have some .9999 gold grams (small 1 gram bullion bars), and I would
like to make necklaces from them.
What would be the best way to do this?
Any hints/tips would be great.
For instance, could I get the materials from a craft store?
I would prefer not to drill holes in the gold.
Thanks!

you dont say how many you have,
but you say necklaces, plural.
So
there are very many design options open to you.
therefore there is no best way to do this ,
how you see the end result depends on your personal point of view.
If you were a working designer maker goldsmith you wouldnt for instance
be asking these questions.
you would know what to do.
The average necklace length can be between 12 and 18 in long
what to make this part from also depends on you .
It could for example be also out of gold or
it could be some natural or synyhetic material.
then the bars can be mounted or secured in a no of ways, as you said,
have holes drilled in them or a proper metal mount channel section made
specifically for the bullion bar outline. or even encapsulated in a
clear resin.
its most unlikely for your craft/ home hobby shop to stock the matching
say 14 or 18carat gold strip/ wire/ chain and solders youd need to do
a professional job, let alone the tools needed to work gold. Why not
ask them? As for the expertise thats also up to you.
Yes its just another metal, but rather costly at the moment.
to get some indication of costs before you commit yourself to a project
like this, go to a working goldsmith, not a mall store. and ask him/her
for a quotation and design.
If for example you have say 100 of these bars then you could trade some
of them for the work.
then youll have a better idea what your up against in achieving you
project.

wrote in message
...
Hello there,

I have some .9999 gold grams (small 1 gram bullion bars), and I would
like to make necklaces from them.

What would be the best way to do this?

Any hints/tips would be great.

For instance, could I get the materials from a craft store?

I would prefer not to drill holes in the gold.


Gold jewelley made without drilling holes in things is usually 'soldered'
(actually it's brazed, but jewellers say 'soldered' for historical
reasons).

You can laser weld the stuff, it is actually easier, but the equipment is
expensive.

After the process is over you'll also have to clean and polish what you've
made.

The process is technically challenging.

People tend not to make jewellery from .999 gold because it's very soft and
wears away relatively quickly.

Also if you are soldering the gold you'll find that the highest gold content
solder you can buy will have about 75% gold in it.

Soldering precious metals and polishing jewellery is not really a hobbist
activity for a beginner unless you're prepared for a serious investment in
equipment.

Oh yes, and gold bullion as an investment is going up at the moment, you
may actually be better off selling the bars and buying something nice.

--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.

On Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:21:27 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry
wrote:

Hello there,

I have some .9999 gold grams (small 1 gram bullion bars), and I would
like to make necklaces from them.

What would be the best way to do this?

Any hints/tips would be great.

For instance, could I get the materials from a craft store?

Certainly you could get something that would work. But would it be nicely
jewelry? Probably not. I mean, you could use a hot melt glue gun or epoxy or
something to stick the things to a costume jewelry necklace, but it would be a
shame to do that to a nice gold ingot.

Your better bet would be an actual jewelry supply place. There are a number of
them you can find on the net. Try searching for various combinations of jewelry
specific words including "findings" or "mountings". your problem will likely be
dealing with all the hits, rather than finding any hits at all.

Most of us on this group who are more experienced jewelers would likely make
some sort of nice little frame to hold the ingots, if simply soldering a loop to
the top wasn't acceptable. Since it might be good to keep it's full value as a
marked pure gold ingot, soldering something to it, or drilling holes in it, are
less desireable than making a frame or setting that simply holds the ingot
without marring it or defacing it. If left intact, one can always at a later
date remove the ingot again, and sell it as an intact ingot, if it's in decent
shape. Once drilled or with a loop soldered to it, that's not so much an
option. There are many types of frames made especially for things like coins
(think of all the coins you've seen on charm bracelets. Most are held in a
little frame that simply slips over the coin and either is closed with a screw,
the same as an eyeglass frame might do, or is clamped to the coin by bending
over little tabs on the frame. There are also similar frames made to hold many
of the shapes of ingots. Whether there will be one for yours depends on their
size and shape, but I'd expect there to be. All you have to do is find the
firms selling them. In general, coin and ingot frames like these are fitted
with a loop (actually called a bail) on the top so it can be used as a charm, or
hung from a chain as a necklace. So all you'd have to do is mount your ingots
in these, find a suitable chain or cord, and you're set. The frames are
available both in a karat gold (14K or 10 K may be more common, but 18K can be
found too) or in less costly metals like sterling silver, or gold filled.
Mounting the ingots in these frames generally doesn't require much in the way of
special tools. A small eyeglass screwdriver for that style, or almost anything
with which you could push over small metal tabs for the second type. A few
styles might need a small pair of pliers, but most do not.

Hope that helps.

Peter Rowe

In rec.crafts.jewelry on or about Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:15:05 -0800 we
heard the sounds of a voice named "William Black"
crying out from afar, saying:


People tend not to make jewellery from .999 gold because it's very soft and
wears away relatively quickly.

Oh jeez! Better not tell the Chinese, Thai's and King Tut!
Oh and don't tell me either.
Here's the 24k chain I made for myself last year...
http://HaleBobb.com/YeahSure.htm

[[Moderator's note. Check your URL, Mr. DTMB. I'm approving this post, but at
this time, the URL comes back as "not found".... pwr]]

PETE...RETRY (URL correction)

In rec.crafts.jewelry on or about Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:15:05 -0800 we
heard the sounds of a voice named "William Black"
crying out from afar, saying:


People tend not to make jewellery from .999 gold because it's very soft and
wears away relatively quickly.

Oh jeez! Better not tell the Chinese, Thai's and King Tut!
Oh and don't tell me either.
Here's the 24k chain I made for myself last year...
http://halebobb.com/Whatever/YeahSure.htm

wrote in message
...
In rec.crafts.jewelry on or about Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:15:05 -0800 we
heard the sounds of a voice named "William Black"
crying out from afar, saying:


People tend not to make jewellery from .999 gold because it's very soft
and
wears away relatively quickly.

Oh jeez! Better not tell the Chinese, Thai's and King Tut!
Oh and don't tell me either.
Here's the 24k chain I made for myself last year...
http://HaleBobb.com/YeahSure.htm

[[Moderator's note. Check your URL, Mr. DTMB. I'm approving this post,
but at
this time, the URL comes back as "not found".... pwr]]

1. Your link still doesn't work.

2. There's a big market for 24carat gold jewellery in India as well, but,
as in China and Thailand, it's not for wearing, it's for hiding under the
bed and running away with when things get bad.

3. What royalty wears isn't actually anything to do with the real world.

--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.

wrote:
RETRY (URL correction)

In rec.crafts.jewelry on or about Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:15:05 -0800 we
heard the sounds of a voice named "William Black"
crying out from afar, saying:



People tend not to make jewellery from .999 gold because it's very soft and
wears away relatively quickly.


Oh jeez! Better not tell the Chinese, Thai's and King Tut!
Oh and don't tell me either.
Here's the 24k chain I made for myself last year...
http://halebobb.com/Whatever/YeahSure.htm

OK,
Nice to see the finishrd product,
however most of the real metalworkers here might want
to know more.
I like to,

would you answer?

1. original form of metal,
2. did you cast an ingot
3 draw your own wire
4. gold soldered all the rings up
after you wound on a mandrel and cut then off
5. dia of the rings and wire in thous/in
6. total no of
7. final weight.
8. final length.
9. coin is a dime

for us outside the US.
Ted
Dorset
UK

In rec.crafts.jewelry on or about Sat, 26 Jan 2008 15:12:25 -0800 we
heard the sounds of a voice named Ted Frater
crying out from afar, saying:

wrote:
RETRY (URL correction)

In rec.crafts.jewelry on or about Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:15:05 -0800 we
heard the sounds of a voice named "William Black"
crying out from afar, saying:



People tend not to make jewellery from .999 gold because it's very soft and
wears away relatively quickly.


Oh jeez! Better not tell the Chinese, Thai's and King Tut!
Oh and don't tell me either.
Here's the 24k chain I made for myself last year...
http://halebobb.com/Whatever/YeahSure.htm

OK,
Nice to see the finishrd product,
however most of the real metalworkers here might want
to know more.
I like to,

would you answer?

Sure...but only the *real* metalworkers can read it, ok?

1. original form of metal,

Hmmm....well originally, that is, when I first got it, it was various
karats of gold. I sent it to my refiner (In upstate NY) and they sent
me back shot that they documented to be .999 gold. Mighta had 4 9's, I
forget...

2. did you cast an ingot

No, I poured one into a book mold.
(I know, I'm being a smart ass/arse. Sorry.... It's in my blood.)

3 draw your own wire

But of course. I wouldn't have said I made it if I hadn't.


4. gold soldered all the rings up
after you wound on a mandrel and cut then off

No, no solder in the piece. All fused, or welded. I'm not sure the
proper term. I used little snippets of 24k gold that I milled out thin
and picked 'em up with my soldering stick/pick and placed 'em onto the
JR's at the proper time and ~blip~ they were all one.

5. dia of the rings and wire in thous/in

I don't work in thous/in.
I'll measure the wire tomorrow and post back. From my recollection the
wire is .75mm and the dia of the rings were...well I didn't measure. I
used whatever mandrel I had laying around that looked good.

6. total no of

Well, hell, lemme find my glasses...
89

7. final weight.

as you maybe can see, there's some stuff on the ends
(Go look at the web link again I stuck another picture up there. And
before you ask...I had to put the swivels at the ends 'cause the
******* kept getting all tangled up. The catch is made of tapered 24k
and the dangle thing is a ruby gypsy set. I put the whole thing on
over my head without having to remove the catch. The Tibetan Om is the
logo for my business.)
Oh and if I recall, the whole thing weighs right around 30 dwt.

8. final length.

Jeez I don't know. 22.5 inches? Something close anyway.

9. coin is a dime

No, it's a penny no matter where you are. The next coin is a dime
though just for you.

also as an afterthought, I put up a pic of the leftover chain. (I'd
made too much so I made a little bracelet for my wife. The catch is
14k plated with 24k but she rolls it on her wrist anyway so I could've
made a few more links and gone without.)

The coin next to it is a penny too.

for us outside the US.
Ted
Dorset
UK

In rec.crafts.jewelry on or about Sat, 26 Jan 2008 12:29:06 -0800 we
heard the sounds of a voice named "William Black"
crying out from afar, saying:

2. There's a big market for 24carat gold jewellery in India as well, but,
as in China and Thailand, it's not for wearing, it's for hiding under the
bed and running away with when things get bad.


Oh jeez...and don't tell this stuff to my mother-in-law and many
sisters-in-law who still live in China and wear 24k gold jewelry.

Actually, during the Cultural Revolution, people sewed gold jewelry
and ingots into their clothing so they could run away with it (not a
bad idea for us here in the states lately.)

3. What royalty wears isn't actually anything to do with the real world.

I dare say they'd disagree.