When casting or fabricating rose gold alloys, follow the experts’
advice to avoid brittleness and achieve beauty in bold color

Besides yellow gold, rose gold is probably the easiest member of the gold family to work with. It doesn’t have the health implications or the difficult working characteristics of nickel white gold. Unlike blue and purple golds, it casts well and is reasonably malleable. And it work hardens into a strong, durable metal—an advantage over pure gold.

In addition, its warm pink-to-red hues contrast nicely with white metals such as platinum and white gold, and it complements many skin tones.

“As [jewelry] designers we’re always looking for an opportunity to open up our color palettes,” says Stephen Kris of New York City. “[Rose] gold works really well with a lot of people’s skin tones because it’s warmer, and I just like the creative aspect [of having another color to work with].” Alas, no gold alloy is perfect. Although 10k and 14k rose golds require little special care in the manufacturing process, the increasingly popular 18k rose gold is another story.

The Twinset collection grew out of a three-stone ring Anita designed, in which she studded the rows of prongs holding the three diamonds with tiny diamonds. “We said, this is fabulous. Why can’t we do this for wedding bands all the way around so you see no metal?” says Myriam.

“At 75 percent gold and 25 percent copper, the copper and gold atoms arrange themselves in a very unique, ordered structure,” says Ajit Menon of United Precious Metal Refining in Alden, New York. “The [gold and copper atoms] form a perfect crystal structure, and when something is perfect, it doesn’t like to be disorganized.”

As a result, the alloy can become brittle and difficult to work. “When you want to do any work on it, such as rolling or making tubing, you’re upsetting the crystal structure,” explains Menon. “It resists those movements, and then the metal starts cracking.”

Metallurgists have very few options for improving the situation. Because 18k gold dictates 75 percent gold content, alloy makers must focus their efforts on changing the 25 percent of the alloy that is not gold.

One popular solution to the problem is to add silver. With a mixture of 75 percent gold, 20 percent copper, and 5 percent silver, the metal isn’t as inclined to form the ordered structure that causes such problems. “If I get a call out of the blue saying ‘I’m going to make 18k rose gold…Send alloy,’ I send a proven formula of 80 percent copper, 20 percent silver [which produces an 18k gold of 75 percent gold, 20 percent copper, 5 percent silver],” says Daniel Ballard, national sales manager for Precious Metals West/Fine Gold in Los Angeles. “That impacts the color—it’s not as red—but if I send it out to 10 jewelers, there will be half the failures there will be with an alloy that’s really tweaked for color.”

Unfortunately, the silver dulls the red color of the alloy; You end up with a much lighter shade of pink. “By adding just 5 percent of silver, you’re toning the color down to what’s called a ‘Russian red,’ which is a light pink color,” says Menon. “If you’re satisfied with a light pink, you don’t have a problem.”

However, if a deep red color is important, you may have to settle for a stubborn crystal structure and make amendments to your processes.