Turning gold into Jewellery

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Depending on what caratage you want your jewellery turned into ie, 24, 22, 18, 14 Carat you will need more or less of your precious nuggets.
Your goldsmith or jeweller will alloy your gold with various other metals to achieve things like colour, hardness etc. depending on the use the jewellery will get.
I chose 22 carat for my wife’s pieces.
https://www.gold.org/about-gold/about-gold-jewellery
 
I know that this post is about turning nuggets into jewellery, but I am sure most of us would have found some specimens at some time and wondered whether to sell or just hang onto them.
Everyone seem to tell me that they are very valuable to the right collector but I have never found one to take them off my hands so have just crushed them up for the gold.
Looking at the image below shows just how a specimen could be turned into a lovely piece of jewellery in the hands of a skilled lapidarist.
 

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I know that this post is about turning nuggets into jewellery, but I am sure most of us would have found some specimens at some time and wondered whether to sell or just hang onto them.
Everyone seem to tell me that they are very valuable to the right collector but I have never found one to take them off my hands so have just crushed them up for the gold.
Looking at the image below shows just how a specimen could be turned into a lovely piece of jewellery in the hands of a skilled lapidarist.
That does look awesome, nice treatment for a specie.
 
Looking for some inspiration ..... have 1oz - 1.5oz (or more if necessary) of SDC sized gold I want to give to a jeweller to turn into something for my better half. Also a nugget just under 4gms I might get a link attached to hang as a pendant.
(Should give me a few brownie points) .....

If anyone has done anything like this what did you have made into, thinking bracelet, pendant, earrings or whatever.
Love to see some pics or recommendations to see what can be done and how much gold it took, have a Ballarat jeweller (NDV) who does some great work.



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Ok, there is a few problems with idea ( I have had same and been down this road a few times).
Firstly, NO honest jeweller will take your nuggets and melt down for any jewellery and stamp it 18K , 14K or whatever purely because they legally can not do.
This is because the nuggets could be anywhere from 60-98% pure and they just don't know.
If your wife wants a ring or whatever that is of indeterminate value and unstamped not a problem, plenty can do this.
You can send your gold to a refiner and receive back the value (minus costs) in whatever Karat value you want, 24K, 22K, 18K, also in any colour you desire Rose,White whatever.
BUT it is not your gold that you receive back from the refiner.
No refiner in Australia that I can find will muck about with 2 or 3 ounces and do this for you.
Went through this for one of my sons wedding recently where the wife wanted them to have matching rings from gold that she had found.
 
Ok, there is a few problems with idea ( I have had same and been down this road a few times).
Firstly, NO honest jeweller will take your nuggets and melt down for any jewellery and stamp it 18K , 14K or whatever purely because they legally can not do.
This is because the nuggets could be anywhere from 60-98% pure and they just don't know.
If your wife wants a ring or whatever that is of indeterminate value and unstamped not a problem, plenty can do this.
You can send your gold to a refiner and receive back the value (minus costs) in whatever Karat value you want, 24K, 22K, 18K, also in any colour you desire Rose,White whatever.
BUT it is not your gold that you receive back from the refiner.
No refiner in Australia that I can find will muck about with 2 or 3 ounces and do this for you.
Went through this for one of my sons wedding recently where the wife wanted them to have matching rings from gold that she had found.
Got an appointment booked with a Goldsmith so we'll see .... having it stamped is irrelevant. He has made jewellery from nuggets on a few occasions.
 
Had mine made by a gold schmidt in Switzerland and is hallmarked on bottom of bike, I offered him some old 9ct gold to make other items for me but he turned it down as apparently 9ct is not recognised as gold in Europe.
 
As I said if you are happy with uncertified (not stamped) jewellery it is not a problem, plenty of jewellers can and will do.
Where you will run in to difficulties is with valuation certs and insurance if you need or want these.
There is also no problem attaching nuggets to a stamped chain or earring mounts, done all the time and these can be valued and insured, say for example "18K chain of x grams with a 20 gram Australian natural gold nugget" that is no problem.
Its only when you want to make the ring, chain or whatever out of your nuggets that the problem arises.
Anyway best of luck and I hope it turns out nice for your wife.
 
Had mine made by a gold schmidt in Switzerland and is hallmarked on bottom of bike, I offered him some old 9ct gold to make other items for me but he turned it down as apparently 9ct is not recognised as gold in Europe.
Interested in what hallmark he put on bottom? Just a makers mark or did he certify the purity?
 
Ok, there is a few problems with idea ( I have had same and been down this road a few times).
Firstly, NO honest jeweller will take your nuggets and melt down for any jewellery and stamp it 18K , 14K or whatever purely because they legally can not do.
This is because the nuggets could be anywhere from 60-98% pure and they just don't know.
If your wife wants a ring or whatever that is of indeterminate value and unstamped not a problem, plenty can do this.
You can send your gold to a refiner and receive back the value (minus costs) in whatever Karat value you want, 24K, 22K, 18K, also in any colour you desire Rose,White whatever.
BUT it is not your gold that you receive back from the refiner.
No refiner in Australia that I can find will muck about with 2 or 3 ounces and do this for you.
Went through this for one of my sons wedding recently where the wife wanted them to have matching rings from gold that she had found.
Well I can tell you that my Honest goldsmith not only melted my gold and alloyed it to 22K, but also stamped it with his maker’s mark and returned to me a small ball of unused gold which had been melted.
Maybe a Goldsmith and a Jeweller are 2 different things.....
 
What is the role of a jeweller?


Jewellers make and repair jewellery such as rings, brooches, chains and bracelets, craft objects out of precious metals, and cut, shape and polish rough gemstones to produce fashion and industrial jewels.

What does a goldsmith do?


Goldsmiths design and make gold jewellery, including jewellery with precious and semi-precious stones. This may involve cutting, filing, hammering, turning, spinning, bending and casting gold or other metals. They may use different methods to secure stones and engrave jewellery.
 
Well I can tell you that my Honest goldsmith not only melted my gold and alloyed it to 22K, but also stamped it with his maker’s mark and returned to me a small ball of unused gold which had been melted.
Maybe a Goldsmith and a Jeweller are 2 different things.....
Yes, he stamped it with his makers mark but did he also stamp it 22k ??
From my talks with jewellers this is illegal ??
Don't know if a goldsmith is different and would be interested to find out as have tried to do this in the past and yes, I could get rings made but I could not find anyone that would stamp the purity.
 
Yes, he stamped it with his makers mark but did he also stamp it 22k ??
From my talks with jewellers this is illegal ??
Don't know if a goldsmith is different and would be interested to find out as have tried to do this in the past and yes, I could get rings made but I could not find anyone that would stamp the purity.
Yes, it’s stamped 916...
Here’s another band I had made by him in 18k... or 750
I have edited out his makers mark so he can remain anonymous.
5545059B-F859-42F0-8062-2C6600D3B331.jpeg
 
Yes, it’s stamped 916...
Here’s another band I had made by him in 18k... or 750
I have edited out his makers mark so he can remain anonymous.
View attachment 697
Very Interesting, I have searched for a Jeweller for a long time to convert nuggets into rings and so forth.
as Australia and NZ don't have a controlled assay office for Jewellery (Unlike say the UK) there is nowhere to submit pieces to assay for purity for Hallmarking purposes.
https://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/hallmarking/assayingHallmarks in UK have 4 components Maker, Material, Year and where tested.
My understanding is that any stock to be used in Jewellers work in Australia has to come from a refiner like Becks(or many others) to be legaly stamped by a member of the Gold and Silversmiths Guild of Australia.
http://www.pwbeck.com.au/preciousmetalservices/pms-refining.phpBecks will take your nuggets then assay and weight them and give you back the equivalent weight (after costs) in gold in any K value or colour.
BUT it is not your gold that you get back, it just comes off their stock rolls. Been down that track.
Maybe there is another way to be legally certified in Australia and if you can find out I would be interested in doing the same??

PS. Why protect his anonymity if what he is doing is legal? Surely he wouldn't object to a bit of free advertising ?
https://www.gsga.org.au/markers-marks/
 
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Not everything needs to be public or provided to the public - regarding the Maker / Goldsmith.
You just need skills and knowledge, to produce a product, many out there that can do it.
PW Beck are just set up to refine and manufacture, so they have a specific standard to reach for quality control.

Personally I would try to keep the nuggets as part of the design for the pieces, they would be a huge talking point and enhance the
the appropriate design.
Of course this would mean that the 'artist' needs skills to bring out the most attractive settings etc.

I like the natural look of the small nuggets, with the right stones set amongst them, the right design may need the stone raised slightly above the nuggets to throw light down upon them. A ring or pendant with a cluster of nuggets and stones amongst the nuggets like a choc chip cookie. 🤔
It's in my head but I cant draw for squat, my 6yr old draws better then me.

I will have to look around internet images to find something like my thoughts.
 
Yes, jewellery incorporating nuggets is fine and there are some spectacular pieces around. The trouble is when you melt down nuggets whose purity could be anywhere from .600 to .980 and label it as .916 or .750 without it being refined.
as far as I am aware there is no refiner in Australia that will do this service on small (a few oz) lots.
In the UK i believe that you can do this as it can be sent to a testing house where they will assign the next lowest K value to your piece.
For example if it assayed .780 they would stamp 18K but if it assayed .745 they would stamp 14K
The testing house would also stamp the Manufacturers stamp, the year stamp and the testing house stamp.
4 in total like this example stamp from the Gold and Silversmiths Guild of Australia.
 

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