Gold in your hands

Gold, the most traditional precious metal, is almost never used in its pure state (24 carats): too soft, it deforms easily. Solid gold is 18-carat gold containing 75% pure gold and 25% other metals that harden it and give it its color.

Basically, solid gold is an alloy of gold, copper and silver, with equal parts of copper and silver for yellow gold – which preserves its natural color -, a majority of copper for rose gold, and a majority of silver for white gold. However, other metals can be found, notably in white gold, which sometimes includes zinc, cadmium or palladium, or even platinum. Generally adopted at the top end of the market, white gold containing expensive palladium is ideally white. There’s no need to cover it, as is commonly done, with a film of rhodium, which wears off over time – resulting in white gold that gradually yellows and requires further rhodium plating. Some jewelers and watchmakers have their own smelting workshops and some their own recipes, concocted with the aim of sublimating colors and/or improving resistance, such as Chanel with its Beige Gold, IsabelleFa with its Royal Red, Jaeger-LeCoultre with its Grand Rose Gold, Hublot with its Magic Gold and Omega with its Sedna Gold.

The techniques and tools used in the manufacture of high-end gold jewelry and watches are numerous and sometimes exclusive. If state-of-the-art technology is readily employed, it is to bring about an improvement, notably precision, that the human hand cannot produce. Nevertheless, craftsmanship is an integral part of true luxury. In the workshops, gold comes in a variety of forms: plates, sheets, bars, tubes, wires, beads… Depending on the pieces to be formed, we can work either cold or hot. In the former case, cutting is followed by filing or deburring, to eliminate any traces left behind, before moving on to the actual shaping. Whatever the process, gold will harden and become brittle. It must therefore be annealed, heated to make it more malleable, as many times as necessary. When hot, molten gold is poured into a mold. The most traditional and prestigious technique is lost-wax casting. This is followed, if necessary, by brazing, or assembling various elements by fusing them with a brazing straw. Finally comes the finishing and decoration, which, to be refined, must be done by hand. For a polished part, it is advisable to work progressively, using finer and finer abrasives, until a mirror polish is obtained.

IsabelleFa, the mastery of chain
IsabelleFa, launched in 1987, is a brand specializing in the manufacture of gold chains, originating from a workshop founded in 1955 in Eisingen, Germany. IsabelleFa favors ancestral processes and tools, an art that was almost forgotten. With perfection in mind, it produces necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings with exceptional links, for which it sets the highest standards in the world. In her integrated foundry, she uses recycled gold from certified sources to produce exclusive alloys. IsabelleFa’s signature, a small bottle adorned with a brilliant-cut diamond is concealed in a clasp or inside a piece of jewelry.

IN FIGURES

190’000

Tonnes mined since the discovery of gold (WGC – World Gold Council)

80%

Percentage of gold already extracted (USGS estimate – United States Geological Survey, 2018)

2’500 – 3’000

Tonnes of gold mined annually (WGC)

75%

Percentage of gold from mine production to meet annual requirements. The remaining 25% comes from recycling (WGC)

90%

Percentage of recycled gold from the jewelry industry. Because it is virtually indestructible, almost all mined gold is potentially available for recycling (WGC).

2km

Gold is an extremely ductile metal: 1g can be stretched into a wire 2km long.