I see and hear of this occasionally, it even happened to me once when we cleaned a 1.00 ct F color Princess cut with the last few rusty bursts of dirty steam from an aging steam cleaner.
The F color diamond suddenly looked like a J/K color with no obvious dirt or minerals showing on the diamond.
My theory is that the iron (rust) has an affinity for the diamond and sticks to the surface and/or in the hollowed out area of the prongs that are designed to protect the corner of the princess cut diamond. With even a trace of dirt or minerals contacting the princess cut diamond, the diamond will look noticeably tinted.
Here is what I do to remedy this problem, I use alternating baths in a pickle solution (heated acid bath) and heated ultrasonic along with a steam cleaner to help steam out any particles etc. This process takes patience, as it takes much more time and repeated cycles of the process than an ordinary cleaning.
As a home solution, you could maybe try some more soaking in vinegar or even a CLR (calcium,lime rust) type cleaner as long as it does not have any chlorine in it (bad for gold)
The following is a look behind the scenes of how a custom ring is made.
I will start by showing a picture of the finished ring and then explain how the ring is made and show some of the steps in the process.
Knox Jewelers Caledonia Design
Now I will show and explain in a very condensed manner the process of making a ring like this.
Here is the ‘screenshot’ from our 3-D design software showing the design from several different angles. A design like this can take many hours of design and engineering time.
Screen shot from Knox Jewelers 3D design software
After using a CAM technology to make a physical prototype and mold used to make this ring, the design are cast in 18 karat white gold. Here is a picture of the raw castings:
Raw Ring Casting
The design has three sections, the two outside rails and the inside pattern.
The overall finished width will be 15mm. Finger size 5.25
After cleaning up the raw castings ( removing sprues, smoothing, etc) the three sections are ready to finish.
Here are a couple pics after we finished setting the diamonds in the two outside rails.
Assembled ring with diamonds set in the railsAssembled ring with diamonds set in the rails
Here are a couple quick pics with the rest of the diamonds set.
Assembled ring with diamonds set in the rails and center sectionAssembled ring with diamonds set in the rails and center section
There is No Short Cut to Quality
The work necessary to obtain an immaculate look on a design with this level of detail is a very time consuming task and as we are fond of saying at Knox Jewelers, “there is no shortcut to quality”.
A master level artisan must carefully bright cut and engrave all of the beautiful detail into the areas around the diamonds and finally apply the milgrain which gives the design a beautiful and finished look.
The diamond setting, engraving and milgraining labor (not counting design work, prototyping, casting) for a ring with this level of detail will have approx 32 man hours of labor when finished.
We think of projects like this as a miniature work of art with our name on it.
I thought I would post a little look behind the scenes with a unique custom engagement ring in progress.
Our local customer wanted a custom version of our “Passion” design, shown below in the first four pics. It is a very unique ring design with channel set carre cut (square step cut) diamonds and round micro pave diamonds covering nearly every available area.? This unique engagement ring also features hand wrought filigree.
We needed to start from scratch as we needed the new ring to fit a 1.50 carat radiant cut diamond ( the original Passion design was designed for about a 3/4 carat asscher, princess cut or radiant cut)
Here are a few photos of the larger version of our ‘Passion” design in our 3-D software. This software provides the ultimate in “What You See is What You Get” technology as you will soon see later in this thread.
Notice the red areas on the under side of the shank and halo elements. These areas will become the sprues or inlet areas for the molten metal during the casting process.
Once the design is completed in our 3D software, an actual physical prototype of the design is made that can be cast into metal. The results of casting process give us a raw casting of the design, from which, our artisans begin their magic.
Here are a couple photos of the raw casting.
Raw castingRaw casting
Notice how many sprues ( the inflow areas for the molten metal) we built into the design to facilitate a complete casting in the casting process. This is a very important step in the manufacturing process. It allows for uniform filling of the model in the casting process, which makes for problem free castings with no porosity issues or problems that could detract from the durability and longevity of the finished ring.
The raw casting must be prepared for stone setting by filling off the sprues and generally cleaning up the lines of the mounting.
Although it does not look like it, the ring is actually 18 karat white gold, I know it looks yellow in the photos but the metal is not that yellow in real life.
I think it is a combination of the very off white color of 18KWG combined with less than optimal camera settings, lighting, etc.
Most of the starter holes in the casting will need to be opened up some more for the diamonds to fit correctly.
The little beads (prongs) that will hold each little round diamond have to be formed by hand. This is very time consuming to do at the quality level we want on these designs.? This type of setting is called pave or micropave.
Here are a few more pics of the ring at about half way stage of completion.
The platinum filigree was added on the inside of the ring.
Platinum hand made filigree is assembled inside of ring shank
Approx 1/2 of the small round diamonds are set
One channel of the Carre cuts are channel set.
Still a lot of work to go…
Once all the diamonds are set, all of the refining of the details and finishing touches must be applied.
Just the diamond setting labor (not counting design work, prototyping, casting) for a ring with this level of hand work will have approx 32 man hours of labor when finished.
After the diamonds have been set, the goldsmith will start to form borders around the diamonds (bright cutting) as well as preparing the intended areas of the ring design for milgraining.
Well done milgraining by hand is very time consuming as the diamond setter must first form a sharp ridge or rail (see red arrows in examples 1 & 2) around the area where the diamonds are set.
This cutting or forming of the ridge (or simply a border in some cases) is called bright-cutting, as the goldsmith uses a sharp tool (graver) to form a pointed ridge or rail that will later be worked or formed down into a beaded edge (mil-graining) using a mil-grain tool.
As usual the trick to anything that is well done is in the preparation.
Finally, after all the diamonds are set and the borders around the diamond sections are carefully formed by hand (brightcut) and the bright-cutting of the rails for mil-graining are completed, the ring is meticulously polished and prepared for the final step in the process which is the mil-graining.
When customers ask what our metal of choice is for their engagement ring, they will always be told Platinum. Platinum has many desirable attributes that will make your ring look spectacular and last a life time.
For reference sake, we use 950 Platinum Ruthenium, which has the best combination of tensile strength (durability) and scratch resistance compared to other Platinum alloys.
Platinum is hands down the best metal to use in jewelry. It’s a very heavy, dense metal, providing a strong hold on stones and solid structural integrity. Platinum does not wear down like other precious metals. When scratched, the metal is actually displaced and pushed elsewhere on the ring, not rubbed or worn off. This characteristic puts Platinum in a class of it’s own, making it suitable for everyday wear over a lifetime and maintaining the greatest security for your gemstones.
Platinum is and will always be white. It will never yellow like white gold, which requires Rhodium plating. It will never tarnish like silver either. Platinum’s natural white color is ideal for settings, from colorless diamonds to vibrant gemstones.
Platinum is also hypoallergenic unlike common white gold alloys which contain nickel. Imagine your finance not being able to wear her ring because she’s allergic to it.
Platinum does not react with Chlorine, unlike white gold, which will corrode and discolor. Chlorine is found in pools, hot tubs, and common house cleaning chemicals.
When making a decision on the right ring, make sure you understand what it’s made of. We want your setting to last a lifetime, protecting the valuable gemstones it holds. No metal does this better then Platinum. With a platinum engagement ring, you don’t have to worry about allergic reactions, chemical breakdowns, or yellowing color. Make Platinum your metal of choice for life.
What is White Gold?
How is White Gold Made?
What is The Best White Gold?
What is White Gold Alloyed With?
Are All White Golds the Same?
First, an explanation of white gold and gold alloying. 14K gold is alloyed with other metals to achieve certain colors and/or workability attributes (malleability, ductility, etc.).
The different colors are self explanatory E.g.; whiter alloys such as silver or nickel mask the natural yellow of pure gold. Workability characteristics will vary considerably depending on the mix of the alloy metals. Pure gold is very malleable and easily worked into various shapes, forms, wires, etc. However, pure gold (24K) is generally considered too soft for rings. Almost all yellow gold blends are much more workable and ductile than their white gold counterparts. Most white golds are alloyed with nickel, a very white and very hard metal.
The ideal workability attributes necessary for a hand wrought item will often require a different mix of alloy metals than the normal mix of alloys for a cast item. Some of the popular alloy metals for white gold are copper, silver, zinc, nickel and in some of the newer blends, Palladium.
The white Gold blends that are alloyed with palladium are growing in popularity as they provide very workable castings and at the same time avoid many of the negatives issues associated with Nickel alloy mixes. It should be noted that these Palladium white Gold blends are typically not as bright white as some of the high nickel content blends.
14K white gold is 58% pure gold. The other 42% of metals used to make the 14K white gold and help mask the yellow of the predominant metal (58% pure gold) will vary considerably as the various gold manufacturers and casters look to develop gold blends with the best mix of whiteness and wear attributes. The same holds true for 18k White Gold, which is 75% pure gold.
Refiners, manufacturers, and jewelers experiment to find the optimal mix of alloys for their applications.Historically, some of the whiter blends of white gold have been some of the poorer performing alloys with regard to durability and longevity of jewelry items. The problems stem from the difficulty of mixing the different alloys to combine and make a homogeneous blend of metals that will be workable, malleable and otherwise suitable for jewelry making.
This is an immensely complicated issue as any change in casting temperatures or any change in the complex casting process can have an effect on the malleability, workability of the cast metal. It is quite common to have casting problems in white gold that may lead to future problems with the item of jewelry, two of the big problems are:
(1)Porosity in the metal. Actual voids or unfilled areas in the casting that lead to weakness or even failure of the cast item.
(2)Brittleness or lack of ductility.
Nickel has been a very popular alloy metal to use for white gold because of the very white color and the hardness it gives the white gold alloy. However, many white gold alloys that contain nickel may not be optimal for smaller elements of jewelry designs such as crowns (the prong elements that are used to hold diamonds) as these smaller elements may be prone to weakening and eventual breakdown due to the corrosive behavior of nickel in these white gold alloys, especially in conjunction with any exposure to environments that have chlorine such as pools, spas, etc.
It should be mentioned that nickel is also associated with allergic reactions which is not a good thing to have happen with an engagement ring or wedding band.
There have been many recent advances in new white gold alloys from? the major precious metal refiners that service the jewelry manufacturing industry, all trying to find that magic mix that will remedy the above mentioned problems in many white gold mixes and provide a workable and white mix.
Stuller Settings, a major manufacturer and supplier to jewelry stores : http://www.stuller.com/apps/images/kbpdfs/x1.pdf has a new blend of white gold called X-1 that is very white. Other refiners and manufacturers are also coming out with versions.
Bottom line, if you are considering a white gold jewelry item, be sure your jeweler is aware of the many recent advancements and products available. If your jeweler is aware of these choices they should also be able to recommend the optimal blend for the application as there may be design specific issues that could affect the choice.
