AGE HARDENING GOLD ALLOYS FOR JEWELRY

W. R. Yankee

Cook-Horton Division of Sterndent Corporation

North Attleboro, Massachusetts

ABSTRACT

The considerable increase in the price of gold during the past few y e a r s has prompted the
Jewelry Manufacturers to make changes in manufacturing and material c o s t s . One signifi-
cant change has been to decrease the thickness of the gold alloy in the finished jewelry
products. To decrease the thickness and maintain the strength and hardness in the finished
items has furthered interest in the gold alloys that can be age hardened. The ideal age
hardenable gold alloy provides the ductility n e c e s s a r y for the forming p r o c e s s e s and high
hardness after a low t e m p e r a t u r e finishing heat t r e a t m e n t . The final hardness value, gen-
erally, is equivalent to the fully cold worked level or higher than the cold worked value» To
use the age hardenable gold alloys efficiently, it is n e c e s s a r y to have a general knowledge
of the age hardening mechanism, composition r a n g e s , n e c e s s a r y equipment and any
problems to be encountered in the use of these alloys.

KEYWORDS

Age Hardening; hardness; gold alloy colors; gold alloy compositions; jewelry products;
ductility.

INTRODUCTION

This presentation is aimed towards the jewelry manufacturers and their associates. It
will be simplified as much as possible, eliminating highly technical a r e a s such as t e r n a r y
phase d i a g r a m s , crystallographic phases, and atomic movements. With the high price of
gold today, it is n e c e s s a r y to obtain the highest efficiency of the amount of gold used in the
finished jewelry product. One method of achieving this property is by the use of age
hardening gold alloys.

267
268 PRECIOUS METALS 1981
Hardness is a property that is extremely important to the jewelry industry* Practically
every customer order has a hardness specification irregardless of the product form; round,
flat, square, cubic, rectangular, hollow, etc. The definition of hardness is the ability of
the material to resist plastic deformation. Hardness is the property offering scratch
resistance, stiffness, abrasion resistance and strength to the product. It is usually
measured by pushing a small ball or indenter into the surfaces and measuring the reaction,
such as "bounce back" or the permanent impression left in the metal. Customer specifi-
cations should be considered very carefully before being placed on an order. Thicknesses
and geometry are factors that can result in errors as to hardness values.

Jewelry items, such as beads, balls, chains, lockets, pen clips, earrings, ear wires, ear
posts, bracelets, rings, e t c . , require sufficient hardness to resist "wear and tear" by the
consumer in the field. The accompanying properties of stiffness and rigidity are
controlled by the hardness of the items. With the continuing high price of gold, it is
necessary for the jewelry manufacturers to minimize the amount of gold alloy in the
product and maintain the hardness and strength suitable for a good product. An efficient
method to increase the strength with minimum thicknesses involves the use of age
hardenable gold alloys.

Age Hardening

The age hardening of gold alloys is a process that produces a hardening of the metal by the
use of a low temperature heat treatment. Prior to the low temperature treatment (usually
550°F to 650°F or 288°c to 343°c)the alloy must be quench annealed at a conventional
annealing temperature (1100°F to 1300°F or 593°c to 705°c). This temperature range is
very flexible and is determined by factors such as grain refining elements, brazing alloys,
thicknesses, surface finishes, etc. The low temperature hardening treatment is dependent
upon the composition of the alloy with the percentages of silver and copper being the main
factors. Age hardening temperatures can vary between 2 1 2 ° F (100°c) to 800°F (427°c)
depending upon the alloy that is used. The silver and copper elements precipitate out as
silver-rich and copper-rich areas during the low temperature treatment. These areas
disturb the atomic lattice in such a way that it becomes more difficult to deform the metal
alloy. Excessive copper-rich areas can result in stress corrosion cracking at the high
hardness values and must be taken into consideration when choosing the age hardenable
alloy. The most important class of these alloys is probably the 14 Karat alloys.

14 Karat Yellow Gold Alloys

The 14 Karat yellow gold alloys are one of the most popular alloys used for jewelry. With
the gold content established at 58.33 weight percent it is necessary to adjust the elements
making up the remaining percentage in such a manner that the desired age hardenable
properties are obtained, as well as color, corrosion resistance and grain structure. Most
of these alloys contain zinc as a deoxidizing agent and as a coloring factor (McDonald and
Sistare, 1978). Zinc does not appear to affect the aging response other than lowering the
annealed hardness value or by lowering the maximum age hardness value.

A 14 Karat gold alloy with maximum age hardening response requires a silver content of
10 to 32 weight percent with the remaining percentages as copper and a small amount of
zinc. These alloys will harden to Rockwell 15 T 94-98 which is above the normal cold
worked value of 91-92. These alloys are generally yellowish in color becoming a greenish
yellow with silver at 30% and higher. The alloys are usually annealed at approximately
 JEWELRY 269

1200°F (650°c) for a length of time to reach the annealed t e m p e r a t u r e and followed quickly
by a water quench. Aging t e m p e r a t u r e s of 550°F-600°F (288°-316°c) at times of 5 minutes
to 2 hours will yield age hardness values from the lower hardness values to the maximum
hardness values depending upon the ductility needed for the application. Longer times may
result in over aging with decreasing h a r d n e s s . These alloys a r e used for products r e q u i r -
ing high hardness and spring c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s .

The more ductile aging alloys require 8 or 9% silver and need zinc to offset the reddish
color for the conventional yellow color of most jewelry products. These alloys a r e softer
than the high silver alloys and can be worked more readily with very few cracking problems.
The age hardenable ductile alloys can usually be aged to the cold worked value of Rockwell
15 T 92. Annealing and aging t e m p e r a t u r e s a r e similar to the previous group.

These alloys and other age hardenable gold alloys can be " s t e p " hardened by controlling the
cooling r a t e without quenching. This treatment eliminates the low t e m p e r a t u r e aging step
but can result in hardness variations and product forming p r o b l e m s . In some c a s e s , on
thin stock being strip annealed or strand annealed, the cooling r a t e is fast and will result
in the solution annealed state that will respond to the subsequent aging treatment.

The remainder of the 14 Karat alloys (except for the greenish 33 to 36% silver alloys) are
non age hardenable.

12 Karat Gold Alloys

The 12 Karat gold alloys are s i m i l a r to the 14 Karat alloys for processing to age hardening
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . A high hardness value is achieved by using a silver content of 15 to 35
weight percent with the remaining elements being copper, zinc and possibly a slight amount
of nickel for grain refinement. The colors of these alloys range between a reddish at low
silvers to a yellowish at the high silver end. Hardness values a r e s i m i l a r to the 14 Karat
alloys.

The more ductile age hardening alloys would be in the 8 to 10% silver weight percent range.
With these alloys, any range of hardness up to the cold worked value (Full hard) can be
made by using the proper combination of aging t e m p e r a t u r e s and t i m e s . It is possible to
quench anneal these alloys (as well as the other karat gold alloys), followed by some cold
working and an age hardening treatment. The cold working in the metal will hasten the
aging process so that shorter aging times a r e required.

The 8 to 10% silver alloys a r e reddish in color and must be modified with zinc or other
elements to acquire the yellowish color. A ductile greenish yellow can also be made by
using 39 to 42% silver content.

10 Karat Gold Alloys

The 10 karat gold alloys follow a s i m i l a r pattern as the 12 and 14 karat alloys for age
hardening processing. However, the lower gold content results in a higher copper content
with the possibility of lower s t r e s s corrosion r e s i s t a n c e . The increase in copper-rich
a r e a s during the age hardening treatment increases the susceptibility to s t r e s s corrosion
cracking. The alloys with silver percentages from 12% to 47% will age harden rapidly and
harden to the values of the 14 karat alloys (R 15 T 93.0). The colors range from a
reddish color at 12% to a greenish at 47%. Yellow colors can be found between 24% and
270 PRECIOUS METALS 1981
40%» The 87c Silver content can produce a ductile age hardenable gold alloy but tends to be
quite red in color« Also at 54% Silver a ductile gold exists but the color becomes quite
greenish»

16 Karat Gold Alloys

The 16 Karat gold alloys a r e very seldom used for jewelry i t e m s . Approximately 3% Silver
will produce a ductile type of age hardenable alloy with a reddish color. Between 5% and
25% Silver will result in a hard, quick responding alloy for age hardening purposes. The
color range is reddish to a yellow. Not much testing has been done on these alloys but
the alloys could be used if needed for age hardenable applications.

18 Karat Gold Alloys

The high silver alloys (21 to 25 weight percent) belonging to the 18 Karat family a r e non
age hardenable. These alloys belong to the green alloy c l a s s . Ductile alloys can be made
using approximately an 18 percent Silver that becomes a yellowish green. The remainder
of the 18 Karat alloys tend to age harden rapidly and with high hardness values. Colors
range from a yellowish to the reddish tones. Stress corrosion cracking can be a major
problem especially with the reddish or copper-rich alloys.

Summary

Age hardenable alloys can be made using the 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 Karat gold alloys. The
proper choice of compositions along with the c o r r e c t annealing and hardening treatments
can create alloys from ductile grades to hard brittle g r a d e s . Most of the alloys tend to be
in the ductile age hardenable range with Silver compositions approximating 8 to 9 weight
percent. This figure would be a basic percentage for the person wishing to have a good
workable aging gold alloy in the 10, 12, or 14 Karat a r e a .

This presentation has been made quite simple and generalized as to metallurgical t e r m s .
It is hoped that the general idea will lead to creating products for jewelry items which a r e
as strong or stronger than the present products and much less expensive to manufacture
and s e l l .

References

A. S. McDonald and G. H. Sistare

The Metallurgy of Some Carat Gold Jewellry Alloys, Gold Bulletin, July 1978, Vol 11
No 3, 66-73