Does black gold exist and what it really is + price per gram today

Gold occupies an impressive position in the precious metals market. Moreover, over time, the metal began to acquire new color variations, and today they are incredibly popular among fashionistas.

Jewelers widely use pink, yellow and white gold, and now a new product is gaining momentum - black .

Not everyone knows what black gold is and what this metal looks like. But its beauty attracts with its extraordinary sophistication, plus it looks great in combination with other types of gold.

Does black gold exist?

Gold in its pure form can only be yellow. All its other color variations are obtained either after coating with coloring compounds (blackening, rhodium plating) or other metals are added to the alloy .

Composition and properties

Black gold contains 10% chromium and 15% cobalt ; it is produced at particularly high temperatures. Thanks to this, a very beautiful dark color is achieved.

The alloy is difficult to forge, as well as melting and other types of processing, but it is much stronger than the usual solar metal. Exquisite jewelry made of black gold retains its presentation for many years and looks like new .

Jewelers use the new product without enthusiasm, since the alloy, which includes chromium and cobalt, can cause itching, redness or irritation on the skin.
Important! If a person is allergic to gold (rare, but such a pathology does occur), then he can use black material that has undergone laser treatment.

Strength

Compared to metals known in the jewelry world, dark gold is particularly durable . It is more difficult to scratch, deform or abrade, which is explained by the presence of chromium and cobalt: these alloys have high strength values.

Shade range

By adding certain elements to the alloy, you can bring out the metal of any shade from gray and black. If you carefully look at the photos of the jewelry, you will see a beautiful blue or green tint on some of them. They are achieved by adding silver, manganese , etc. to the alloy.

Samples

On products made of black gold there is an imprint of 750 standard .

Craftsmen obtain the dark color on 585-carat products by rhodium plating. However, gradually the decoration may lose its presentation: the coating wears off and has to be reapplied.

Where can I buy or sell?

The safest option would be to purchase jewelry from a large store. Here, before purchasing, you can study the passport and certificate, and also carefully examine the product. There is a larger selection of jewelry in online stores, but the risk of buying a fake increases. It will not be easy to exchange such a product.

Black gold products are produced not only by large factories, but also by small workshops. Unique jewelry can be found on Internet resources such as “Masters' Fair”.

At lower prices, you can find used jewelry in pawn shops and among private advertisements. In this case, the authenticity of the goods remains on the conscience of the seller. The cost of products often speaks volumes about their quality. It is affected by the following parameters:

• rhodium plating has a lower cost than manufacturing a complex alloy;
• the cost of a gram of pure gold, established by the Central Bank;
• gold content;
• the presence of inserts made of precious stones, pearls, and other alloys;
• product exclusivity;
• place of production, delivery, transportation costs.

How much is 1 gram of black gold worth today?

I suggest you familiarize yourself with the current price for products made of blackened precious metal:

How did metal come about?

Scientists at the Ural Institute of Metal Physics have come up with a technology with which you can obtain gold of black, blue, purple or another equally bright color . This technology was born completely by accident.

When fulfilling a government order in the space industry (creating especially strong alloys from gold used in the construction of satellites), scientists found that the metal turns black under certain conditions .

Having received the results of this accidental discovery, the management of the institute decided to continue conducting experiments on ordinary yellow gold. This is how a precious metal of deep color, in places with a bluish-black tint, appeared.

Methods of obtaining

A dark color is achieved using a variety of technologies:

1. When mixing gold, cobalt and chromium in a percentage ratio of 75/15/10. When combined, these components oxidize. The result is a metal that is valuable for its strength, as well as its rich black color.
2. You can get blackened gold - this is a rhodium-plated metal (that is, coated with rhodium). Rhodium film can protect the precious metal from mechanical stress. Jewelry using this technique can have a very deep, but not always completely black color.
3. When amorphous carbon is applied to the surface of an ordinary yellow precious material, the result is a deep black surface. This method is used in the manufacture of wristwatches.
4. By applying special nanostructures to the metal surface, they achieve a black color. Such structures are able to absorb all the light falling on the surface. And if an object does not reflect the sun's rays, it appears black to us.
5. When mixing gold with potassium sulfide and copper, as well as iron and titanium. The gorgeous shine of this alloy is achieved by processing the resulting precious metal at a temperature of 700 °C.

Transforming ordinary gold into black is not the easiest procedure, which naturally affected the price of jewelry masterpieces made from this metal .

Methods of obtaining

There are three main ways to obtain dark-colored precious metal:

1. Intermetallic alloy of gold, cobalt and chromium.
2. Rhodium plating, or the coating of traditional yellow metal with rhodium.
3. Surface treatment with amorphous carbon.

The first method allows you to obtain a gold alloy with a deep black color. Products made from it are not afraid of scratches and damage. In other cases, a colored coating is created on the surface of already finished objects. The jeweler controls the process of obtaining color and achieves the desired shade.

Expert opinion

Vsevolod Kozlovsky

6 years in jewelry making. Knows everything about samples and can identify a fake in 12 seconds

Rhodium plating is done by galvanization - applying a metal coating to finished jewelry with a stamp using electrodes. The 0.2 mm rhodium film is durable and can protect soft precious metals from scratches, but over time it will wear off on its own. In this case, the jewelry will require repair and refinishing. Carbon plating is often used to create blackened gold in bracelets and watches when a large surface area is required.

Processing methods are constantly being improved. Thus, RAS scientists have discovered a nanomethod for producing metal alloys. Its essence lies in mixing microparticles of elements. The resulting materials have better characteristics compared to conventional alloys.

Another direction in jewelry is laser metal processing. The main disadvantage of innovations is their high cost, so the main methods for producing precious non-ferrous alloys remain melting and galvanization.

Combination with stones

It looks best in tandem with pearls and gems. Moreover, precious stones must be of the highest quality, and their installation on the stock must be as accurate as possible, since against a dark background any damage, scratches and unevenness are literally visible to the naked eye .

Initially, black gold was used only in combination with dark diamonds and black pearls. Today you can find jewelry with all varieties of precious stones and pearls. For example, in China they combine gems of different shades in one product - the result, as a rule, is truly luxurious.

Why and where do unusual colors come from?

Initially, gold contains increased sensitivity to mechanical stress and softness. To give products greater strength, various impurities are added to the noble metal. Pure gold usually has about 1%, and in some earrings, rings, bracelets and other jewelry it can be up to 40%.

According to Russian legislation, products with purity 750 and 585 contain from 58 to 75 percent gold. The rest is a ligature. This is the name for additional components that, through a chemical reaction, form an alloy with gold. It is the number and characteristics of additional elements that determine what color the jewelry will be.

Recommendations for care, cleaning and storage

If you handle jewelry made of black or blackened gold carelessly, you need to understand that, despite its strength, the formation of abrasions and scratches is inevitable.

To maintain excellent appearance for a long time, it is recommended:

1. When playing sports or visiting the pool, remove jewelry to prevent accidental impacts on exercise equipment, as well as prolonged exposure to water, which is also saturated with chemicals.
2. Do not expose the product to aggressive cleaning agents.
3. Store jewelry only in a special case or box, avoid creases.
4. If you need to preserve the original shine of the metal, do not leave items in rooms with high humidity.
5. Do not clean the product with hard brushes. Use only soft material and a very light soap solution.

What shades are there?

In addition to the standard yellow color, pink and white gold are popular among buyers. The pink color is obtained by adding copper to the alloy. By increasing the proportion of copper in the metal alloy alloy, the master can obtain a pink tint, red or even orange. What specific shade you get depends on the alloy sample and the amount of copper added. When choosing jewelry, you should remember that pink metal can only be 750 or 585. The standard ratio of components in a 750 grade alloy is as follows: 75% aurum, 9% silver and 16% copper.

An orange or reddish color is typical for low-grade gold 375 markings. The components of the alloy are also silver and copper. To obtain an orange tint, the proportion of silver is increased, and for red, the proportion of copper is increased. The reddish tint corresponds to the color of old gold; most products of the Soviet 583 standard are characterized by a red tint.

Rose gold jewelry is considered a symbol of love and looks very romantic. Rings and pendants are most often made from material of this color, which are very popular among lovers who choose a gift for their soulmate.

The white color of gold is no less popular among clients of jewelry stores. Even in the photo, products made from light alloy look sophisticated and elegant. The white alloy is usually 750 fine, the remainder of which is divided between palladium and silver. When choosing white gold jewelry, you need to make sure that the alloy contains palladium. Unscrupulous manufacturers replace it with cheaper nickel, which can cause an allergic reaction on the skin when wearing the product.

The white metal is popular because its shade is similar to the steely white color of platinum. The light alloy is ideally combined with diamonds, since such a setting allows you to fully reveal the brilliance of the stones, further illuminating it. According to stylists, jewelry made from white aurum alloy is suitable for any look, regardless of the type of appearance, and is considered more versatile than yellow metal.

What color can gold still be if other components are added to the alloy? Alloys of gold with certain chemical elements are called metallides. Such compounds are characterized by unusual beautiful shades, fragility and low ductility. These materials are rarely used to create entire pieces of jewelry; they are usually used as inserts or exotic stones.

When combining aurum with potassium, you can achieve an olive tint to the alloy. Jewelry with such a green surface color is rare and has a fairly high cost due to its beauty.

You can also get gold with a greenish tint using silver, which is added in small quantities. As its proportion in the alloy increases, the metal acquires a yellowish-green tint, then yellow-white and completely white.

The metallic substance, which contains indium in addition to aurum, is characterized by a blue tint. Many experts consider blue gold to be a myth, since only the Argentine master Antiniassi, who left his secret of the composition of the ligature undisclosed, was able to reproduce the alloy with such a shade.

The blue color of gold is obtained by adding iron and chromium to the alloy. Like other metallic materials, the material is fragile, so it is only good as inserts in products from traditional options. According to experts, when choosing jewelry with blue gold, you should pay attention to the location of the inserts: they should come into contact with the skin as little as possible when worn. This requirement is due to the fact that the blue alloy quickly oxidizes when in constant contact with the skin.

A violet-colored alloy is obtained by combining aurum with aluminum or potassium. It owes its birth to the creative curiosity of jewelry makers. The first jewelry made of purple metal was created in Ancient Egypt, but the Egyptian recipe has not been preserved to this day. Modern masters have reproduced the composition of the compound anew.

Tips for choosing black gold jewelry

It is important to check the documents confirming its authenticity. It is also necessary to know the method by which the color of the metal was obtained. Rhodium-plated jewelry will obviously be cheaper than jewelry with a black alloy.

A few tips can help you figure this out:

1. The alloy must be marked with 750 hallmark, and gold of 585 hallmark is subjected to rhodium plating.
2. The rhodium-plated coating of jewelry may have flaws, since the color is not entirely even, and hard-to-reach parts are poorly painted.

Reviews

Svetlana: I’ve been wearing a black gold ring for several years now. It looks unusual and attracts attention. Over the course of three years, almost imperceptible scratches appeared on it. I bought it in Moscow at the Diamonds are Forever store.

Yana: I used to see white and green gold, but I didn’t know whether it came in black. One day I saw earrings on the official website of American, couldn’t resist and ordered them. The jewelry is simply magnificent, it looks just like in the photo: voluminous, with a scattering of multi-colored stones. They didn't cheat with the size either. There is no hallmark on them, only a factory imprint, but this doesn’t bother me much, because I took them for myself. And they look simply amazing.

Black gold jewelry is unusual and spectacular. Contrasting combinations of black precious metal with yellow and white gold and multi-colored stones are attracting more and more fans.

If the information was interesting to you, do not forget to share it on social networks.

Black gold wedding rings

Engagement and wedding rings made of precious metal with rhodium or dark alloys are especially popular and are at the peak of wedding fashion.

Gold in this color looks very elegant and stylish and goes well with jewelry made from other precious metals.

Products and watches made of black precious material are increasingly found in the luxury sectors of jewelry stores, and may soon replace yellow gold and titanium in the manufacture of Swiss watches.

It is worth purchasing such jewelry now so as not to regret it in the future!

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of dark precious metal include:

• unusual spectacular appearance;
• higher strength compared to other gold alloys;
• hypoallergenic properties, the alloy is safe for health.

The disadvantages are:

• high cost;
• limited selection, such a product is difficult to find in jewelry stores;
• any damage will be more noticeable than on yellow and white products.