There are all kinds of jewelry out there, but gold jewelry is often considered the most coveted of the pieces that one could own. Often, this kind of jewelry is passed down through generations and holds value in more ways than one. What if we told you that you could create this kind of jewelry piece yourself?
It doesn’t have to be as complicated as it sounds. Learning how to make gold jewelry is a goal well worth chasing and something that many jewelers dream of doing during their lifetimes.
If you’re looking to learn to make gold jewelry of your own, where should you start? What do you need to keep in mind during this difficult process? Read on, and we’ll walk you through some basics that you’ll want to know.
What Type of Gold Will You Need?
If you’ve made jewelry out of any other type of metal before, you may be curious if working with gold will be a very different experience. At the end of the day, crafting jewelry out of gold is very similar to crafting it out of any other type of precious metal.
It’s a good idea to try making something out of copper or even silver before moving on to gold. This is less because gold is really that much harder, but more so that you can get some practice before handling a metal that has so much more value.
The main distinction you’ll need to look into is what type of gold to make your jewelry out of. This will really depend all on the look that you’re looking for and comes down mostly to personal preference.
There are three main varieties of gold you’ll likely choose between. Yellow gold, white gold, and rose gold are the ones you’ll find in most situations. They all have a slightly different aesthetic look.
While there are other color varieties out there, for your first few times making jewelry, it’s best to stick with one of these types of gold. Other varieties will be more difficult to find anyway.
You can look at the many pieces available on bodypiercejewelry.com if you need inspiration.
Choosing a Shape and Solder
The next two major decisions you’ll have to face are what shape of gold you’ll want to buy and also the type of solder you should use.
When it comes to shape, it will again depend completely on what the vision of your project is. What are you looking to create? You’ll need to purchase gold in a shape and size that will fit this goal.
There likely will be gold sold in shapes that might already closely resemble the piece of jewelry that you want to create. Getting your starting point as close as possible to the intended end product will help to keep the work short and simple.
Getting a proper solder, on the other hand, might be a little more complicated.
Solder is a kind of metal alloy. The purpose of solder is to melt and join metals together. The important thing to note is that most solders that work with other types of metals won’t actually work with gold.
In order to properly create your gold jewelry, you’ll need to invest in gold solder. Often, you can purchase this from the same source in which you’ll be purchasing your gold. It will generally come in the form of a thin sheet or a wire.
You should also attempt to match the karat of your solder to the karat of your gold. If you are working with 18 karat red gold, you’ll want to get an 18 karat red solder. This will help to ensure your jewelry creation process runs smoothly.
Soldering Your Gold
How do you actually begin to go about the process of making gold jewelry? First, you’ll need to soften the metal. Before you can form the gold into the intended shape of your piece, it’ll need to be made much softer.
It will also need to be cleaned and filed down so that the surfaces can be soldered perfectly.
Soldering your gold on a charcoal block will be advantageous as it will help to reflect the heat back into the piece itself. Ensure you position your piece so it is well supported atop the soldering block. You don’t want there to be any chance that it could slip around as you are working.
Gold doesn’t conduct heat in the same way that silver or other metals do. With some metals, the entire piece needs to be kept at the same temperature, but this isn’t the case with gold.
Once you’ve got the whole piece hot, you can focus your flame and heat towards the area you need to solder. You’ll want to keep your flame moving back and forth to avoid creating any hotspots or provoking melting.
Once you’ve got the piece soldered and soft, you should be able to bend it into the desired shape. Creating the base of your piece should really be as simple as that.
From there, you should be able to add gems, stones, or any other elements you need to complete your jewelry.
How To Make Gold Jewelry
Looking to craft your own beautiful piece of gold jewelry? The above information can help you to learn how to make gold jewelry with ease.
While the process can be difficult and take time to learn properly, you can come up with something really beautiful to call your own at the end of it all.
Need more advice or information on working with precious metals? Curious to learn more about high-class jewelry? Keep scrolling our blog for more.
Andrea Parker is a reporter for Zobuz. She previously worked at Huffington Post and Vanity Fair. Andrea is based in NYC and covers issues affecting her city. In addition to her severe coffee addiction, she’s a Netflix enthusiast, a red wine drinker, and a voracious reader.
