Antique jewelry glossary

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Rolled gold

A product resulting from fusing over a base metal a thin layer of gold, and then rolling it into sheets of varying ticknesses, depending on the intended use.

From about 1817 it was made by fusing stamping on the sheet two identical patterns that were cut out and fused together with the gold sides outside; but a later development, which is less frequently used (but is suitable for some jewelry which is to show gold on both sides of the base metal.

In either method, the product can be made with different colours of gold. To make rolled-gold wire, a base metal core is enclosed within a rolled-gold tube and drawn to the desired diameter. As the thickness of the gold can vary, the quality is expressed in microns if the layer of gold is uniform, otherwise in millièmes.

From: An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, autor: Harold Newman, publishers: Thames and Hudson