Opinion: 24G v 26G for Wire Wrapped Pearl Necklace

Jersey, I looked for that 3 way comparison but didn't find any. However, at lease for riogrande, I am going to order a small
piece of both in both gauges to compare in person. I'll take multiple lighting photos and will post here.
 
We need to remember that a plated piece isn't the same as bonded (as in gold filled) and my concern would be that bending a plated wire would weaken the bond. Probably best to find a solid wire color you can live with. I'd love to have a source for white gold filled wire; that would be terrific.

Wire color can vary between manufacturers also, as some of you may have found, because of the alloys used.
 
Great thread! It's full of great advice. And kudos for finding a photo comparing palladium types to white gold. :)
 
This is the spacing I'm considering for the pearls, pretty small. Please disregard the center drilled clunkers in the photo, they wouldn't be used for a necklace. I am going to do a short rendering in silver to compare the look of 24G v 26G at this spacing. Will post photos! Probably won't get around to this till the weekend.
image.jpg
 
I prepare my own palladium golds. They can go from a medium grey to an almost white. The two bottom rings are the shades I particularly like, specially with a nice, bright stone. I need to take a picture of different shades of grey, nickle white and rhodium plated.

P1020005.jpg
 
Those are lovely shades of palladium gold, Beatriz!

Andrea, did you ask Rio about special order on lower carat white/palladium gold wire? It can take a week or more to get an answer, but they can be very open to special orders, and sometimes at surprisingly low minimums ... might be worth the question.
 
That is a stunning ring stack all on its own Beatriz. I'm curious - how do you go about mixing the metals. (no nickel allowed in the EU) I have a curiosity and a yen for electrum
 
madsciencechik said:
Kat, do you know any vendors that make 9 or 10kt white gold wire? I've only looked at riogrande thus far and they only do white in 14kt.
Click to expand...

A&E Metals in Australia sells 9kt wire. They are al large and reputable company . And they are nice enough to let you buy in either Metres or grams...
 
Lady_Disdain said:
I prepare my own palladium golds. They can go from a medium grey to an almost white. The two bottom rings are the shades I particularly like, specially with a nice, bright stone. I need to take a picture of different shades of grey, nickle white and rhodium plated.

View attachment 40331
Click to expand...

Very Cool Beatriz ! I'm so impressed ! Love the colours !!
 
Electrum is fun but the percentages can vary - the definition is gold with at least 20% silver. However, naturally occurring electrum can go from 50%/50% to 90% gold. It is delicious to work with.

I really like exploring alloys. One I did once was an 18k mixture of palladium, gold, silver and copper, for a delicious champagne colour. I need to find the notes on that one.

I research old alloy recipes (there is a fabulous vibrant green Victorian alloy but, yeah, I am not messing with cadmium) and I also use some ratios of my own, respecting the karat definitions, as well. From that, it is a matter of buying fine metals from suppliers and weigh everything out very, very carefully. Preheat the ingot mold and the crucible, layer the metals inside and turn the torch on high! Yes, I have a bit of the pyromaniac in me. Perhaps more than a bit :D
 
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