You probably know gold comes in yellow and white, but did you know it comes in several other shades as well? In the 1970s and 1980s, there were bits of jewelry stylish at the time and designed in shapes of flowers and other motifs that featured “Black Hills Gold.” What that generally refers to is gold colored pink, green, white and yellow gold. They were sometimes mined, but often manufactured in the Black Hills area of South Dakota, where minerals and slight impurities are added to shade in colors.
If you saw the pink gold shaped into a ring on its own, your eye might still tell you that its regular “yellow” gold. However, being worn next to the skin, it makes a slightly pinker patina develop. Since we know gold is one of the few metals that doesn’t oxidize with time, this can’t be true, but pink gold is a uniquely sentimental product. It looks beautiful next to human skin and seems to glow with more warmth than some other colors of gold.
The pinkish cast of “rose gold” is achieved by mixing in a small amount of copper. Metallurgists have to be extremely careful in mixing such metals because not all metals will get the desired results, but in this case, they’ve found a balance that allows them to add more or less copper, depending on how pink they want the finished product to be.
During the latter part of the 20th century, “Black Hills Gold Jewelry” was extremely popular and fashionable. It still sells as people buy pieces to commemorate a vacation or trip to Mt. Rushmore or other sites in the Dakotas. Not surprisingly, some of those buyers are more interested in accessing the value of the gold than retaining the jewelry item later on.
We can help with that. Although we have to melt the gold down, we can easily handle that, along with any of your businesses scrap precious metal refining. Manhattan Gold & Silver is one of the most trusted wholesale names in the precious metals refining business. We’re located in Manhattan’s famed Diamond District and primarily work with dentists, jewelers and pawnbrokers to help recycle gold and other precious metals. Contact us today to learn more.
