Glossary
alloy
An alloy is a mixture of a precious metal and other metals, affecting hardness, colour and value.
Pure gold and silver are too soft for daily wear. A 999 gold ring would bend and its edges would round off. Precious metals are therefore mixed with copper, silver, zinc, nickel or palladium. This mixture is called an alloy.
The additional metals determine hardness, colour and workability. More copper makes gold redder and harder; palladium and nickel make it white; silver lightens it. Copper gives silver strength, but neither copper nor nickel is paid for.
Fineness tells you how much precious metal an alloy contains. Only that proportion counts when selling. The base metals have a technical use but practically no material value. The Scheideanstalt (precious metal refinery), or precious metal refinery, separates them from the precious metal.
Worked example: which part of the alloy is paid for
Take a 10 gram 585 gold ring. It contains 5.85 grams of pure gold and 4.15 grams of copper and silver. At a gold price of 120,00 € per gram of fine gold, that gives a material value of 702,00 €.
The remaining 4.15 grams contribute practically nothing to the price. The payout is 90 to 95 % of spot, approximately 631,80 to 666,90 € here. Knowing only the gross weight therefore often leads people to overestimate jewellery value.
Alloys when selling in Nordhorn
In practice, a jewellery box usually contains several mixed alloys: a 333 pendant, a 585 necklace, a 750 ring and gold-plated fashion jewellery. We sort everything with you in Nordhorn and weigh each group separately.
The benefit is simple: each group is calculated at its own price per gram, rather than the whole lot being valued at the lowest fineness. Anything identified as fashion jewellery is returned without question.
We regularly encounter platinum and palladium too, especially in wedding rings and dental work. Both are calculated by fineness and weight, with platinum usually a 950 alloy. We measure every piece instead of judging its material by appearance.