Abstract
From ancient times, gold has been used mostly in decorative items, and the colour of gold plays an important role in this application field. Different methods have been developed to objectively characterize the colour. This paper describes the CIELAB system, which has gained acceptance as an effective way to assess colour. The different coloured gold alloys known today are also described, with emphasis on the relationship between their metallurgy and their colour.
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Dedicated to the memory of William S Rapson
Dr Elma van der Lingen obtained a PhD degree in 1998 from the Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Pretoria. She has been an employee of Mintek for the past ten years and is heading the Precious Metals Group in the Physical Metallurgy Division.
Cristian Cretu obtained an MSc degree from the Materials Science and Engineering Faculty of the Politechnica University of Bucharest, Romania in 1996. He started working as an engineer for Mintek in 1997 in the Precious Metals Group. He had previously worked in the Non-Ferrous and Rare Materials Institute in Bucharest, in the Powder Metallurgy Laboratory.
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Cretu, C., van der Lingen, E. Coloured gold alloys. Gold Bull 32, 115–126 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03214796
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03214796