Santa Fe Symposium Research Articles

The 28th Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology

The 28th Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology

CPNP Announcements

CPNP Announcements

The 23rd Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology

The 23rd Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology

The 22nd Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology

The 22nd Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology

22nd Santa Fe Symposium On Jewellery Manufacturing Technology, 18–21 May 2008 Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

22nd Santa Fe Symposium On Jewellery Manufacturing Technology, 18–21 May 2008 Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

21st Santa Fe Symposium on jewelry manufacturing technology, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

This was yet another excellent vintage year for the Santa Fe Symposium in which gold featured strongly. The quality of presentations and range of topics were noteworthy within the context of practical use by — and relevance to — the jewellery industry. It is an unmissable event for all serious jewellery manufacturers. The Santa Fe Symposium proceedings are published as a book and the Powerpoint presentations are available on CD. They can be obtained from the organisers at www.santafesymposium.org . The 22nd Symposium will be held once again in Albuquerque, New Mexico on 18th — 21st May 2008 (see Calendar in this issue).

The 21st Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology

The 21st Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology

The 20th Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology

The 25th annual Santa Fe Symposium attracted a record attendance of 165, with delegates from 11 countries worldwide, confi rming the more opti-mistic outlook by the US jewellery industry noted last year. Held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, from 15th–18th May 2011, the Symposium had a very strong programme of presentations covering a wide range of topics (1). Platinum featured and, as usual, attracted much interest. The major sponsors were given the opportunity to have a display table in the lobby area, as last year, and thus both Johnson Matthey New York and Platinum Guild International USA had a strong presence.Platinum AlloysThe soldering of platinum received attention this year with Jurgen Maerz (Platinum Guild Interna-tional, USA) reviewing the topic in his presentation, ‘Platinum Solders: Proper Use and Application of Plati-num Solders in Jewelry Making’. Maerz fi rst addressed the types of solder used in soldering platinum jewel-lery: this categorised platinum solders into those con-taining up to 95% platinum and those which contained no platinum, perhaps better classed as plumb and tra-ditional solders respectively. Traditional solders con-tain no or very little platinum and come in a range of soldering or fl ow temperatures in grades from extra easy 1000 to extra hard 1400 with additional grades of platinum welding 1500, platinum special welding 1600, platinum seamless 1700 and platinum weld 1773, where the number refers to the approximate fl ow tem-perature in oC.In contrast, plumb platinum solders have a high platinum content and fl ow temperatures in the range 1300oC for the easy fl ow grade (contains 90% plati-num) to 1500oC for the hard fl ow grade that contains 95% platinum. Maerz makes the point that these sol-ders enable soldering without fear of under-carating of the platinum jewellery in the USA where there is a zero tolerance on assay. To ensure compliance with this standard, he noted, platinum alloys are often ‘sweetened’ to 952 fi neness to allow use of non-plat-

The 19th Santa Fe Symposium on Jewellery Manufacturing Technology

The 19th Annual Santa Fe Symposium on Jewellery Manufacturing Technology was held on 22–25 May 2005 at Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. The Symposium was dedicated to the memories of Roland Loewen, a frequent contributor to past Symposia and author of the bookSmall Scale Refining of Jewelry Wastes, and Iader Milani ofPro Gold, Italy. Twenty-four papers were presented over three and a half days on a variety of subjects of relevance to the industry. There were 131 registered attendees with representatives from 13 countries.Andrea Hill, Director, The Bell Group Inc., USA gave the opening Keynote Address on the first morning. Her theme was“Innovation — How to Remain Competitive in Products, Processing and Organisation”.

Conference Report: The 18th Santa Fe Symposium on Jewellery Manufacturing Technology

The 18th Santa Fe Symposium on Jewellery Manufacturing Technology was held at Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA on 23–26 May 2004. It was attended by about 140 registrants of whom almost one-third came from outside of the USA. Twenty-three presentations were given over three and a half days. In addition, Andrea Hill gave three short introductory talks at the start of the first three days continuing her series on management techniques.

White golds: A question of compromises

The initial review of white gold research, summarized at the 1992 Santa Fe Symposium on Jewellery Manufacturing Technology was extended into an investigation of the physical properties of numerous white gold formulations. Attributes such as colour, hardness, melting temperature, tensile strength, cold working performance, investment cast form filling, fire-cracking tendency and nickel allergy response were quantified. Properties of experimental alloys developed from the work of previous studies or new combinations of elements were compared to nickel bleached carat gold materials. Secondary base metal bleaches such as iron and cobalt did not improve the performance of nickel white golds. Formulations based on the bleaching action of palladium combined with copper exhibited comparable or improved physical properties and commercial viability. Free from nickel, with significantly reduced melting temperatures compared to palladium-silver formulations, these materials were directly compared with conventional carat alloys. Positive opinions from field testing reinforced laboratory results. Nickel remains the least expensive commercially viable bleach of gold. The cost of palladium additions is a detrimental factor restricting widespread application for high volume, low cost jewellery. Where the unique properties of palladium white golds are beneficial for hand crafted items, their additional cost can be justified.

The Santa Fe Symposium on Jewellery Manufacturing Technology

The Fifth Annual Santa Fe Symposium on Jewellery Manufacturing Technology took place at Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A. on 20–23 May 1991. These symposia were conceived and organised byE. Bell of Rio Grande Albuquerque Inc. andD. Schneller of Vimar Corporation with the objectives of providing high level technical conferences, attended by the world’s leading experts on jewellery manufacture, which would blend theory and technical production knowledge, encourage the use of more systematic and scientific approaches, promote research, and to do this in a non-commercial environment. This year’s Symposium was no exception to this philosophy.

Symposium on Jewellery Manufacturing Technology, Santa Fe, USA

Symposium on Jewellery Manufacturing Technology, Santa Fe, USA