The Role of Hardness In Jewelry Alloys

By Dr. Christopher W. Corti, COReGOLD Technology

Consultancy, Consultant to World Gold Council

©2011 The Bell Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

800.545.6566 riogrande.com
 The Role of Hardness
in Jewelry Alloys

Dr. Christopher W. Corti

COReGOLD Technology Consultancy,
Consultant to World Gold Council
Reading, U.K.

Introduction
Hardness is one of several parameters used to describe the mechanical properties
of jewelry alloys and is often used in the jewelry industry as it is a parameter that
can be easily and quickly measured, although not always understood. Its value
is of importance in fabricating jewelry and in the subsequent performance of that
jewelry when worn by the customer. This presentation looks at hardness and
attempts to answer the questions: “What is hardness? And why does its value
need to be considered when making jewelry?” That its value is important is given
credence by alloy suppliers who normally quote various hardness values for their
jewelry alloys as part of the alloy description and specification.
When asked what importance hardness values play in jewelry, the question
is often posed in terms of the fabrication of jewelry, but rarely in terms of the
subsequent service performance when worn by the customer. But in discussing
what role hardness plays in jewelry, we should also link it to how the jewelry will
behave in customer service, if we want our customers to be happy with it.
All practical jewelers appreciate that as we work (mechanically deform or shape)
a jewelry alloy, it gets more difficult to work further (it gets harder) and if they
overwork the metal, it may crack and even fracture. They know that they need to

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anneal (heat up) the metal at some point to restore some measure of malleability
and allow further working in safety. We call the annealed state the “soft condi-
tion.” This observation tells us that for a particular jewelry alloy, its hardness
value can vary from “hard” to “soft.” And we all know that different metals and
alloys have differing hardness values. Nickel white golds are harder than pal-
ladium white golds at the same karatage, for example, and are more difficult to
shape in the manufacture of jewelry.

Hardness
Hardness is a mechanical property of metals and materials (including gem
stones). However, unlike other parameters, it is not an absolute measurement
but rather a comparative measurement. For a given alloy or material, its value is
indicative of other important properties as well as the metallurgical condition of
a particular alloy composition. For example, hardness values generally correlate
with the tensile strength properties of alloys (see Figures 4 and 5, for example).
Interestingly, the property of hardness largely determines a material’s resistance
to scratching and wear as well as its machineability and the ability to cut other
materials. We know that the hardest mineral, diamond, is used as a tool material

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 for machining metals and other ceramics.
Hardness is an inexpensive, quick and non-destructive means of evaluating the
mechanical properties of alloys and materials, a relatively easy property param-
eter to measure and, consequently, it is frequently used by researchers and manu-
facturers alike, the latter often using it in a quality control context. For example,
Grice1 demonstrated the use of hardness measurements in defect analysis at the
Santa Fe Symposium last year, giving the example of prong failure in a cast 14
karat palladium white gold prong due to an ordering reaction (a metallurgical
phase change) which substantially increased hardness from 150–165HV to 265HV
and reduced ductility.

What Is Hardness and How Do We Measure It?

There are many methods of hardness measurement; many involve pressing a hard
indenter into the surface of the test material under controlled conditions of time
and force (load), Figure 1, and measuring the size of the indentation produced,
Figure 2. Thus, hardness can be defined as the resistance of a material to plastic
deformation. There are a number of hardness scales of measurement (as there is
with temperature, where we use Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin and other scales), the
most common being Vickers, Brinell and Rockwell. Like temperature scales, each
method results in a different numerical value for the same metal sample and so
we distinguish the measurement values by the symbols HV, HB and HR, respec-
tively. We may also further define the value in terms of the applied load used to
make the measurement, e.g., 125HV5, which indicates a 5kg load was used in a
Vickers hardness test, or in terms of the indenter used, e.g., 35HRB, which indi-
cates that the Rockwell system B was used.
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Figure 1 Principle of hardness testing by indentation

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 Figure 2 Vickers hardness impression on surface of silver,
viewed under a microscope. (Diagonal is about 135 microns in length.)
Of other types of hardness test, the Shore Scleroscope test measures the rebound
of a dropped hammer, and the well-known Mohs test for minerals is a compara-
tive scratch test. A mineral with a higher Mohs hardness (on the scale 1–10) will
scratch one with a lower value. Diamond is the hardest mineral with a Mohs
hardness of 10 and Talc the softest with a Mohs value of 1. For metals and alloys,
the Vickers test, involving a diamond pyramid indenter, is perhaps the most
commonly used, especially in our industry.
Hardness can be measured on the macro-, micro- and even the nano-scale, accord-
ing to the forces (loads) applied and the displacements obtained. Micro- and
nano-hardness is used where particular small-scale features of an alloy need to
be measured, e.g., different phases within the microstructure or different regions
such as a treated surface, interface or segregation. All test methods should be per-
formed according to national standards, such as the ASTM series.
It is appropriate here to briefly describe the main methods of hardness test meth-
ods in common use for metals and alloys.

1. Indentation Methods

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These are all based on pressing an indenter, such as a diamond pyramid or cone
or a steel ball, into the surface of the test sample for a fixed time under a fixed
load and measuring the resulting indentation. The general principle is shown in
Figure 1 and a typical testing machine is shown in Figure 3. These methods can be
divided into two types: those that measure the area of the indentation and those
that measure the depth of penetration, Table 1. Normally, such hardness tests are
performed on flat ground or, preferably, polished surfaces, typically metallurgical
cross-sections, taking care that the surface preparation technique does not influ-
ence the hardness of the alloy.

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 Figure 3 Typical bench-top hardness testing machine
Table 1 Hardness test methods for metals and non-metals

Test Indenter Measurement Comment

Vickers Diamond pyramid Area of indent
Brinell Steel or carbide ball Area of indent
Rhombohedral Good for brittle mate-
Knoop Area of indent
diamond pyramid rials; lower loads used
Various scales (A to V)
Steel ball or
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relate to ball or cone,

Rockwell spherical diamond- Penetration depth
size of indentor and to
tipped cone
load applied
Test method
Diamond-tipped
Shore
hammer dropped Rebound height Measures elasticity
Sclerometer
in tube onto surface
For rubbers and
plastics. A or D scales
Shore for soft or hard
Indenter Penetration depth
Durometer materials. Value does
not correlate with
other properties.
Relative abrasion
Relative test for
Moh by another mineral Scratching
minerals & ceramics
or ceramic

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 In a hardness test, the test sample should be well supported, e.g., in a vice, V-block
or on a rigid table. The thickness of the test sample will also influence the load
applied as too heavy a load will measure a composite value of the test sample and
its support. There are criteria that relate maximum load to sample thickness in the
standards on hardness measurement, e.g., BS 427(1), 1961.

1.1. Vickers Hardness Test

This test uses a diamond pyramidal indenter with a 136° angle between opposite
faces. It is pressed into the test sample with a force between 1–50kg for a fixed
standard time. Both diagonals of the impression are measured with a microscope
and the average is used to calculate the hardness, HV (sometimes called the dia-
mond pyramid hardness number, DPN):
HV = Applied load x 1.854/D2
Where D = average diagonal length.
In practice, values of hardness are read off a set of tables for the relevant load.
Micro-hardness uses lower loads, typically 1g–1kg, and results in smaller indenta-
tions, which is useful if small local features are being investigated. An advantage
of this test is that on homogeneous materials, it is not load-dependent.

1.2. Brinell Hardness Test

In the Brinell test, a hard steel or tungsten carbide ball is used as the indenter
and pressed into the material with a load in the range of 500–3000kg. As with the
Vickers test, the diameter of the indentation is measured in 2 perpendicular axes
with a microscope and used to calculate the hardness, HB:
ate- HB = 2 x Load/pD (D - √(D­2 –d2)
used
o V) Where D = diameter of ball and d = the average diameter of the indentation.

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ne, This test is best suited to non-homogeneous samples where one test is more rep-
d to resentative of the sample under test, because of the heavy force and large indenter
used.

1.3 Knoop Hardness Test

ty The indenter in this test is a rhombic-shaped pyramid with one set of opposing
faces with a 130° angle and the other pair with a 172.5° angle. Usually performed
on a microhardness tester, only the longest diagonal is measured with a micro-
d scope and the hardness, HK, calculated:
ales
HK = 14.229 x Load/D2
oes Where D = length of long diagonal.
h
s. This test enables one to measure close to edges or adjacent test areas of a sample
but has the disadvantage that in materials with an oriented grain structure, the
r value of hardness will vary with orientation of the indenter to the axis of the
ics sample.

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 1.4 Rockwell Hardness Test
Unlike the aforementioned tests, the Rockwell test measures directly the depth of
penetration of the indenter, so no subjective measurements through a microscope
are involved. In this test a hard steel ball or diamond cone indenter is used. The
indenter is forced into the surface under a small preliminary load (10kg); an addi-
tional major load (typically 60, 100 or 150kg) is then applied and then removed.
The depth of additional penetration is measured and used to calculate the hard-
ness, HR:
HR = E – e
Where E = a constant of 100 units and e = increase in
depth of penetration, measured in units of 0.001mm.
There are a number of Rockwell scales that use steel balls of varying diameter or
the diamond cone, with defined additional major loads making the method suit-
able for a range of alloys and also for plastics. There is also a superficial Rockwell
test that uses lower loads, making it suitable for samples with hardness gradients,
small test areas, and thin samples.

1.5 Hardness Conversion Tables

Can one convert Vickers hardness to Rockwell or Brinell? We must recognize that
there is probably no such thing as a unique property called “hardness” and so dif-
ferent test methods do not measure exactly the same property of a material. Thus,
conversion of a hardness value measured by one method to a value in another
scale is not defined by a fixed relationship (as is temperature, for example).
Thus, there are no general conversion tables applicable to all metals or materi-
als. However, for a given alloy or groups of similar alloys such as karat golds or
steels, it is possible to experimentally determine a set of conversion data from one
scale into another with reasonable accuracy. But the conversion coefficients will
be different for different metals and alloy systems. That said, Vickers and Brinell
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hardness values are very similar up to about 300, but diverge at values above this
due to the steel ball distortion in the Brinell test.

The Value of Hardness

As discussed above, hardness values can be correlated to a material’s other prop-
erties, for example, to its tensile strength, in a broad way. In general, the harder a
material is, the stronger it is and the more resistant it is to wear and to scratching,
properties that are relevant to jewelry, for example. It also impacts on the durabil-
ity of jewelry, such as security of claw settings, distortion, dent and damage resis-
tance. Thus, red golds will wear better than pale yellow/green golds because they
are inherently harder, as we will observe later. I am sometimes asked whether 950
platinum is harder (or stronger) than 18 karat gold, usually in the context of which
has the best wear or scratch resistance in service. My usual answer is, “Well, it
all depends!” It depends on which particular alloys we are comparing. Both 950
platinum and 18 karat gold alloys can vary substantially in their annealed hard-
ness, depending on the particular alloy compositions. So, whichever is the harder
will tend to wear less. In work carried out in the UK,2 the wear of yellow 9 karat
and 18 karat wedding rings of similar hardness value was assessed through being

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 worn by a number of females over 1 year. Wear rates were found to be virtually
the same for both karatages, although varying between the females. Thus, it is not
the karatage (fineness) of the jewelry alloys per se that determines wear but their
relative hardness.
As an indicator of metallurgical condition, the hardness value can show if an alloy
is in the annealed, soft condition or cold-worked (deformed) or age-hardened
condition. The hardness is directly related to the amount of cold work, Figure 4.
The metallurgical condition of a particular alloy will determine its ability to be
deformed (malleability), its ductility, its strength, its stiffness and other properties
relevant to its fabricability and its service performance. For example, polishing
of jewelry alloys is easier to achieve on a harder material or a material in a hard
metallurgical condition. Grice1 demonstrated the use of hardness measurements
in manufacturing at the Santa Fe Symposium last year, giving the example of
incorrect temper (hardness) of sheet for die-stamping, leading to poor edges.

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Figure 4 The effect of cold work on the hardness of fine gold and 18 karat gold
(HB = Brinell hardness; T.S. = tensile strength)
If a jewelry alloy is too soft, it will not be durable in service. A soft post on an
earring will bend, a soft spring alloy will not be very efficient and a soft, hollow
bangle will easily dent, all leading to customer dissatisfaction. In a paper pre-
sented at the 2005 Santa Fe Symposium,3 Valerio Faccenda discussed many cases
of customer complaints received by the Pomellato company in Italy. He cited one
case of excessive wear on an 18 karat gold chain-style bracelet. The problem was
addressed by heat-treating the bracelet to make it harder and, thus, more wear
resistant.

Hardening of Metals
All pure metals tend to be relatively soft and often not ideal for practical applica-
tions that involve stresses and strains, unable to bear large loads, tending to wear
heavily or deform/distort during service. For most practical applications, harder,
stronger materials are desirable. Hardening can be achieved by cold-working
(deforming) or by alloying the metal (or a combination of both).

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 Cold-working inevitably involves a loss of some ductility and hence results in a
greater potential to fracture during service. A further disadvantage is that harden-
ing by cold-working is lost on heating (annealing, soldering, welding, operation Meta
at elevated temperatures, etc.) and is, therefore, not necessarily a durable condi-
tion. Alum
(99.5
Alloying gives more scope to tailor properties. Thus, we alloy copper with zinc puri
or tin to give brass or bronze; iron with carbon, chromium and other metals to
give steels; aluminium with copper, magnesium, zinc, etc. to give a range of alu- Mag
minium alloys and so on. Of course, we also alloy to improve other chemical or
physical properties such as corrosion and tarnish resistance or thermal expansion.
Stainless steels are an example of the former. Karat golds are also an example of
alloying to vary color. Figure 5 shows how the addition of copper to gold increas- Titan
es the hardness to a peak at 50% atomic (about 75% wt. gold) and then reduces to
that of pure copper.
Tin-

Cop
OFH

Bras
(70C

Bras
Alum
Bron
(93C
Cob
Nick
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Iron
Figure 5 The effect of copper on the hardness of gold-copper alloys
(HB = Brinell hardness; T.S. = tensile strength)

The Range of Hardness Values in Metallic Systems Mild

Before discussing the hardness of jewelry alloys, it is instructive to set the scene
for comparison purposes by relating them to the hardness values (at room tem- Grey
perature) for common metals and alloys. Table 2 shows typical hardness values
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for a range of metals and alloys used in engineering applications. Many of the
common engineering metals and alloys have room temperature hardness val- Mar
ues below 100HV unless well alloyed, e.g., Ti6Al4V, or cold-worked, e.g., brass, (Fe-N
bronze, steels, when values rise up to 300+HV. Where alloys are required for cut- Die
ting edges or forming dies, higher values around 300–800HV are seen and where (Fe-C
extreme wear or cutting ability is required, even higher hardness values, typically
900–2000HV, are found. Note the similarity of Vickers and Brinell hardness values
up to about 300. As will be seen later, the pure jewelry metals have hardnesses
typically of 20–40HV and their alloys in the range 60–325HV.

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 Table 2 Typical hardness values for common metals and alloys

Metal/Alloy Hardness, HV/HB Comment

Soft 17HV/21HB
Aluminium
(99.5% Half-hard 32HB
purity)
Hard 39HB
Magnesium alloys 50–80HB
Pure 90HV
Commercial
Titanium 160HV
purity
Ti6Al4V alloy 349HV/334HB 36HRC/363HK
Tin-based bearing alloys 17–32HV

Copper, Annealed 34HB

OFHC Cold-rolled 91HB

Brass Annealed 61HV/60HB

(70Cu30Zn) Hard-rolled 150–200HV
Brass (60Cu40Zn) Cast 90–100HB
Aluminium Annealed 76HB
Bronze 40% cold-
(93Cu7Al) 195HB
worked
Cobalt 106HV
Nickel 65HV

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Rises to 240HB at 1.2% carbon
Iron 40HB
(cast iron)
Rises to 275HB at high
(0.65%) carbon; can rise
Mild steel 131HV/131HB
to 550HB on quenching
(hardened)
Grey cast iron 110–270HB
White cast iron 437HV/415HB 44HRC, 114HRB
Maraging steel
450–570HV Maraged condition
(Fe-Ni-Co-Mo)
Die steels
300–580HV Typically 450–500HV
(Fe-C-Si-W-Cr-Mo-V)

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 Metal/Alloy Hardness, HV/HB Comment
Type 403
170HV
annealed
Ferritic
Type 430
175HV
air cooled
Type 410 oil
Stainless Martensitic. Type 420 can
quenched and 172–371HV
steel attain 600HV on tempering
tempered
Type 302, w.q. 170HV
Austenitic. Can double HV
Type 316 on fully cold-working
180HV
air cooled
High speed steels 775–965HV
Nitrided steel surface 1050HV/745HB 68HRC
Cemented carbide hard Tungsten carbides cemented
1000–1750HV
metal with cobalt
Tungsten carbide 2080HV
Soft = annealed condition, hard = cold-worked
w.q. = water-quenched, tempered = low temperature annealed

Jewelry Alloys
Silver, gold, palladium and platinum are all soft, very ductile metals and are
not very practical for jewelry application. They all have hardness values in the
20–40HV range in the annealed condition, which is a very low value on the scale
of hardness of metals and alloys. Silver in its fully work-hardened condition can
attain a hardness of around 100HV but has virtually no residual ductility, making
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it unsuitable for fabrication, i.e., it cannot be further shaped and would be liable
to fracture during service under imposed stresses and knocks.
Gold is typically alloyed with silver and copper to give the karat golds, palla-
dium and platinum with a number of alloying metals to give a range of 950 or
other fineness alloys, silver with copper to give Britannia silver, sterling silver
and other lower finenesses, all with higher hardnesses and tensile strengths than
the pure metals. Consequently, their wear and scratch resistance is better, their
higher strength allowing better dent and damage resistance and, where relevant,
lighter weight for acceptable performance. However, alloying does tend to reduce
ductility and malleability, but not as severely as cold-working. Pure gold can be
cold-worked to extremely thin gold leaf, but karat golds cannot.
The metallurgical condition of jewelry alloys also impacts their fabricability and
service performance. Cold-working, e.g., deformation by rolling, drawing, ham-
mering, bending, etc., increases hardness and strength (see Figure 4) but at the
expense of ductility, and overworking will result in cracking and eventual frac-
ture. So it is often necessary to anneal cold-worked (deformed) metals at stages in
their fabrication to restore ductility and allow further working towards the final

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 shape. This involves heating the metal above a critical temperature for a period
of time with a gas torch or in a furnace. This causes a process of recrystallization
in which the deformed metal crystals (grains as metallurgists call them) reform
or recrystallize into new undeformed grains, thus softening the metal back to
its original condition.4 In general, the as-cast hardness of a metal or alloy will be
similar to its annealed hardness, but this may not be so in all cases.
For some alloys, it is possible to further harden them by a process called heat
treatment. Known as age-hardening or precipitation-hardening, it involves precipi-
tating out fine dispersions of second phases within the alloy microstructure by a
two-stage process of solution annealing at high temperatures, rapidly cooling and
then aging at a low temperature for a fixed period of time. For 18 karat red golds,
it is possible to double the hardness by this technique, although at the expense of
some ductility.4 Engineering alloys such as those of aluminium, alloy steels and
nickel-based “superalloys” for aerospace and automotive application also utilize
precipitation-hardening (such as intermetallic compounds, carbides and nitrides)
to achieve high mechanical performance.

Hardness Values of Typical Jewelry Alloys

Typical hardness values of the pure precious metals and common jewelry alloys
in several metallurgical conditions are shown in Table 3. The effect of both
alloying and cold-working on hardness is evident. In terms of alloying, for the
karat gold alloys, copper is clearly more effective in hardening than silver. For
palladium and platinum alloys, there is a range of hardness values for differ-
ent alloying metals at the 5% level (annealed condition) ranging from 60HV to
180HV. Cold-working also has a substantial effect in hardening. For karat golds, a
hardness increase of around 60–70HV is obtained (over annealed hardness), and
even higher increases can be obtained in 950 platinum alloys. For sterling silver,
an increase of about 50HV is seen, similar to that found with the karat golds. An
important point to note is that it is possible to age-harden sterling silver but where

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soldering is involved in jewelry manufacture, any hardness benefit is lost due to
the annealing effect of heating the metal to the soldering temperature.
We can draw some general observations from this table. Firstly, the annealed
hardness of 22 karat gold at 52–70HV produces relatively soft jewelry, which does
not wear well. It is too soft to make catches such as lobster claws. At 21 karat and
18 karat, hardnesses of 100–120HV and 150–170HV, respectively, are considered
satisfactory for jewelry application. We note that 950 platinum – 5% iridium at
80HV and platinum – 5% gold at 90HV are considered soft for jewelry unless they
are hardened by cold-working. Grimwade5 notes that cast platinum – 5% gold
rings are seen to suffer badly from consumer damage (wear, nicks, distortion, etc.)
due to their low hardness of about 90HV.
The 950 and 900 platinum – palladium alloys also have hardnesses of 60HV and
80HV, respectively, and these, too, are considered soft6 although used for delicate
castings. We should note that net shape investment castings will tend to be in the
soft annealed condition. Cold-working would destroy the net shape. Some cast
alloys may be hardened by subsequent heat treatment, but only if that is an option
for a particular alloy.

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 Thus, we can conclude from practical experience that, for reasonable wear, scratch
resistance and durability during service, a hardness of at least 100HV is desirable
for jewelry. This conclusion is supported by a paper presented at the 2006 Santa
Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology,7 where Teresa Fryé of
Techform Advanced Casting Technology, USA, spoke about casting of new 950
palladium alloys. One criterion for selection of alloys for detailed casting trials
was a requirement for an as-cast hardness of 110HV minimum. Not all alloys on
the market attained this value. She noted that “most designers require hardness
in the range 110–135HV to assure good wear resistance.”
In terms of manufacturing jewelry, soft alloys are generally ductile, which is a
good attribute and makes gem setting and shaping operations such as stamping
relatively easy, although this may not be good for others such as chain-making
and for polishing. Soft alloys will also need more careful handling during manu-
facture to minimize damage such as distortion, scratching and bruising. Klotz
alluded to this in his paper on findings manufacture last year8 with regard to the
assembly of 950 palladium settings.
This minimum hardness value of 100HV can be obtained in sterling silver in the
work-hardened condition but it has little residual ductility in this condition. So use
of sterling silver in jewelry can be problematic from this standpoint, particularly
where annealing and/or soldering operations are involved in its manufacture, as
it will become softer (although more ductile), and age-hardening is not feasible
where soldering operations are involved. In this context, it is worth remarking
that one of the newer tarnish-resistant silvers developed in the U.K., known as
Argentium®, can be subsequently age-hardened (after soldering) without the need
for a first-stage high-temperature anneal and still achieve a hardness of 110HV.
If the full two-stage process can be applied, this hardness increases up to 125HV. M
Perhaps this is another good reason to consider such an alloy for silver jewelry
application.
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Higher hardnesses in the 200–300+HV range that we can obtain in 18 and lower
karat golds, for example, are even better in the context of service performance,
and we should note that some platinum alloys are also age-hardenable with val-
ues of around 350HV achievable.9 It is worth noting here that the micro-alloyed
high karat golds and their equivalents in silver, palladium and platinum10–13 were
developed to obtain higher hardness alloys at high finenesses/karatages with the
Brita
aim of improving service performance, including wear and scatch resistance. As
can be seen in Table 3, such microalloys can increase the hardness of 24 karat gold Ster
to over 170HV and approach those of 18 karat golds. We see similar effects in the
silver, palladium and platinum equivalents.
Mic

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 Table 3 Hardnesses of pure precious metals and common jewelry alloys

(a) GOLD
Hardness
Metal/Alloy Alloying Metals, % Condition
(Vickers), HV
20–30 Annealed
Gold (pure) -
55 c.w.
52 Annealed
5.5Ag2.8Cu
138 c.w.
22 karat gold
70 Annealed
3.2Ag5.1Cu
142 c.w.
100 Annealed
4.5Ag8.0Cu
190 c.w.
21 karat gold
123 Annealed
1.75Ag10.75Cu
197 c.w.
150 Annealed
12.5Ag12.5Cu yellow 212 c.w.
230 age-hardened
18 karat gold
165 Annealed
4.5Ag20.5Cu red 227 c.w.
325 age-hardened
High Strength Pure Gold 55 Annealed
(Mitsubishi) 123 c.w.
63 Annealed
Microalloyed 24 PureGold 106 c.w.
karat gold 145–176 age-hardened
32 Annealed

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Hard 24 karat gold (Mintek ) 100 c.w.
131–142 age-hardened
(b) SILVER
22 Annealed
Silver (pure) -
100 c.w.
Britannia silver 95.8% 4.2Cu 45 Annealed
66–76 Annealed
Sterling silver 92.5% 7.5Cu
116–130 c.w.
PureSilver (99.35) ~156 c.w.
Microalloyed silver 925 microalloyed sterling ~130 Annealed
(PureSilver) ~215 c.w.

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 (c) PLATINUM
Hardness
Metal/Alloy Alloying Metals, % Condition
(Vickers), HV
Platinum (pure) - 40 Annealed
Pa
5Pd 60 Annealed
80 Annealed
5Ir
140 c.w.
90 Annealed
5Au
300 age-hardened
120–130 Annealed
5Ru
950 platinum 220–230 c.w.
5Cu 120 Annealed
135 Annealed
5Co 9
270 c.w.
175–185 Annealed
Ga + In + Cu 340–360 c.w.
340–360 age-hardened
10Pd 80 Annealed
900 platinum
10Ir 110 Annealed
99.99% microalloy
242 As-cast
Microalloyed (PurePlatinum)
platinum 900 microalloyed ~120 Annealed
platinum (PurePlatinum) ~200 c.w.
5

Ag –
Corti

Ru –
Zn –
c.w. –
simila
Note:
alloys
narro

Relia
In pr
jewel
ty lev
Introd
ver th
sisten
actua
So w

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 (d) PALLADIUM
Hardness
Metal/Alloy Alloying Metals, % Condition
(Vickers), HV
39 Annealed
Palladium (pure) —
100 c.w.
As-cast/
4.8Ru + Ga 120 annealed
4.8Ru + Ga 200 c.w.
5Ag + Cu + Ga 74 As-cast
5Ga + Cu 85 As-cast
5Ru + Ag + Ga 86 As-cast
5Co + Ag 65 As-cast
5Ni + Cu 91 As-cast
5Cu 50 Annealed
950 palladium
5Ru + ? 105 Annealed
[Commercial alloy, 115 As-cast
H & S] 180 c.w.
Annealed/
5Ga + Cu + In + Al + ? 170–180
as-cast
[Experimental alloy] 280–310
c.w.
5Ir 80 Annealed
5Ru 130 Annealed
4Ru – 1Re 130 Annealed
(40% precious metal) 130 Annealed
500 palladium Ag-Cu
165 Annealed
(45% precious metal)

Ag – silver, Co – cobalt, Cu – copper, Pd – palladium, Ir – iridium, Ni – nickel,

Corti
Ru – ruthenium, Au – gold, Ga – gallium, In – indium, Re – rhenium, Sn – tin,
Zn – zinc
c.w. – cold-worked (values typically after 50–80% reduction). As-cast hardnesses are
similar to annealed values.
Note: Data taken from manufacturer’s information or independent sources for generic
alloys. Where single values are given, these are typical; real values will lie within a
narrow range.

Reliability Of Hardness Data

In preparing this presentation, I found inconsistencies in quoted hardness data for
jewelry alloys. For the pure metals, this can be explained in terms of relative puri-
ty levels, but for the commercial alloys, this is not so. For example, in his book,
Introduction to the Precious Metals, Grimwade15 gives hardness data for sterling sil-
ver that is higher than I obtained elsewhere. For the new palladium alloys, incon-
sistencies in hardness data quoted by the alloy suppliers and those measured in
actual casting tests have been noted.16 This applies to the other jewelry metals too.
So we must take care in accepting published hardness data as being accurate.

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 There can be valid reasons for variations in quoted hardness data for particular
alloy compositions, such as:
(a) Small differences in alloy composition between manufacturers, e.g., additions
of grain refiners, impurity levels, etc. Some karat golds may be simply gold-
copper-silver; others of the same color may contain higher copper and some
zinc.
(b) Differences in metallurgical condition, processing route or treatments, e.g.,
annealing at different temperatures.
(c) Location of measurement on sample. Hardness measurements made on cast
surfaces may not be typical of the bulk. This has been noted, for example, on
cast 950 palladium alloys.16 It may be necessary to measure on a cross-section
of the casting away from the surface. This can also apply to wrought prod-
uct, where the surface layers may well be more cold-worked than the interior
of the alloy. We might expect the hardness of sterling silver at the surface
region to differ from that at the center, if it suffers from firescale.
(d) Type of sample. Manufacturers may quote values taken from hard-drawn
wires where a strong “preferred orientation” exists (the orientation of the
crystals or grains relative to the drawing axis). These may not be typical of
bar and sheet materials that we use in practice.
Much of the hardness and tensile data quoted in the karat gold Alloy Data Sheets,
published in Gold Technology (and Aurum magazine), was measured on drawn
wires, I understand. There is a lack of independent measurements for many of our
jewelry alloys on materials typical of use, e.g., sheet. There is a real need for such
measurements. How do we achieve this? I throw this question out for debate. Can
the industry work together, as it did on white gold color measurement? I believe
it can, if there is a will.

Conclusions
Corti

The significance of hardness as a measurement of the mechanical properties of

metals and alloys has been discussed in the context of the fabrication of jewelry
and in its subsequent performance in service. There is a universal and general
correlation between certain properties and an alloy’s hardness value. The harder
the metal, the easier it is to polish and the more wear- and scratch-resistant it will
be.
The hardness value for a metal or alloy also is a measure of its metallurgical condi-
tion, which affects its fabricability in jewelry manufacture. Thus, for each metal or
alloy, its hardness can be increased by work-hardening and, for some alloys only,
by age-hardening (or a combination of both). The soft annealed (or as-cast) condi-
tion will confer the best ductility but the poorest resistance to wear and scratch-
ing. For some manufacturing operations, such as stamping or chain-making, there
may be an optimum metallurgical condition (temper).
The hardness values of the pure precious metals and common jewelry alloys
have been discussed. For reasonable wear resistance and service performance, a
hardness of at least 100HV is desirable, whether gold, silver, palladium or
platinum jewelry.

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 Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank Eddie Bell and the Santa Fe Symposium for inviting
me to speak and the World Gold Council for support. Thanks to many in the
industry for supplying me with advice and information, particularly Mark Mann,
Jörg Fischer-Bühner and Teresa Fryé for data on palladium alloys. Figures 2 & 3
are courtesy of FEM, Germany, and Figures 4 and 5 are taken from Reference 14.
This paper is developed from an article by the author in the Technical Bulletin No.
5, April 2007, published by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London.

References
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2. B. Taylor, “The Wear Rate of 18 Carat and 9 Carat Yellow Gold Wedding
Rings Assessed During a One Year Trial,” Technical Report No 43/3, 1980,
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Corti
Colorado: Met-Chem Research, 1999): 55–71.
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32, 2 (1999): 39–47.

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 11. C. W. Corti, “Strong 24 Carat Golds: The Metallurgy of Microalloying,”
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Golds: Update,” ibid, No 36, (Winter 2002): 34.
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Corti

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