All that glisters is not gold; Often have you heard that told:

All that glisters is not gold;
Often have you heard that told:
The Merchant of Venice- William Shakespeare

The Latrobe nugget, 717 grammes of crystallised gold
discovered in Australia 1853

Gold (Au) is a highly sought-after rare metallic element. Pure gold has an attractive bright yellow colour. Gold is a soft metal and is often alloyed (combined) with other metals such as silver, copper, nickel, and zinc to make it more durable and change the colour. It is non reactive to air and water and malleable making it ideal to been used for jewellery, money and ornamentation symbolising wealth and prosperity.
Like other precious metals, gold is measured by troy weight and by grams. When it is alloyed with other metals the term carat (or karat in the USA) is used to indicate the amount of gold present. Pure gold is twenty-four twenty-fourths (24/24ths) gold, and is called 24-carat gold. Gold that is 18-caret gold is eighteen twenty-fourths (18/24ths) gold and six twenty-fourths (6/24ths) other metals. 

Carat Percent Gold Hallmark
24- 100% gold -N/A
22- 91.6% gold -916
18- 75% gold -750
14- 58.5% gold -585
9- 37.5% gold -375

Alloys added to colour gold.
yellow gold- silver copper

white gold- zinc, copper, tin and manganese

rose gold- copper and silver

green gold- high proportion of silver or cadmium

blue gold- iron 

grey gold- iron

Plan A
For hundreds of years alchemists toiled in their laboratories to produce a mythical substance known as the philosopher’s stone. The stone was said to enable, as well as immortality and other phenomenon, chrysopoeia- the transmutation of base metals such as lead into gold.

The Famous Philosophers Stone
(not really, artistic impression)

Famous alchemists included Sir Isaac Newton and Nicolas Flamel. The alchemists were working on the theory that lead and gold were compounds, the periodic table wasn't to be developed for hundreds of years. They did not know that lead and gold were different elements.
Amazingly in 1980 scientists succeeded in turning bismuth (next to lead on the periodic table) into gold – all you need is a particle accelerator and a vast supply of energy. Sadly the amounts produced were negligible and with a cost of more than one quadrillion dollars per ounce, (in the USA a quadrillion is 1,000,000,000,000,000. or 10¹⁵) not at all feasible, the current price is $1,220 per ounce approx.

Plan B

If you can't make gold, make something that looks like gold.

Pinchbeck

Is an alloy of Copper and Zinc made to imitate gold. It was developed at a time where the only legal standards of gold were 18ct and 22ct and before many of the worlds largest gold sources were discovered. Gold was an expensive purchase and 9ct carat gold was not introduced as a legal standard until 1854. It was invented by a London clock maker Christopher Pinchbeck (1670 to 1732 approx.) It had a bright gold colour that didn't fade or rust and was much more affordable than the real thing. This early Pinchbeck was beautifully created and finished to imitate fine jewellery and was used as "traveling jewellery" by the rich at risk of robbery from highwaymen and thieves. Such was its success that many tried to copy and these poor imitations led to Christopher's son, Edward Pinchbeck putting an advert in the Daily Post of July 11, 1733, headed "Caution to the Publick." in attempt to protect his business and reputation. He shrewdly kept the “recipe” and method of production a secret in his life time so only he could make the metal. The material is thought to be three parts zinc and 4 parts copper and possibly with a slight wash of gold on the surface to prevent tarnish.

click here to buy this Georgian, pinchbeck cuff bracelet.

The of fame Pinchbeck spread to France and the alloy was in considerable demand and again subject to imitation. A Lille jeweller called Rentz, created a similar alloy but it it didn't keep its colour. It was perfected by a jeweller named Leblanc, who managed to produce a good imitation named "similor". It proved to be so popular that the goldsmiths of the day started legal proceedings about its use. The result was that the alloy was only allowed to be used for such things as shoe buckles, buttons etc so as not to compete with the regular goldsmith's work. Old texts refer to other alloys that were used to imitate gold including Mannheim or Dutch Gold, Prince Rupert’s Metal or Prince's Metal, Tombac. Pomponne is the name given to all the different alloys with a copper base that imitate gold. Alloys bearing a close resemblance to Pinchbeck continued to be used well into the nineteenth century until the process of electro-gilding made it easy and cheap to deposit a layer of gold on any metal as required.
The term pinchbeck has become to mean sham, spurious, or counterfeit and is often associated with fake jewellery. Ironically, Pinchbeck Jewellery is once again sort after and highly collectable and the consumer has to be wary that they are in fact purchasing real Pinchbeck and not an imitation.

Gilding
Gilding is the process of applying a fine layer of gold to the surface of a less valuable material. It is an ancient skill and in the British Museum are silver nails with gold foil wrapped around the top. These were used to secure gold foil on a frieze in the Temple of the Eyes at Tell Brak one of the great cities of northern Mesopotamia (now known as Northern Syria) and estimated to be from early in the 3rd millennium B.C. Examples remain of the Egyptians using gold foil to adorn wood and metal in tombs, coffins, sarcophagi and other objects. There are also Egyptian paintings that show goldsmiths making the foil. Initially the foil was wrapped around the objects then techniques developed to attach the gold to the substrate such as burnishing (polishing to create a smooth surface) and using adhesive from animals or vegetable such as egg white.
The Romans also used gilding and Pliny the Younger in his writings discusses the costliness of using mercury in the gilding process. But by the 3rd and 4th centuries AD the use of mercury had become the standard method and would remain so up to 19th century.
Mercury gilding of metals was a hazardous process and was replaced by electrolytic gilding when electrical batteries were invented in the early 1800's.

Elsewhere
In ancient South American a method called electroless gilding was used. They used the natural electrochemical potential difference (the exchange of electrons between substances) of gold and copper to obtain thin gold deposits from gold solutions on their jewels or ritual objects. A technique that is still used in the electronic industry. They also invented depletion gilding- a technique to produce a high-purity gold surface by removing everything that is not gold. Tumbaga- was an alloy of gold, copper and silver used extensively by Pre-Hispanic American metal smiths. Its relatively low melting point and malleability made it ideal to be made into detailed objects. The alloy could be made to look like pure gold by treating the finished surface by etching (applying an acid solution) to dissolve the copper and then hammered or burnished to join the gold, creating a uniform gold surface.

A tumbaga pendant: male shaman holding rattles, from Panama; circa A.D. 700 to 1500.

Powder Gilding
Gold foils or leaves were ground into a fine powder which was then mixed with a binder and applied to a surface. 
Ormolu is the finish used on decorative mountings of furniture, clocks, lighting devices, chandeliers and porcelain to imitate gold. The manufacture of true ormolu used a process known as mercury gilding or fire gilding. A solution of nitrate of mercury was applied to a piece of copper, brass, or bronze, followed by the application of an amalgam of finely ground gold and mercury. The item was then heated over an open fire until the mercury burned off (creating toxic fumes) the gold remained, adhered to the metal object. The process was repeated several times until a thick enough layer of gold had been created that could be left mat or was burnished with a heliotrope stone. Most mercury gilders died by the age of 40 due to exposure to the harmful mercury fumes.
 "Hang him; a gilder that hath his brains perished with quicksilver is not more cold in the liver".—John Webster, The White Devil, 1612.
Because of the impractical cost and health risks ormolu pieces were no longer produced after the early 1800s.

1812 Rare English Ormolu and Marble Mantle Clock

Bronze Doré The French referred to ormolu as bronze doré.

Gold Leaf Gilding
Gold Leafing or mechanical surface gilding is a technique of bonding very thin sheets of pure or nearly pure gold to a surface. Gilding was used for books, religious objects, pottery and ornaments. The use of real gold as well as imitation gold leaf (Dutch leaf) was common throughout Europe from the early middle-ages forward.

Mechanical surface gilding involves the use of a special adhesive called gold size, this can be either water or oil based. The surface to be gilded needs to be prepared and primed. Then an even coat of gold size is brushed onto the surface to be covered and left to dry to the correct tack (degree of stickiness) for the gold leaf to adhere to. The gold leaf is laid on the prepared surface usually with a soft brush, then gently pressed onto the surface, it is not cut to size first as it only adheres where the size has been applied. When the size has fully hardened the applied gold leaf can be burnished to a smooth finish to bring out the lustre of the gold leaf.

Using a non-gold leaf has been around since at least the 1500’s as a decorative replacement for costly gold. There are a number of different types of imitation leaf including:

• Abyssinian Gold (alloy of copper and tin).
• Ducat Gold (alloy of copper and aluminium).
• White Metal (alloy of copper and aluminium).
• Dutch metal (alloy of copper and brass).

Dutch metal leaf is by far the most common alloy used in gilding and is still commonly employed for gilding today.

Keum-boo (Korean for attached gold) is an ancient Korean gilding technique still being used in Jewellery making today. Pure gold and silver have similar atomic structure and heating them and applying pressure allows an exchange of electrons between the metals and creates a permanent bond. This technique depends on the surface having a layer of fine silver before heating and applying thin sheets of gold to the silver, to make silver-gilt. This technique is used in many cultures, including Chinese, Japanese and in the West to bond gold to other metals, including iron, copper, aluminium, gold alloys, white gold, palladium and platinum. 

click here to see  modern Keum-Boo

Gold-Plated Jewellery
Electroplating is the process of using electrical current to coat an electrically conductive object with a thin layer of metal. For gold plating it involves passing an electric current through a solution (electrolyte) containing gold dissolved as microscopic atoms. Two electrodes are submerged in the positively charged electrolyte (also known as plating bath) and connected to a circuit with a power supply. The object that is to be electroplated is connected to the negative terminal of the power supply (known as the cathode) a piece of gold is connected to the positive terminal (known as the anode). As the electricity flows through the circuit the electrolyte splits up and some of the gold atoms it contains are deposited in a thin layer on top of one of the cathode and gold atoms move from the anode into the electrolyte. 
When the item is new, the colour of the gold plate is similar with real gold jewellery. Normal electroplating for jewellery puts a layer of between 1 to 20 microns of gold on to the base metal. The plating is not permanent and can rub off, the thicker the plate the longer it last, the item can be re-plated. Plating can come in a variety of colours.
Vermeil
Gold vermeil is a form of plating where the base metal must be sterling silver, the gold layer must be 14ct or higher in purity and the thickness of the gold layer must be at least 2.5 microns. 

Gold-Filled Jewellery

Gold-filled jewellery is also known as "rolled gold" or "rolled gold plate." It is created by using heat and pressure to fuse a layer of gold to copper, brass or some other base metal. The bond produced is a permanent one. In order to be considered gold filled, the gold content must be 5% or 1/20 of the total weight. It is marked rolled gold plate, R.G.P., or plaqué d'or laminé.
Bonded Gold
Bonded gold jewellery is when a thick layer of gold allow is bonded to a base metal or sterling silver core, so that the item is about 10% gold by weight. The bonded gold layer must be at least 9ct gold, this also applies to gold plated and rolled gold items in the UK. 

Hallmarking
In 2012 the British Hallmarking Council (BHC) clarified the legal position on marking bonded gold, rolled gold and gold plated products.

"The BHC further stipulates that, assuming the core is 925 ie Sterling Silver, the article should carry a full silver hallmark, or a 925 stamp if it is under the Hallmarking exemption weight for silver of 7.78 grams. Bonded Gold on a base metal core cannot be hallmarked. No stand-alone gold fineness marks will be permitted on bonded gold articles, because they are potentially confusing and misleading to UK consumers. It is not permitted additionally to mark the article 9k, 10k, 14k, 18k etc, as is common practice in the United States.
The only circumstance in which this is allowed is if the gold fineness is immediately preceded or followed by the words ‘bonded gold’, ‘rolled gold’ or ‘gold plated’. For example, an article with a silver hallmark (or 925 stamp on underweight articles) can be marked as follows ‘925 & 18ct bonded gold/rolled gold/gold plated’.
It is also emphasised that the bonded gold layer must be of a fineness of at least 375 parts per thousand and of a recognised in UK standard. So, for example, ‘bonded gold’ of apparently 10K can only be described as 9 carat. This follows the practice for gold plated and rolled gold articles in the UK.
The guidance applies to all bonded gold, rolled gold and gold plated silver articles below the 7.78 gram exemption weight for hallmarking, as well as for those requiring hallmarking. The exemption is an exemption from hallmarking itself, not from the requirements of every other part of the Hallmarking Act 1973."
Visit the London Assay Office

A note about Fools Gold.

The gold colour, metallic lustre and weight of Iron Pyrite meant it could be mistaken for gold by the inexperienced. Pyrite and gold do often form together and some pyrite deposits contain enough gold to justify mining. Marcasite jewellery is actually made from Iron Pyrite or Fools Gold. It does not actually contain the mineral marcasite. Pyrite was set into other metals to produce a sparkly effect.


Dr. Evil: When I ask for sharks with frickin' laser beams on their heads, I expect sharks with frickin' laser beams on their heads!

Dr Evil making demands in Austin Powers International Man of Mystery.

You can buy shark laser pointers online.

Newly acquired in our Jewellery Workshop  - A Laser Welder - not attached to a sharks head but positioned on a workbench.
The word laser started as an acronym for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation" Amazingly the concept was first proposed in 1917 by Albert Einstein but didn't became a reality until 1960. You can read here about the history of Lasers, its not clear cut who the actual inventor is but Theodore Maiman made the first laser operate on 16 May 1960 at the Hughes Research Laboratory in California.
A Jewellery Laser Welder uses light energy that produces heat to weld metals. The heat from the welder is finely focussed in a narrow beam, so that the surrounding area is not effected or discoloured by the process. Argon gas is used to shield the surrounding area and reduce oxidation and if Laser filler is used make that flow smoother. This makes lasers particularly useful for:

• Repairing damaged jewellery without the need to unset and then reset heat sensitive stones. 
• Pieces can be repaired with only localised heating preserving the appearance of the item.
• Rejoining areas that are particularly hard to get to.
• Ring resizing.
• Retipping and repairing claws.
• Repairing costume jewellery.
• Repairing filigree pieces.
• Repairing items that contain epoxy resin, enamel or pearls.

Can be used on platinum, palladium, gold, silver, titanium and other jewellery metals.

Our new Laser Welder in action

Read on for a more detailed explanation of Lasers.

Lasers are described as powerful narrow, monochromatic, coherent and directional beams of electromagnetic radiation (EMR), that can travel long distances with out diffusing. 
Electromagnetic radiation is a form of energy that can travel without a medium like air or water to travel through. EMR can take several forms including heat, visible light, ultra violet, x-rays, radio waves and gamma rays depending on the type of atom and the amount of energy applied. Radiation may be thought of as energy in motion. In Lasers, atoms are made to absorbs energy causing them to jump up to a higher level called an excited state, this in turn causes electrons within the atoms to move and release photons. If photons pass close to another atom the other atom may emit a photon and if that photon passes yet another atom, that atom might also emit a photon. So the number of photons increases very quickly. Lots of photons create electromagnetic waves and as these photons all have the same specific frequency and polarity the photons are precisely in step giving coherence to laser beams. Coherence is a fixed relationship between the phase of waves in a beam of radiation of a single frequency. Most light beans consists of many waves travelling in roughly the same direction but the photons are randomly distributed causing the light to diffuse. Click here to see a clear example of coherent and diffuse light.
Within a Laser Welder electrical energy is used to stimulate the atoms within a confined space. Mirrors are used to bounce photons back and forth passing atoms on the way causing yet more photons to be emitted. This stimulation of the atoms rapidly creates light amplification.The front mirror is semi-reflective so some of the photons escape creating the beam which in this case is intense and hot enough to weld metals.

Other uses for lasers -
There are several different types of lasers, the most powerful lasers can quickly cut through solid rock or metal sheets. Some use gases such as helium, neon, argon, and carbon dioxide. Lasers also use semiconductors (Galiodium and Arsenic), solid-state material (ruby, glass) and even chemicals (hydrofluoric acid) in their operation. Some, like the ruby laser, emit short pulses of laser light. Others, like helium-neon gas lasers or liquid dye lasers emit a continuous beam of light.

image courtesy of S McGill

Some everyday uses of lasers- bar code readers, DVD's, measuring equipment, favoured weapon of aliens, eye surgery, cancer treatments, tattoo removal, laser light shows, pointers, atomic clocks to name a few.

Laser Light Show

We have been using lasers at Maker Mends for many years in another capacity.
We use barcodes to track items as they are progress from one department to the other. All Items booked into our system are given a bar coded label then we use a laser barcode scanner to scan items as they move round the building. 
Most barcode scanners consist of three different parts including the illumination system, the sensor and decoder. The sensor in the barcode scanner detects the reflected light from the red light and generates an analog signal that is sent to the decoder. The decoder interprets that signal, validates the barcode using the check digit then coverts it into text.

This converted text is delivered by the scanner to a computer software system holding the relevant information. This system is known as automatic identification and data capture (AIDC).
Bar codes first were used on Wrigley's chewing gum in June 1974.

Laser scanner in use in our office

“I certainly don’t believe in returnism, as it were,” he said. “I don’t think that’s sensible.”

David Cameron's interesting excuse on why he doesn't think the Koh-i-noor diamond shouldn't be returned to India. 
Jewellery and gem stones are often objects of dispute and the ownership decided in court, here is a small selection.

The Koh-i-noor diamond currently on display at the Tower Of London

This ancient diamond, the Koh-i-noor, first recorded in 1306 has a considerable history , known to have come from one of the earliest regions in the world to mine diamonds; the Golconda Kingdom in India.  It was originally 793 carats when uncut. It has never been sold but possession gained in the course of rebellions, wars, invasions and uprisings. You can read more here. In 1849 the British Empire's East India Company confiscated the Koh-i-noor Diamond as compensation for the Sikh wars and presented it to Queen Victoria. Despite repeated requests for its return to India, it remains in the Tower of London as property of the British Crown and is currently set in the Maltese Cross at the front of the crown made for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and can be seen in the Tower of London.

Actress Linda Christian and husband Tyrone Power

Someone who did believe in "returnism" was actress Linda Christian (1923- 2011), albeit with a little financial sweetener. She is credited with being the first ever Bond Girl - “Valerie Mathis” in a TV adaptation of Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1954. She was married to the movie star Tyrone Power in 1949, they had two children together before their divorce in 1956. In 1955 she was given a gift of jewellery from an admirer, socialite Robert H Schlesinger, however the cheque for $132,000 that he had given to Van Cleef and Arpels of New York as partial payment bounced. She refused to return them stating they were a christmas gift. However, lawyers managed an amicable agreement where Ms Christian returned the jewellery and was given an undisclosed sum for the "inconvenience".

A pensive Princess Diana wearing a Tiara

What about when a gift only means a loan - a newspaper article from May 6th 1996 reports how Princess Diana being increasingly frustrated by the delay in her divorce from Prince Charles, threatened to sell some of her jewellery. She believed that as they were given to her as gifts at her wedding they belong to her, however the Queen insisted that as they were Royal Heirlooms they must remain with the Royal Family. The items included a tiara estimated at the time to be worth £2 million. She was protected by British Law regarding her famous engagement ring. The UK legislation under Section 3(2) of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1970 (2) states that the gift of an engagement ring shall be presumed to be an absolute gift; this presumption may be rebutted by proving that the ring was given on the condition, express or implied, that it should be returned if the marriage did not take place for any reason. On the 13th of July 1996, almost 15 years after their wedding Diana and Charles announced that they had finally reached an agreement on the terms for their divorce, including Diana being given the right to keep all the jewellery bestowed to her.

Some of Imelda Marcos's baubles

How about you pilfer from your countries treasury and use the funds to purchase high value properties, works of art, jewellery as well as a large shoe collection for yourself, to whom does that jewellery ultimately belong? Imelda Marcos, wife of Ferdinand Marcos (president of the Philippines)  as well as her amazing shoe collection amassed a huge collection of jewellery known as The Roumeliotes, Hawaii and Malacanâng Collections. In February 1986 Ferdinand Marcos was ousted in a "People Power" revolution. Ferdinand and Imelda along with their family and entourage scarpered to the U.S.A. It was reported that U.S. Customs agents discovered 24 suitcases with gold bars and diamond jewellery hidden in them and in addition, certificates for gold bullion valued in the billions of dollars were allegedly among the personal properties.
Philippine investigators estimated their wealth over £6.2 billion.
The next president, Corazon Aquino, set up a special commission to recover these funds for the treasury - but now, more than 25 years later, just over £2.5 billion has been accounted for. Imelda's jewellery had been languishing in a bank vault for decades after being seized. The Sandiganbayan, the Philipine court, in January this year forfeited in favour of the Philippine government the Malacanâng collection of former First Lady Imelda Marcos. In its ruling, the court said this collection is also part of the ill-gotten wealth of the late deposed President Ferdinand Marcos and his family. However, the Marcos's are now disputing the ruling, The heirs asked the court that they be given ample opportunity to prove that the jewellery may have been lawfully acquired through other means or acquired prior to the late dictator’s tenure, so the fight continues...

See some of the collection here

The disputed Bahia Emerald

Heard of the Bahia Emerald? A 3ft tall, 840lb rock embedded with 9 large emerald crystals ranging in size from 220mm, 140mm, 130mm, 110mm down to 37mm -  weighing 180,000 carats in total. It was discovered at the Bahia mine in Brazil back in 2001. Valued at nearly £250 million it has had a remarkable journey, transported to the USA, hidden in an abandoned petrol station, stolen, recovered, submerged in a vault during hurricane Katrina, used as collateral in a diamond deal and at one point even put up on Ebay with a buy now price of £45 million – bargain!.
Legal possession of the Bahia Emerald has changed hands several times, according to some reports, the Bahia Emerald was even involved in a $197 million banking transaction with the notorious Bernard Madoff before he was arrested for committing the largest financial fraud in U.S. history.
At one time eight individuals laid claim to the Bahia Emerald, now just two claimants remain awaiting yet another judgement.The National Geographic Channel have made a documentary about it and there is also a book available. Read more here 

The Aurora Pyramid of Hope - can be seen at the Natural History Museum

Aurora Pyramid of Hope

On permanent loan in “The Vault” at London's Natural History Museum is the Aurora Pyramid of Hope. A display of 295 differently coloured diamonds, 267 carats in total. Only 1 in 10,000 gem-quality diamonds is coloured. The collection was put together over a period of 25 years by two New Yorkers  - Alan Bronstein and Harry Rodman. Named after the Aurora Borealis for the colours and Aurora the Roman goddess of the dawn to symbolise a new beginning and to protect our natural heritage for the future. After the death of Mr Rodman aged 99, it became the subject of court battle between the 2 families. In 2001, at 92, married Mr. Bronstein’s 81-year-old mother, Jeanette, his longtime friend and neighbour, it was she who introduced Harry to her son Alan, and then further complicated by the fact that Mr. Rodman made seven wills in the last decade of his life. In their lawsuit, several of Mr. Rodman’s heirs — a grandniece and four grandnephews — argue that the Bronsteins took advantage of an elderly man and duped him into signing away his interest in Aurora Gems for $10,000. They tried to prove that Jeanette Bronstein had married Harry Rodman for his money. A lawyer who drew up Mr. Rodman’s wills testified on Mr. Bronstein’s behalf stating that “Harry described him as a friend and the son he never had", the judge ruled in favour of Alan Bronstein. The Rodman heirs plan to appeal the decision.

"But, strangest of all, the very instant the shore was touched, an immense dog sprang up on deck from below,

as if shot up by the concussion, and running forward, jumped from the bow on the sand. Making straight for the steep cliff, where the churchyard hangs over the laneway to the East Pier so steeply that some of the flat tombstones, thruffsteans or through-stones, as they call them in Whitby vernacular, actually project over where the sustaining cliff has fallen away, it disappeared in the darkness"

Bram Stoker describing the moment Dracula, in the form of a large dog, arrived on the shores of Whitby. You can take a walk around Whitby and follow in Dracula's footsteps, click here.

Whitby Parish Church with the ruins of the Abbey in the Background
and a vampire bat flying by............

As well as the infamous Dracula, the cold waters and shallow bays of the North Sea make for good Whitby Oysters and the other product of Whitby that is of interest especially to the Jewellery Trade is Whitby Jet. Jet is soft and easy to carve- 2.5-4 on the Mohs scale, light - specific gravity of 1.30-1.35  and can be highly polished to give it an intense black colour that never fades; making it ideal for jewellery.
Imagine a time where what was to be the British Isles, was located further south in the area that Northern Spain and Portugal are located. Much nearer the equator with a warmer, humid climate with Dinosaurs such as Megalosaurus going about their daily lives. The land was  covered in trees, the dominant species was a conifer  - the Araucaria very similar to the Monkey-puzzle tree or Chilean pine (Araucaria araucana) we see today - this was Whitby during the early Jurassic period  -  approximately 180 million years ago.

The prehistoric looking Monkey-puzzle tree
or Chilean pine (Araucaria araucana)

As the trees died and fell they would often be swept into rivers by flood waters. Travelling downstream eventually being deposited in the sea at the Yorkshire Basin. The water-logged timbers sunk into the sea floor, where the conditions - lack of oxygen led to a prolonged breakdown of the wood into a pulpy mass. This was then covered with sediments (sand, mud and organic remains) and the accumulated weight this and the sea water exerted a huge pressure. Over the millennia this pressure combined with chemical reactions resulted in the flattening, compressing and fossilisation of the wood into a tough compacted shales known as jet-rock. So basically Jet is fossilised trees and as is it is formed from an organic substance, it is not a mineral but a mineraloid (a mineral-like substance that does not demonstrate crystal or ordered formation). If you examine jet under a microscope the annual rings of the original wood can be seen.
Jet is found in two forms, hard and soft. Hard jet is the result of the carbon compression and salt water - soft jet is the result of the carbon compression and fresh water.
Jet has been used since prehistoric times to make jewellery. Whitby being the source of high quality hard Jet, however Jet it is also found throughout the world, Russia, Turkey, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal and North America - although not all of it is the hard jet. 
Meanwhile back in ancient Whitby - as the centuries passed Jet bearing shale was exposed by the natural erosion of the coastline depositing pieces of jet along the beaches. This gradual weathering of the shale banks provided a good source of Jet for the Bronze age craftsmen and then the Romans, Anglo Saxons, Vikings. 
In ancient times jet jewellery was an indicator of status and was also used in amulet jewellery - (amulets were worn protect its wearer from danger or harm). Bronze Age burial sites throughout the UK have been found to contain all kinds of objects carved from Jet such beads, buttons, earrings and belt-sliders.
The necklace below is made from Whitby jet and cannel coal was found in a burial site at Killy Kiaran in Argyll. It was an expensive item - imported from Yorkshire sometime between 2050 and 1800 BC.

The necklace consists of six decorated jet spacer plates, a triangular fastener of cannel coal and numerous beads, mostly of jet. The estimated original number of beads is 114.

The Romans made extensive use of jet during their 367 year occupation (43AD to 410AD) with Roman jet workshops situated in York, using Whitby jet to create ornaments and jewellery that were exported throughout the Roman Empire.  Excavations of Roman sites all over Britain have unearthed such artefacts such as rings, bracelets, necklaces, pendants, dagger handles and hairpins and when excavating the foundations of an old railway station in Eburacum (the Roman name for York) a Roman jet workshop was discovered containing tools and half worked pieces as well as articles of jewellery. The raw jet came from the Whitby area and the finished pieces included a number of pendants depicting Medusa's head.

 Jet Medusa medallion found in a  Roman grave in Bensozia (Roman Colchester)
thought to protect the wearer from the "evil eye"

After the Roman deserted England, it was the turn of the Anglo Saxon invaders to settle here, followed by Vikings and then the Normans. 

7th Century Gold and Jet Pendant

The use of jet wasn't so popular in these times, but the introduction of Christianity during the Anglo Saxon period saw jet being used mainly for ecclesiastical jewellery such as crosses, rosaries and rings. 

This medieval cross of Whitby Jet was found in a North Yorkshire Garden

The earliest record of jet as an occupation are in local Whitby records where it is mentioned in the year 1598 that a John Carlill's occupation was a "jet worker".

In the early 1800s, the use of jet for jewellery and ornaments began to rapidly increase in popularity. Jet workshop were set up in Whitby and by 1851 there were fifty workshops.  At the great Exhibition in London in1851 a Whitby jet carver Isaac Greenbury displayed his work and this led to commissions from the Empress of France and made a jet chain 6 feet 4 inches long to the order of the Queen of Bavaria.
With the death of Prince Albert in1861, Queen Victoria went into mourning only wearing black. Whitby jet provided the ideal material for her mourning jeweller and for a few years was the only jewellery allowed in her Court. 

Victorian Mourning Brooch

Victorian Cameo

Also at this time the Victorian seaside holiday became popular and the new railway brought in the holiday makers eager to buy the latest fashion. The industry went into a boom period; at its height there were over two hundred jet workshops in Whitby and fourteen hundred men (from a population of four thousand) were employed in Jet related trades such as mining. Up to this time jet was retrieved from the beaches but the demand in Victorian England was such that small mines were dug into the hills. No explosives were used for the danger of damaging the jet, but the pieces were dug out using picks. The jet was cut into manageable sizes and although originally carved by hand only, in the early 1800s mechanical means of turning, cutting and polishing Jet were used. A special mud from Derbyshire was used to polish the jet. The very final polishing was carried out with rouge, a fine iron oxide powder using wheels made of wool, walrus or porpoise hide. Final finishing was carried out on a wheel made of chamois leather.

The popularity of Jet declined by the end of the 19th century and now there are only a handful of skilled local craftsman capable of producing Whitby Jet Jewellery. Whitby is proud of its Jet Heritage and there are many examples of the amazing carvings at the Whitby Museum  and at the Whitby Heritage Centre there is an actual victorian jet workshop that was discovered, sealed away in the attic of a house and only discovered when the building was sold and going to be renovated.
Jet has had a minor resurgence in popularity with the Goth subculture and Whitby hosts the annual Whitby Goth Weekend where participants fashions are influenced by the Victorian era and the favourite colour to wear is black.
Its still possible to pick Jet up from the Beach at Whitby but be careful of the high tides!
The hard part is to carve the jet into jewellery probably better to buy a piece from the few remaining jet shops. 

How to care for your jet; jet can be safely washed in a mild detergent and warm water. Remember jet is relatively soft and can easily be scratched so prevent it rubbing against other items, store wrapped in tissue.

Often other materials are used to imitate Jet - such as black glass, plastics and in the past vulcanite - although this is now itself collectable. 

To authenticate jet remember:

Jet is light
Jet is warm to the touch.
Jet leaves a brown streak when stroked across unglazed porcelain( like the back of a tile)
When burnt with a red-hot needle, jet smells like coal. 
If polished jet exhibits a static electricity charge.

Jet will look hand carved and not cast.
Jet is black.
It may contain imperfections such as cracks and small inclusions.

“A quantity of platina was purchased by me a few years since with the design of rendering it malleable for the different purposes to which it is adapted. That object has now been attained. ” William Hyde Wollaston

On the 4^th of June this year, for the first time since its inception in 1831, a woman - Professor Maureen Raymo of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, U.S.A. was awarded the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London – The Wollaston Medal. (Read about Professor Raymo here) 

         The Wollaston Medal                Professor Raymo receiving her medal .

The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston and was originally made in Palladium – a new metal that he identified in 1803.

Wollaston was a brilliant man as well as being a noted philosopher and a shrewd business man, he made many contributions to science in a wide range of fields including important discoveries in chemistry, physiology, physics, botany, crystallography, optics, astronomy and mineralogy. He not only has this medal named after him but also the mineral Wollastonite and Isla Wollaston off the south coast of Chile - But it is his contributions to the world of metallurgy that I will write about in this blog.

The uninhabited Isla Wollaston off the south coast of Chile - brrrrr

Wollastonite - the mineral named after William Hyde Wollaston

He was born in Norfolk, England on August 6 1766, the second of 14 children of Francis Wollaston and Althea Hyde. He had a good education at Charterhouse School then Cambridge University from which he graduated with a degree in medicine. After seven years he stopped being a physician and to moved to London where he became involved with the Royal Society and pursued his many research interests. It is his experiments with the "newly discovered" metal called Platinum that lead to innovations  important for the world of Jewellery.
Platinum (from the Spanish word "platina" meaning "silver") is one of the Platinum Group of Metals (PGMs), the others being Palladium, Rhodium, Iridium, Osmium ( identified by Wollaston)  and Ruthenium, the six metals naturally occur in the same ore bodies.The PGMs are the densest known metal elements, highly durable and as they are exceptionally rare, expensive! 
Platinum was used by pre-Columbian Indians and ancient Egyptians - as seen in the Casket of Thebes, dating from 700BC, a box is decorated with hieroglyphics in gold, silver and an alloy of the platinum group metals. 
Platinum was re-discovered in the 16th century in South America. Whilst serving in South America from 1735 to 1746, the Spanish explorer and astronomer Antonio de Ulloa collected samples of platinum. He later wrote a report about the metal, describing how it was mined and used and because of this, De Ulloa is often given credit for discovering platinum. At this time platinum was seen as just a nuisance mixing with the gold nuggets and being difficult to separate from them, it had no special value to them.

The earliest European written reference to platinum appears in 1557 in the writings of the Italian humanist Julius Caesar Scaliger.  He refers to a noble metal "which no fire nor any Spanish artifice has yet been able to liquefy." 
European scientists and metallurgist were intrigued by the new metal but its properties, high melting point and great resistance to corrosion, presented a tough challenge to to them trying to understand and use the metal. Wollaston formed what appears to be a business partnership with a Cambridge friend Smithson Tennant to explore this new metal. It was during experiments in methods to refine platinum Wollaston discovered another metal which he name Palladium, followed in 1804 by Rhodium, Iridium and Osmium. Also at this time Wollaston perfected a method of producing malleable platinum. This now opened up a commercial opportunity, platinum that could be worked to provide corrosive resistant components for the gunmakers as well as durable laboratory equipment.

Among his first platinum products were crucibles and lids, marketed through William Cary, a well 
known London instrument maker. This can be seen at the London Science Museum.

By 1808 Wollaston was able to produce and market his malleable platinum in large quantities and the business prospered rapidly. His shrewd business sense lead to him keeping his method secret so that he made a considerable amount from his process. This was not a greed motivated action, it provided funding into his other experiments and research. Unfortunately his source of unrefined platinum dried up and by 1820 and he was no longer able to continue with this business. Just before his death in he disclosed the method he used, not that dissimilar to the methods used today. 

The Exceptional William Hyde Wollaston 1766-1828

A collection of notebooks and documents was discovered in the Department of Mineralogy and Petrology of the University of Cambridge in 1949 turned out to be the valuable Wollaston papers. The collection, now in the Cambridge University Library, includes twenty laboratory notebooks in Wollaston’s hand, eight of them devoted entirely to the purchase, purification, production and sale of platinum. One dealing with metal palladium, and three contain miscellaneous experiments on a wide range of subjects, including early research on crude platinum.

PGM's in Jewellery

• Platinum - The availability of workable platinum saw the 18th century European court jewellers producing jewellery items in platinum and this continued with the great jewellers of the Edwardian and Art Deco periods such as Cartier and Tiffany. Today it is a popular precious metal for jewellery settings.  Platinum is commonly alloyed with other platinum group metals - palladium, ruthenium and iridium - and copper and cobalt to improve its manageability and durability.
  Among the main advantages of platinum jewellery are its strength and resistance to tarnish. It can be repeatedly heated and cooled without hardening and oxidation effects.

Cartier Platinum Art Nouveau Ring

• Palladium - In 2009 the UK Hallmarking Act was amended by Parliament to incorporate palladium as a metal which requires hallmarking. Having received official recognition as a precious metal in its own right, compulsory hallmarking of palladium items weighing 1g came into effect as of January 1, 2010. Palladium has increased in popularity for jewellery items and like platinum it is strong and resistant to tarnishing. It is also used to make springs in analog watches.
• Rhodium - although too brittle to be used to make settings it is a good hardener for platinum and palladium. Rhodium also makes a lustrous, hard coating for other metals in such items as table silver and is electroplated onto white gold to give a bright white finish.
• Iridium - in jewellery, iridium is used in platinum/iridium alloys to strengthen the platinum. On its own It is an extremely brittle metal and therefore liable to crack if knocked. It also has an extremely high melting point making it difficult to work with, nor can it be sized.
• Ruthenium - discovered in 1844 by the Russian chemist Karl Klaus. Ruthenium and platinum alloys have a high resistance to wear and are used in the manufacture of jewellery.
• Osmium - is not used in jewellery making although Osmium-platinum alloys are used to strengthen the tips of quality fountain pens.

Other Facts about the PGMs
Platinum is one of the rarest elements - estimated to be about 0.01 parts per million in the Earth's crust. It can take up to six months to produce one ounce of high grade platinum from seven to 12 tonnes of mined ore. Once extracted the platinum rich ore this is ground up, the particles are then mixed with reagents (a reagent is a substance used in a chemical reactions to detect, measure, examine or produce other substances) and air is pumped through. Platinum-containing particles float to the top forming a froth. The froth is skimmed-off, dried out and smelted at temperatures exceeding 1,500° C, causing the separation of the platinum metal. The process is termed "Froth Floatation" read about it in detail here.

Other Applications:

PGMs are most often used as catalysts because of their chemical stability,

Some examples of other applications include: in the petroleum industry  - the catalyst in a catalytic converter  - Platinum is the most active catalyst and is widely used,  Palladium and rhodium are also used, in pacemakers and other medical implants (iridium and platinum), as a stain for fingerprints and DNA (osmium), in the production of nitric acid (rhodium), and in chemicals, such as cleaning liquids, adhesives and paints (ruthenium).
Further Reading -
Read about the other achievements of Wollaston.
Read in detail about the Wollaston and Tennant work with Platinum (no.9)