Hollow Promises

A collaboration between Richard Alan and The Jeweler’s Daughter. 

There is a current conundrum affecting the jewelry business that has a large percentage of the public questioning the repair skills of today’s goldsmiths and even goldsmiths of yesteryear(AKA bench jewelers). 

While true connoisseurs of jewelry and diamonds certainly know the difference between fine and not-so-fine jewelry,sadly the majority of consumers who impulse purchase not-so-fine jewelry do not…“It’s real gold it should be considered fine jewelryright?”That would be a big NO! 

You will discover that fact real quick when your local jeweler tells you that the jewelry you recently purchasedonline that broke way too soon is waytoo hollow and can’t be repaired, sized or adjusted. 

Let’s go back in the centuries to the beginning of the creation of gold jewelry…The creation of hollow gold jewelry goes back even before the time of the ancient Romans and can be viewed today in many museum galleries around the world. The difference between then and now is the ancient Roman goldsmiths made better quality hollow jewelry. How’sthat possible with today’s technology? 

Today’s technology is exactly the problem; gold has always been expensive throughout the centuries. Even back in the late 1800s with pure gold trading at only $35 an ounce, it was still unaffordable to most Americans. (As I write this the current gold price is around $2,600).You have to factor in the fact that in 1890 the cost of an average three-bedroomhouse was around $1,500!Now that’s what I call inflation! 

The difference in even as little as twenty-five years ago, hollow gold jewelry wasn’t so hollow and superlightweight,and it could be soldered and managed without melting away. Theolder hollow pieces have thicker walls that rarely distorted or dented while just simply handling it on the bench, and that’s because in 1999 the average gold price was $278.86, and while not exactly $35 an ounce it was a lot more affordable than it is today.                                                                                                                         

The reason I am harping on the gold prices through the millenniums is because now that gold is once again out of reach to the average person,and I’m talking worldwide, making gold jewelry solid and heavyweight like we did in the good old days just makes no business sense (or dollars!) to offer it to the general public. Companies make it lighter so it appears to cost less because making solid and well-made gold jewelry is simply much more expensive. A simple test with your trusted jeweler is to compare two identical looking chains: one hollow and one solid link chain the same length and width. First, weigh the solid link chain. Let’s say it weighs a respectable 15.00 grams and the hollow chain will, of course, weigh considerably less. Way less! I’ve seen them weigh as little as 2.00 grams yet look identical by eye. 

For those who still may not understand my drift; this hollow chain has a life expectancy of three months even less if the person wearing it is active. Imagine you want to build a wooden deck, but to save money instead, you use thin 1/8 of an-inch planks. Sure, it will look the same, only I highly recommend you don’t walk on it unless you weigh the same as your pet Yorkipoo appropriately named “Fearless.” 

This means large jewelry manufacturers throughout the world had to re-tool their equipment to make gold jewelry affordable by making it as light or hollow as possible. Making jewelry lightweight as far as earrings go is very common and acceptable.It’s been like this for decades; a solid gold large hoop earring would be uncomfortable to wear and that’s not a sellable thing. 

The worldwideinflated gold price has now caused the infiltration of lightweight in almost every aspect of the industry big-time; super lightweight gold chains and bracelets, anklets, earrings, pendants, even lightweight hollow wedding bands and rings (These are impossible to size if you bought the wrong size). I have seen hollow earring posts and wires!Can’t imagine how much gold they save with hollow earring posts! 

The new generation of hollow jewelry is a bench jeweler’s nightmare to repair because it is literally like repairing air surrounded by thin gold foil. It never comes out acceptable to the jeweler or the customer and worse is the fact it will be back in a couple of weeks when it breaks yet again someplace else. 

Imagine a thin plastic straw. Straws are hollow inside. Have you ever bent a straw by accident? What happens? It creases and cracks and is then useless. This is very much the same premise as hollow jewelry. Rope chains are notoriously impossible to repair. Many long hollow tubes have been braided together to achieve the rope look. Every strand of this braid is amicro-thin hollow tube. You squeeze some hollow rope chains between two fingers you actually squash the chain flat.That does not happen with a solid rope chain! We can’t weld this material together because it is so thin; it just dissipates or dissolves when you attempt to solder it with a torch or a state-of-the-art laser (Imagine putting a match to a spider web… Same result!). 

As I mentioned before, manufacturers sell hollow rope chains to make them more affordable for the consumer, but they are not items that will stand the test of time. It is what is known in the industry as “disposable jewelry” and a total waste of good money.They know they will breakand don’t expect a refund if you bought it online, plus they are worth next to nothing even when sold as scrap gold. Solid chains are the best choice because if they do fray or break, at least the strands are solid and they can be pieced back together carefully, soldered, or laser welded and the repair is invisible. We try to repair hollow jewelry as a service to our loyal clientele, but we cannot guarantee the repair unless it is an end break. We understand this is hard to understand. You’re not a jeweler! It would be the same as explaining Quantum Physics to me. The bottom line is, and I’m hoping you understand the whole point of this article, that if you are in the market for a gold chain, make sure it is of solid construction. Yes, they are more expensive but a solid chain will last you for many years to come, instead of just a few weeks, and it will save you the expensive cost of having that “Air Chain” repaired every month.