Inspired by History, Made for Today
Oró's Traditional Red Gold
Modern yellow gold of 14 karats and below generally includes a brightening admixture of zinc and occasionally other metals. While we will cast pieces in any commercial fineness and colour of gold if desired, we returned to the pure gold, silver, and copper alloy of early Celtic history in order to achieve a more historical look and feel for much of our gold-work.
The alloying of gold with silver and copper to produce pieces of varying fineness down to approximately 10-karat was a technique invented by the Continental Iron Age Celts in approximately two thousand years ago as gold became scarcer in the Celtic areas. The copper was probably added so that the alloy would retain the slightly ruddy look of pure gold, rather than taking on the pale/greenish look of gold alloyed with silver alone. This characteristic 10-karat red gold was used by both Continental and British Celts, as seen, for instance, in the recent “Queen Boudicca’s Treasure” find (Wickham, Suffolk), over 800 gold coins minted by the Iceni tribe and probably buried by Boudicca’s royal predecessors as either a reserve war chest or wartime votive offering. A similar gold/silver/copper mixture also appeared in Ireland, as seen in the torcs from Broighter (Co. Derry) and Clonmacnoise (Co. Offaly – fairly close to our own workshop!), roughly 14 and 18 karats respectively.
Bearing this history in mind, John Prendergast created Oró’s “Traditional Red Gold”. This is our own alloy, which John smelts directly from pure gold, silver, and copper to reproduce the work of the early Celtic jewelers and mint-masters. We can produce it to any standard fineness - 10-karat, 14-karat, or 18-karat – on request.
