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FRIDAY MeTaL PØRÑ : BOUGHT THE DIP EDITION

WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited August 24, 2018 6:02AM in Precious Metals

Are you still keeping your powder dry, or did you pull the trigger?

I finally made good on a year-old promise to myself to get a new "baht" necklace. Unlike American 14k or even 18k, traditional southeast Asian gold jewelry is very high karat--22k or even 24k. I worked with a jeweler from the Hmong community of Vietnamese goldsmiths and had him make me a custom anchor chain in the traditional baht style.

5 troy ounces of 24k, .9999 pure gold. I picked the style, the weight, length. I had him custom-make the clasp. Indicated what type of markings I wanted and even the final finish of the piece (I wanted it to have a more industrial-looking, slightly rough texture).

Wired the money last Thursday and had the necklace in my hands on Tuesday afternoon of this week.

No, I'm not a rapper. I'm a precious metals fanatic. It's not the kind of thing you wear over your shirt anyway (on most occasions ;) ). And I get that it's not for everyone. But if you're a true metal hound at heart, it's hard to argue with having the equivalent of 5 Krugerrands or Maple Leafs around your neck.

For what it's worth you can PM me if you're interested in something like this. This jeweler primarily works with southeast Asians and was surprised to find that many Americans are as passionate about pure gold as they are. And the cost for custom making a piece to your exact specifications is a fraction of what it is at the mall or online.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e09cCGzkBnc&feature=youtu.be

We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
--Severian the Lame
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Comments

  • DrBusterDrBuster Posts: 5,409 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Nice!

    If a certain dealer wasn't absolutely slow as dirt with shipping I'd have my dip buy. Day 7 after funds were certified and still hasn't shipped, sigh. Remembering why I hadn't ordered from them in over 5 years...

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    That is a very nice chain...The only thing I would add would be a gold anchor (Navy guy)...Cheers, RickO

  • CCC2010CCC2010 Posts: 1,997 ✭✭✭

    That Chain is Off The Charts!!! Chick Magnet!!!! <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

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  • WildIdeaWildIdea Posts: 1,877 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 24, 2018 7:01AM

    @CCC2010 said:
    That Chain is Off The Charts!!! Chick Magnet!!!! <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

    Does that really work? Digger magnet maybe. Lol nice work Weiss, way to put your money where your mouth is!

  • ashelandasheland Posts: 23,231 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'm not much into jewelry, but that chain is awesome! It doesn't have the rapper look to me, but more of a "found on a Spanish Galleon" look! Absolutely awesome!

    My YouTube Channel

  • chumleychumley Posts: 2,305 ✭✭✭✭

    nice piece of art......my wife bought me a nice gold chain years ago...unfortunately,I used to climb telephone poles for a living and lost the chain in the woods

  • Downtown1974Downtown1974 Posts: 6,817 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Absolutely incredible, Weiss!

    MY GOLD TYPE SET https://pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/complete-type-sets/gold-type-set-12-piece-circulation-strikes-1839-1933/publishedset/321940

  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 24, 2018 9:52AM

    @asheland said:
    I'm not much into jewelry, but that chain is awesome! It doesn't have the rapper look to me, but more of a "found on a Spanish Galleon" look! Absolutely awesome!

    Thanks, man. That's _exactly _the look I was going for. Like one of the solid gold "money chains" that Mel Fisher brought up from the Atocha.

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • 1630Boston1630Boston Posts: 13,786 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Weiss
    How is something like that fantastic chain fabricated ?

    Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb

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  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @1630Boston , they start with either .9999 bars or .9999 pure gold shot. Melt it, pour it into a long, narrow ingot or billet. Then force it through progressively smaller holes to draw it into a long, thin rod. Once the desired diameter is reached, it's rolled into a spring shape, cut into smaller pieces, and each piece is formed into a link around the last link. The process isn't very romantic--it's actually pretty industrial. But it's hard to argue with the finished product.
    Here's a jeweler who specializes in insanely large (but also low karat) gold jewelry. The process is pretty similar:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GNwiV6cx6s

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited August 24, 2018 1:34PM
    This content has been removed.
  • Timbuk3Timbuk3 Posts: 11,658 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Way cool, I also have a few Baht chains that I've own for years !!! :)

    Timbuk3
  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @1970s said:
    How many ounces would it take to fit one time around a persons neck ?
    I don't know exactly how many inches, but not a choker.

    They can make any length that you like in any weight you like. I'm a big guy, and mine is pretty long because I wanted it to hang to about my breastbone. Mine is 28" long. But a 20" or a 22" necklace would probably be more typical for an average guy. 15 grams, or about a half ounce, would make a really nice pure gold necklace.

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,238 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Weiss---Did you check your new chain with your Sigma gold tester? My biggest concern is that I'm buying gold chain has a lower fineness than what was being represented by the seller or even a brass chain with gold plating.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • SmudgeSmudge Posts: 9,541 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Love the chain. Wear a small fortune around your neck. Hopefully you will not develop a stoop.

  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @PerryHall , unfortunately my Sigma can't read it, even with the smallest wand. It's just too 3-D.

    But this jeweler has been in business for years and is highly rated. I told them when I ordered that I would be testing it with my sigma and with a scratch test. They didn't just anticipate that, they insisted on it--a point of pride for them.
    I've got friends at the university's metallurgical sciences that I'm going to visit. >:)

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,365 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Me love baht long time.

  • OPAOPA Posts: 17,124 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Mr. T would be envious of that chain. ;)

    "Bongo drive 1984 Lincoln that looks like old coin dug from ground."
  • roob47roob47 Posts: 142 ✭✭✭

    @weiss really like the way that came out. I’ve always thought about doing this but have always been told that the metal would be too soft?

  • davidkdavidk Posts: 275 ✭✭✭

    @Weiss Would you mind sharing the premium over spot you paid for this beautiful item?

  • CoulportCoulport Posts: 1,087 ✭✭✭

    Awesome! I am envious.

    I have a 18" 22 K baht necklace I've worn for over 15 years. I only take it off occasionally to clean it or when it was mandatory when entering the hospital. I like the color and heft.
    Bought the wife 24 k necklace & bracelet in Hong Kong. They just put it on a scale to price it. She never wears it.

    The most money I made are on coins I haven't sold.

    Got quoins?
  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @roob47 said:
    @weiss really like the way that came out. I’ve always thought about doing this but have always been told that the metal would be too soft?

    I honestly think the supposed "softness" of pure gold is a myth propagated by American jewelers in the late 19th and early 20th century. Or maybe it was an excuse offered by people who just couldn't afford pure gold. After all, if your "gold" is only 50% pure, you can give your girlfriend a necklace or fiance a ring twice as big as a pure gold one. And instead of being ashamed and admitting that you don't have the money for a pure gold ring or necklace, you can brag to everyone that a 50% gold alloy is "stronger". It sounds pretty convincing, right?

    So Americans buy 14K (only 58.5% pure), or even 10K (only 41.7% pure) . But the European standard is 18K (75% pure). The Asian and Indian standard is nothing less than 22K (91.6%), and often 23K or 24K.

    I bought my older 2-ounce 24k gold baht necklace nearly 15 years ago. Hasn't broken on me yet. I had worried that the "M" clasp on it would snag and pull apart. Nope. I've never opened it (just slip the necklace over my head), and it's never bent or stretched even a millimeter. A billion Chinese, a billion southeast Asians, and a billion Indians wear pure gold jewelry--and a lot of it.

    Don't get me wrong: I wouldn't make a wrench or a piston out of pure gold. But jewelry that's going to be around your neck? It's fine.

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @davidk said:
    @Weiss Would you mind sharing the premium over spot you paid for this beautiful item?

    For a small piece, it's as little as 25%. For a larger piece like mine or a simpler piece like a plain gold ring, it can be as low as 20%. Feel free to PM me if you want details. I'd be happy to share my jeweler's info with anyone interested.

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • dennis1219dennis1219 Posts: 267 ✭✭✭

    Whoa... I love this 24k chain even more than Blockchain!

  • UnknownUnknown
    edited August 25, 2018 9:07AM
    This content has been removed.
  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Yep. Message me for details.

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • mkman123mkman123 Posts: 6,849 ✭✭✭✭

    @Weiss If you ever go to Thailand, check out the gold shops. They sell big authentic thai style baht chains bigger than this and of course smaller for people. In thailand, these items have a very small premium to spot and they provide certificates to anyone that asks. They even sell gold sycees, I'll post pics of mine when I'm back from Bangkok .

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  • shinywhiteshinywhite Posts: 346 ✭✭✭

    Beautiful chain!

  • davidkdavidk Posts: 275 ✭✭✭

    @Weiss Can you please explain how the clasp works?

  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @davidk said:
    @Weiss Can you please explain how the clasp works?

    Yep. This necklace has the traditional "M" clasp, sometimes called a "W" clasp (which I prefer ;) ), because it looks like an "M" or "W" depending on its orientation. Bracelets often have a similar clasp more in the shape of an "S".

    You can see one of the loops at the end is fused shut. But the other isn't. Believe it or not, to open the clasp you literally twist open that unfused loop. :o

    Crazy, right? I know it's really contrary to what we're used to: In the west, the more valuable the chain the more complex the locking mechanism they seem to have with springs and lobster claws and folding gates and all sorts of stuff. Remember, these folks have been making and wearing jewelry this pure with this type of clasp for hundreds of years (the name "Siam", the region which became Thailand, literally means "gold". The Chinese word still means "Peninsula of Gold". The word "Bhat" is actually a weight measurement of gold.

    With gold this pure, it's very malleable. It takes a little force (probably more torque than force), but it bends and won't easily break. It's what they do, and it's hard to argue with billions of people and centuries of experience.

    Both of my Baht necklaces are 28", so the slip easily over my head without ever opening the clasp. I opened the clasp on my new one just now to align the markings a little better:

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 26, 2018 9:40AM

    I did pinch the clasp shut with needle nose pliers just to make absolutely positive that the two loops were squeezed up against each other. I recall having done the same thing with my earlier baht 10 or 12 years ago. Every once in a while I check that clasp with my loupe, and it has never, ever budged the tiniest bit.

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Very interesting... I have a couple of gold chains (not 24K)...and they have the typical American clasps...Thanks for showing us.... Cheers, RickO

  • BaleyBaley Posts: 22,661 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Gorgeous chain and 5 oz. Wow!

    How many links? In other words, what does each link weigh?

    It would be nice to be able to sell an inch or two at hypothetical 'time of need' without selling the whole thing.

    Also, is it possible to get each link marked .999?

    Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry

  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 26, 2018 12:38PM

    By my count, just about 100 links total, @Baley.

    In this necklace style, each link is actually two links joined: a single loop fused to the next loop, which is rotated 90 degrees. Then those double loop pieces are joined to the next double loop piece, and so on. Makes for a really nice, chunky necklace.

    The necklace is right about 155 grams. But that also includes those pretty substantial end pieces, their triple loop "fists" that hold the W clasp, and the clasp itself (one of the customizations that I requested was to have a beefier W clasp. You can actually get a piece without a clasp at all--just fused in one continuous loop. But the clasp system on these necklaces is kind of iconic and I like having it identifiable as a handmade baht necklace. The jeweler made my clasp especially thick and meaty).

    Anyway, I'd estimate the whole clasp assembly to be maybe 15 grams. That leaves about 140 grams left. That means each double-loop link is roughly .7 grams (check my math).

    Hypothetically, a 40% reduction in length, but a constant 5 troy ounce weight, should result in a necklace where each link is 1 gram. That would be a 16.8" necklace. Add back in the clasp mechanism, and you should get really close to that 18" necklace length shown in the length diagram above. The resulting necklace would be heavy, compact, and bold. Very masculine. I bet my jeweler could do it.

    As for marking each link? I don't think they'd fit on the links in my necklace. But maybe it would be possible on these hypothetically larger double-link pieces? He might also have a slightly smaller punch.

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • BaleyBaley Posts: 22,661 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Weiss, exactly what I have in mind, except go to 6 oz so it's slightly longer than 16.8". Each link 1g.999 and marked as such. Around $9k if my math is close. Wonder if a half dozen or 10 units would get a quantity discount on the fabrication cost? Might be a popular item around here. Could do bracelets too.

    Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Baley....Looks as if you have a business venture in mind... ;) Cheers, RickO

  • ashelandasheland Posts: 23,231 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Weiss, have you seen the Victorian pocket watch chains from England? They actually hallmarked each and every link!

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  • ashelandasheland Posts: 23,231 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My YouTube Channel

  • ashelandasheland Posts: 23,231 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Each link has a lion passant.
    On the gold ones, the number of fineness is on them. Cool stuff!

    My YouTube Channel

  • davidkdavidk Posts: 275 ✭✭✭

    @Weiss How long is the chain?

  • 1630Boston1630Boston Posts: 13,786 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Weiss said:
    @1630Boston , they start with either .9999 bars or .9999 pure gold shot. Melt it, pour it into a long, narrow ingot or billet. Then force it through progressively smaller holes to draw it into a long, thin rod. Once the desired diameter is reached, it's rolled into a spring shape, cut into smaller pieces, and each piece is formed into a link around the last link. The process isn't very romantic--it's actually pretty industrial. But it's hard to argue with the finished product.
    Here's a jeweler who specializes in insanely large (but also low karat) gold jewelry. The process is pretty similar:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GNwiV6cx6s

    A lot of work.................thatnks for the "link" :smile:

    Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb

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  • kiyotekiyote Posts: 5,577 ✭✭✭✭✭

    What a work of art!!

    Not to sound bleak but as long as no one melts it down it’ll waaaaay outlast you.

    "I'll split the atom! I am the fifth dimension! I am the eighth wonder of the world!" -Gef the talking mongoose.
  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Jewelry for wife and daughter?? Cheers, RickO

  • ashelandasheland Posts: 23,231 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I just found this a few minutes ago: the clasp looks similar!
    I have no idea if it’s gold yet, but it looks promising.

    My YouTube Channel

  • kiyotekiyote Posts: 5,577 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @asheland said:
    I just found this a few minutes ago: the clasp looks similar!
    I have no idea if it’s gold yet, but it looks promising.

    Holy cow, that’s beautiful! Was it a beach find or something ?

    "I'll split the atom! I am the fifth dimension! I am the eighth wonder of the world!" -Gef the talking mongoose.
  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @asheland ...that is a very nice necklace... are the stones real? Assuming, since it appears to be real gold (i.e. clasp type), that they would be gem stones. Cheers, RickO

  • ashelandasheland Posts: 23,231 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @kiyote said:

    @asheland said:
    I just found this a few minutes ago: the clasp looks similar!
    I have no idea if it’s gold yet, but it looks promising.

    Holy cow, that’s beautiful! Was it a beach find or something ?

    Thrift store! $3.21 :D

    My YouTube Channel

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