How much gold do we lose while manufacturing jewelry?

We don't “lose” gold, it just takes more to do the job than most people know. If we're hand making it, then there is always the filings and dust as well as the offcuts that are collected and reprocessed. The are recycled … not “lost”. In the casting process, the unused portion of the casting is often larger than the finished piece(s). read more

In manufacturing, there is always some loss, let's analyze how much it is in each type of jewelry. In making chains of gold tubing, wire, or flat stock the loss would be minimal, only caused by polishing. In a ring or any other cast piece of jewelry, the loss would be much greater. This is because castings have sprues. read more