Originally Posted by
Chrissy
Originally Posted by
Chip
Perhaps a foolish question: aren't most "gold" nibs just steel plated with gold? Being rather soft, gold bends rather than flexing. So it seems as if a gold nib would eventually suffer from spreading and curving of the tips.
Absolutely not. All modern gold nibs are now hallmarked to show that they are 9ct, 14ct, 18ct or 21ct gold. They can still have additional gold plating on top of the gold to make them slightly harder.
(Just in case you're a vintage pen user I believe that some gold nibs were not always hallmarked)
Most nibs are not hallmarked at all - simply stamped with a fineness mark (usually 14k/585, 18k/750 or 21k/875). Whether they show k or ct depends on where you are, with ct usually being used in the UK and Australia and k in the US, Canada and much of Europe.
There is no international convention on hallmarks as such, but, for example, in the UK the legal requirement is for any gold piece (sold as such) to be fully hallmarked by one of the four Assay Offices
if it weighs more than 1 gram (0.64dwt), so few nibs are ever heavy enough to require assay and the striking of a full mark. Some makers may apply 'vanity' marks (often just date and company maker's mark, which can be done at the point of manufacture) and I'm sure there are some that would opt to have them fully marked, but the assay process is expensive, and adds unnecessarily to the cost.
Plating adds nothing other than a layer of colour, and is also a quick way of preparing for final polish as it can help even out any imperfections from the manufacturing process. It's generally either yellow or red gold or rhodium to look like white gold. The better the nib (as a general rule) the better the plating, which will then wear less quickly.
For bunnspecial - here in the UK we can easily get 90% spot (a little better for trade) especially if it doesn't require a refining melt (ie no sweeps and lemel).
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