How have you been influenced by the project?

Quantity, the sheer volume of donated jewelry that people are willing to part with is shocking. I have been involved with three RJM events and seeing the amount of donated material is powerful. As a maker of one of a kind jewelry/objects time and value are poured into the pieces. But when you look at a mound of random unwanted jewelry it makes one think about the value; monetary, sentimental, or the fashionability of jewelry. 

How do you weigh what techniques and materials you will use?

I’ve been given a wide range of materials and have grouped them according to their metal. The first step is to refine the various low karat gold I have been given to use. Some of the gold has already been melted and made into new material, but the resulting alloy is very difficult to work with. Melted and reclaimed 14k & 10k gold tends to result in a brassy colored gold instead of a bright buttery yellow of higher karat gold it’s also brittle and cracks, making it difficult to work with.

Precious metal, especially gold is such a great reusable material but when it’s alloyed down to a lower karat it becomes more difficult for a studio jeweler to reuse. I will refine the lower mixed karats back to an almost pure 24k gold, through a chemical refining process. I dislike the use of chemicals but unfortunately this is one of the only options I have to refine the gold on my own. The result will be 22.5g of 14k/10k, to 13g of 23k.

How do you anticipate future uses for the materials that you are using? 

By raising the karat of the gold I hope to encourage future use of the material especially at a bench level, which will not require the assistance of a refinery, or additional fresh gold added.

Adam Whitney is a Metalsmith who currently resides in his home state of Vermont. He has worked & lived throughout the United States and abroad obtaining experience from a range of projects and teaching. At his studio he spends his time hammering sheet metal into volumetric forms, constantly exploring the possibilities of silversmithing and pushing his understanding and knowledge of the craft. When not in his studio Adam travels to work on projects and to teach workshops, taking his passion for Metalsmithing to wherever he goes. 

Adam received his BFA in Crafts / Materials Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University where he concentrated in Metalsmithing. He has worked as a bench jeweler at Dransfield Jewelers, Metals Studio Coordinator at Penland School of Crafts, taught Jewelry Design at Raffles College in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and now runs his own studio, AW Metalsmith.