"LIQUID LEAF" DOES NOT CONTAIN GOLD! IT'S JUST PAINT!!

There is no such thing as "liquid gold leaf"!! 

 I've been making Kintsugi jewelry, and I'll write about the process and the background behind the jewelry in another post.  Basically, Kintsugi (Kintsukuroi) is the Japanese art of mending broken porcelain pottery, and celebrating the breaks with obvious repairs.  The resulting objects, such as plates, tea sets, and other items, are proudly displayed to show that the broken items are still useful and are in fact MORE beautiful with the golden scars.  The broken objects are repaired with a mixture of a type of lacquer/glue with some sort of golden additive, such as mica powder, pearl powder, or brass powder.  These look like gold scars and are beautiful. Kintsukuroi literally means "gold mended."  This has become very popular and people are buying Kintsugi kits to purposely break and then mend plates, etc.!  The kits come with an adhesive and golden powder (mica usually) and basic tools and instructions.

 I decided to make a line of jewelry featuring broken heart-shaped gemstones that are repaired to

23k and 23.5K Gold Leaf, RioGrande.com

celebrate one's "scars" whether visible or internal.  And instead of mixing golden pigments with the glue, I decided to use genuine 23k Gold leaf over the scars.  I think this makes each piece more special, with genuine gold rather than paint or golden powders.  So after I mindfully break each gemstone and then glue the pieces back together, I apply gilder's size (which is a special glue) along the scar, and then apply the genuine gold leaf.  I think the result is quite pretty, and meaningful, and using only precious metal makes it a nicer piece of jewelry.

WHAT IS GOLD LEAF?

Genuine pure gold is mixed with alloys (copper, paladium, silver to make different karats) and is heated, passed through a press or hammered and stretched over and over, until the gold is very thin. The final thickness of a gold leaf is 1/7000 mm.  They're cut into 3"x3" squares. These sheets of gold are placed onto thin sheets of paper to form booklets.  Gold leaf can be found in 24k, 23.5k, 23k, 22k, and so on.  It's pricey, because gold is currently about $1,860 an ounce.

So even though the 23k Gold Leaf that I use is very thin and sometimes requires several layers on my jewelry, it is genuine gold that you see and touch.

WHAT IS GOLD "LIQUID LEAF"?

The product "Liquid Leaf" is a paint made by Plaid--the company that sells glues and paints for arts and crafts.  It is sold at craft stores and on Amazon, etc. for $4 to $8. 

It is paint!  It does NOT contain any real gold!  You'll notice it's not called "gold leaf" because it contains NO gold.  It's made of very toxic Xylene and copper bits!  This means it's a type of "metal leaf" but that metal is not gold.  Then they add pigments (paint) to offer various colors of this Liquid Leaf, such as Antique Gold, Classic Gold, even Silver!  Yes---there's no silver in their Liquid Leaf product!

I see sellers on Etsy and elsewhere who apply this paint and call it "liquid gold leaf".  That is false!!  This is not "gold leaf" in any way, but is just gold paint with some copper flecks mixed in.  

 

 

HERE is a link to the Plaid Company's SDS Materials sheet.  And here's a copy of p.6 that shows what's in each bottle of  Liquid Leaf:

So no matter what a seller claims, there is no such thing as "Liquid Gold Leaf".  They are using a product called "Liquid Leaf" in a gold color, but it contains NO gold.  It is just gold paint!  

Just be aware of what you're getting when you purchase a piece of Kintsugi jewelry.  If you're looking for real gold, I'm the only one offering that!   Visit my Etsy shop HERE, Amazon shop HERE, or my website HERE.