Switzerland-based company Precious Sound has announced that it has completed the technology to create playable records using precious metals, namely gold, platinum, and silver. These records are the ultimate keepsakes, and represent the unique connection between a musical artist and their fans, as well as immortalize the artist's achievements.
The 5-inch records can be played on any manual record player at a speed of 33 rpm, without the need for a special stylus. They come in two ranges – the pure range, made of pure silver, gold, or platinum, and the precious range, which has a copper core coated with one of the three aforementioned precious metals. These metals are sourced sustainably and recycled from electronics, jewelry, coins, and industrial objects.
The records are produced with Precious Sound's patented technology, pressed at a pressure of around 1,200 tons, compared to 80 to 120 tons for vinyl. They are also eight times harder than vinyl and don’t suffer the same vulnerabilities as vinyl.
Mark Sutton, co-founder of Precious Sound, says that he was inspired to create these records when he learned that the gold and platinum records celebrating an artist's success couldn’t really be played. These are often vinyl records dipped in gold or platinum. When played, the sound from these award records is heavily distorted and they often don't even contain the original music.
This led Sutton, who has 25 years of experience in precious metals and is an avid craftsman, to experiment with creating a truly playable gold record. It took more than 5 years of research and development to achieve this, with more than 100 test cycles to determine the optimum process of mastering, cutting, and pressing to develop Precious Sound's process that has received a European patent. The company also developed the audio technology with its German master engineer Ludwig Maier, who has mastered nearly 20,000 songs, several of which have achieved major global success.
According to co-founder Ursina Beerli, Precious Sound records are intended to be everlasting mementos for fans to celebrate their favorite musical artists and are a new medium to play music, in addition to vinyl.
With the technology perfected and ready for production, Precious Sound has partnered with artists and record labels to release limited-edition, precious metal versions of their music, which will command exceptional collection value. The first of these partnerships will come out later this year, and Precious Sound is looking forward to collaborating with artists and their labels to create outstanding pieces of memorabilia.
“We are collaborating closely with artists and their management to release the ultimate keepsakes. Our pipeline contains projects such as a gold record to mark the 50th anniversary of a major hit song and a silver record for a 25th anniversary. Our records immortalize and celebrate great music, and it is a unique medium that represents the special relationship between an artist and their fans,” Beerli says.
Name: Ursina Beerli
Email: [email protected]
