Omega clip broke in half

[purplepepper8]

Hi, I soldered an omega clip to a pair of earrings, I dropped the earring, and as you can see from the photos, the clip broke in half (not from the solder I joint). I did heat treat it- 600 degrees C for 30 min and then quench in water, followed 300 degrees for 1 hour and air cool. Both the clip and the earrings are made from 18k rose gold. Anyone know why this could be the case?
I asked the manufacturer and they said they would run some tests but I'm not so confident that theyll find the answer.

 

[DanM]

Do you know the alloy content? Why are you heat treating after soldering the part to the earring? Basic red gold info here.... https://orchid.ganoksin.com/t/18k-rose-gold-to-anneal-or-not-to-anneal/35862/2

 

[AllenClapp]

Do you know the alloy content? Why are you heat treating after soldering the part to the earring? Basic red gold info here.... https://orchid.ganoksin.com/t/18k-rose-gold-to-anneal-or-not-to-anneal/35862/2

Nice discussion, Dan. Thanks for putting this up.

 

[purplepepper8]

Do you know the alloy content? Why are you heat treating after soldering the part to the earring? Basic red gold info here.... https://orchid.ganoksin.com/t/18k-rose-gold-to-anneal-or-not-to-anneal/35862/2

I don't know the content. The dome tends to dent/ disfigure if dropped and so I wanted It to be stonger. I heat treated after soldering the clip on because I think with the heat while soldering the heat treatment would lose its effect. Right?
Thanks for the link, its informative. I think its clear that the slow cooling has caused issues. I’ll find out the compostion of the metal and then things will be clearer. Thank you