Persistence of variant selection in red gold alloys

•The A1 → L10 phase transformation in AuCu alloys is both diffusive and displacive.•These alloys exhibit a “thermally activated distortion with amplification” effect.•If the amplification is blocked, opposite stresses can be generated.•These stresses come from the persistence of variant selection.•They can be explained by assuming that the lattice distortion is continuous.