Gold Filled Vs Gold Plated
Gold-Filled Vs Gold Plated
When searching for that perfect piece of jewellery it is important to know whether or not you are getting your money's worth. So, what is the difference between gold-filled jewellery and gold-plated jewellery?
The manufacturing processes are different for Gold-filled vs Gold plated jewellery and the amount of gold alloy used in gold-filled jewellery is higher than in gold plated jewellery.
To make gold-filled pieces gold alloy is layered on both sides of a base metal. Heat and pressure are applied to the two metals and this results in strong bond.
To make gold-plated pieces, an electric current is passed through the base metal to negatively charge it, while a a solution containing gold ions is positively charged. The positive gold ions are attracted to the negative charge of the core metal. This forms a layer of gold on top of the base metal.
If you had a cross section of a gold filled piece of wire and a gold plated piece of wire you would see that that gold-filled piece has a much thicker layer of gold alloy. In fact, 100X more gold alloy. To declare that the metal is gold-filled, at least 5% of the item's total weight must contain gold alloy. Gold-plated only contains about .05%
Because the layer of gold alloy on gold -plated jewellery is so thin, minor scratches can reveal the base metal underneath resulting in tarnishing. So, in the long run not very resistant to wear.
Gold-filled jewellery on the other hand, lasts longer and stands up to wear. As long as the piece is well cared for, gold-filled jewelry can last a lifetime.
This is why we prefer to use gold-filled metals in all our designs. They are more affordable than solid gold and more durable than gold-plated.