Gold-Filled Jewelry Explained
Within
the jewelry industry, there are many different approaches to creating jewelry.
For example, jewelry
designers use techniques like alloying different metals in varying amounts
to give their pieces the exact characteristics they want. Often, what seems
like a solid gold piece is a gold alloyed with other metals to give it a
powerful shine or increased scratch resistance. Today, we’ll examine another
popular jewelry design technique by
explaining what gold-filled jewelry is, how it is used to create durable
pieces, and how it differs from other types of gold products.
What is Gold-Filled?
So,
what exactly is gold-filled jewelry? Well, it is a layered gold product that is
quickly gaining popularity in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. A quality
material, gold-filled products are easy to care for and maintain a golden shine
for many years. At the core of any gold-filled product is jeweler’s brass, to
which custom jewelry designers adhere a
surface layer of gold.
When
all the gold content adheres in a single layer on only one side of the brass
core, it is known as a single clad. On the other hand, a gold alloy whose
contents are split into surface layers on both sides of the brass core is known
as double-clad.
Here’s a helpful diagram to show you what gold-filled jewelry
looks like:
Now that we understand how gold-filled jewelry works, we can compare it to other types of gold products.
Gold-Filled V. Gold-Plated
A
gold-plated product is composed of a very thin layer of solid gold bonded to a
brass base. This plating does not make up any measurable proportion of a
product’s total weight and is estimated to only be 0.05 percent or less of the
product.
Gold-filled
and gold-plated products are different in several ways. First off, gold-filled
pieces are legally required to contain more gold than gold plated — at least 5%
or 1/20 gold by weight. Second, gold-plated items are less durable as the
plating wears off fast and exposes the core brass metal. This is because it
does not resist heat, water, and wear over time as well unlike gold-filled
jewelry.
The Difference between Gold-Filled and Solid Gold
The
main difference between a gold-filled and solid gold product is that one is a
layered product while the other is an alloyed product. The way solid gold is
formed is by alloying pure gold with other metals to make it harder and easier
to work with. Pure gold and silver jewelry on its own
is simply too soft to hold its shape or wear well.
Another
way they differ is that karate is measured differently on gold-filled products
as they are legally required to be at least 5% or 1/20 gold by weight. This 5%
is represented by the karate of gold alloy on a gold-filled piece. For example,
most gold-filled material is 12kt or 14kt and is labeled as 14/20 or 12/20
while if it were a solid gold product it would be labeled 14/24 or 12/24 as the
pure gold it is alloyed with is 24kt.
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