When we started this jewelry business, we knew that we wanted to create a thing of quality and most of all, something that can last long. So after surveying different types of gold that are available for making jewelry, and there were few types, we decided strongly to use gold filled instead of gold plated.
Why gold filled and not gold plated?
Gold filled are layers of solid gold sheets (this could be in 10k, 12k, 14k or 18k) that are pressure bonded to a core of jeweller’s metal (usually brass). The resulting process will apply a thick layer of gold (about 5 to 10 times thicker) surrounding the metal that in turn create a strong, high quality and more resistant to wear. Most of the time, jeweller prefer to use 14k gold filled than other composition because it offers a perfect combination that balance quality and value. We use 14k gold filled in all our products to guarantee quality assurance and long lasting valuable product.
Gold plated are really not made of gold. The base metal are usually copper or silver. I own a lot of costume jewellery and I find that with these jewellery even with the best of care, will become tarnish and lose it gold colour over time. The reason is because gold plated product is made by using electricity or chemicals that deposits a very thin layer of gold over the base metal. Now, if we use 14k gold plated, we will be able to sell our product at lower prices BUT due its durable nature, it could disfigure our resin based product with constant wear and tear. Of course, we could choose a stronger metal such as steel so that it can protect our product but it will still loses its gold finishing sparkle after some time and to us, that is just unimaginable.
Note: Any jewelry that uses Gold Filled should have 1/20 14k on it. This means that there is one part of gold to every 20 parts of other materials.
