Gold filled, plated, and solid have differences which affect its durability, quality, and more. Understanding these key differences is essential when choosing the right type of metal for your next piece and how to style. Our guide takes you through how each metal compares.
Table of Contents:
- What is Gold Filled Jewelry?
- How Does Gold Filled Differ from Other Gold Jewelry?
- How Does Gold Filled Compare to Solid Gold?
- How Gold Filled Differs from Gold Plated
- Solid Gold Compared with Gold Plated
- Comparing Solid Gold with Gold Vermeil
- Solid Gold Jewelry from Monica Vinader
- How to Clean Solid Gold Jewelry
What is Gold Filled Jewelry?
Gold filled refers to a method of making gold items such as jewelry and decorations. Gold filled jewelry isn't actually 'filled with gold' - it is made using a sheet of gold covering a base metal. Sheets of gold alloy are bonded around this base metal, which could be copper, brass or similar. This technique leaves the edges of the jewelry with the base metal exposed underneath. Depending on the metal used, this area could cause irritation for people with allergies to certain metals.
For a piece of jewelry to be classed as gold filled 1/20 of its weight needs to be made from real gold. How much gold makes up the alloy determines the quality of the piece. The different amounts of gold which make up the metal alloys are called karats. Gold is made up of 24 parts. Therefore, 18 karat gold is made up of 75% gold, 25% alloys (18 parts gold out of 24).