Gold Fill - What's in a Name?

While I was at the Portobello West Market this past weekend, I decided to make it my mission to ensure that all of my customers and prospective customers knew exactly what they were getting when they bought one of my designs (aside from the obvious - a pretty piece of jewellery!). I let them know that my gold pieces used 14-karat gold fill and asked if they knew what that was. Since the majority didn't know what this meant, or what the benefit of gold-filled metal was (and how would you? It's not like you're all hardcore jewellery nerds like me!) I thought it was time to enlighten you folks. Thus, today I present, What is gold fill, and why the heck do you care??

Let me start off with the fact that gold-filled jewellery isn't actually filled with gold (whomever named it gold fill, clearly wasn't the sparkliest gemstone in the jewellery box). Rather, it is a thick layer of gold that is bonded over another metal - typically brass or copper. Regulations require that gold-fill must be at least 5% or 1/20th gold content. Please note - gold-filled is not the same thing as plated gold. 

How is it different? Gold-filled jewellery will not wear off or discolor like plated gold jewellery. It gives the same look as real gold though at a lesser cost than what you'd pay for an actual 14-karat gold piece of jewellery. Plus, the layer of gold in gold-filled jewellery is typically 50 to 1,000 times thicker than plated gold! Gold-filled jewellery is great for women who have skin sensitivities or allergies - if you can wear 14-karat gold, you can wear 14-karat gold filled jewellery.

All of the clasps and earring hooks in our gold designs use gold-filled metal. The majority of the chain I use is also gold-filled, with the exception being a few pieces, and some chunkier components I use, which are gold vermeil (gold plating over sterling silver).

So there you have it! Just one of the features that makes Keltie Leanne Designs jewellery the type of high quality pieces you will be able to keep forever.