Gold-Plated Jewellery - Fool's Gold or Worthwhile?
For years, customers have been asking for gold versions of my jewellery. But, with the ever-rising cost of gold, I knew that solid gold jewellery would be out of the question for most.
Gold-plated jewellery is often sneered at for being cheap or low-quality jewellery by "fine-jewellers." I believe this mostly comes from cynicism born from witnessing many shady companies selling mass-manufactured, poor-quality jewellery that is also, very often, gold-plated even if only with a whisper-thin amount of gold.
The main issue with these companies is a lack of transparency and poor ethics: Not advising clearly when items are plated vs. solid gold, how thick the plating is, or what the base material is. Expoloitative labour is often used and at times, substances such as lead or nickel are found in higher amounts than allowed for jewellery in the UK.
The base metal used for many of these companies are often copper, brass, or stainless steel. Many fine-jewellers consider jewellery made of brass or copper to be junk-jewellery. I don't see brass and copper as inferior metals by default. Many indigenous cultures have made beautiful pieces from these metals for centuries. But, they do patina and wear differently and that should always be communicated clearly to the customer.
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Now knowing that I didn't inherently consider gold-plated jewellery to be poor-quality, I had a lot of questions about gold plating that needed answering before I was willing to invest in it or sell it to customers:
1) Can recycled gold be used?
Yes. Mining of metals and gemstones is a dirty, dirty business ecologically and ethically, often using forced labour in dangerous working conditions. Recycled metals aren't perfect or without ecological cost either, but they are a step in the right direction.
2) How durable is gold-plating?
Varies based on thickness of gold used, method of application, and care taken when worn and stored but can be long-wearing.
3) Is it a complete waste to lose gold to the ether when plating does wear away?
In reality, even solid pieces of jewellery, whether silver or gold, are slowly wearing away. Wedding bands that have been worn for decades are often half the thickness they once were on the bottom of the shank where the most friction and contact with surfaces occurs. So, if it is a waste with gold-plated jewellery, so too is it with solid jewellery.
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So, having done my research and having found a UK plater that uses recycled gold, I sent away for samples and was very pleased with the results.
However, I want you as a customer, whether mine or someone else's, to better undrestand plating and the various terms thrown around as well as what you might want to ask when buying gold-plated jewellery. I have curated information into the following slides to hopefully make it all a bit more digestible.
