Difference Between Gold Filled and Gold Plated Jewelry
If you are looking to buy jewelry that looks like gold, and feels like gold, but does not cost as much, then you have two options to vie for – “Gold Filled” Jewelry and “Gold Plated” Jewelry. So what’s the difference between the two? The names are quite suggestive of what the terms indicate. Gold filled Jewelry has a 100 to 100,000 times thicker coating of gold than a Gold plated one.
Gold Filled Jewelry Vs Gold Plated Jewelry
Let’s look at the differences and comparison between these two types of jewelry.
Gold Filled:
Gold filled is also known as “Rolled Gold” and it usually has the same appearance as a 14 Karat Gold. A solid layer of gold is bonded to a base metal like brass alloy to create a Gold filled wire which is then used to make the jewelry.
The best part about Gold filled jewelry is that it is government regulated so you can be assured of the quality. In the US Federal Trade Commission defines the quality of gold filled jewelry. Gold filled items can be used for daily wear and they last for a long time, as long as 30 years in many cases, before the gold begins to fade. It’s difficult to distinguish between a “rolled gold” item and a 14 Karat gold item, so in that sense it good value for your money. As per regulation in many countries, gold filled items should be at least 5% gold by weight.
Gold Plated:
Gold plated items have a very thin layer of gold atop base metals like copper or silver. This deposition is made through the process of electrolysis, and basically the base metal gets a very thin layer of gold deposited on top of it.
Initially Gold plated jewelry might look like Gold filled jewelry but it won’t be long before the Gold plated item starts fading. Because there is only a thin layer of gold deposition, the base metal usually corrodes into the gold within a short period of time. Gold plated jewelry would usually lose the gilt within a year’s time depending on the manufacturer (some good quality ones might last longer).
So there you have it. The difference is in the quality and the thickness of the gold layer. Of course, Gold filled jewelry is more expensive than gold plated ones for this very reason.