Gold-filled jewelry is jewelry composed of a solid layer of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

(typically constituting at least 5% of the item's total weight) mechanically bonded to a base of either

sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. ''Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, is r ...

or some

base metal A base metal is a common and inexpensive metal, as opposed to a precious metal such as gold or silver. In numismatics, coins often derived their value from the precious metal content; however, base metals have also been used in coins in the past ...

. The related terms "rolled gold plate" and "gold overlay" may legally be used in some contexts if the layer of gold constitutes less than 5% of the item's weight. Most high quality gold-filled pieces have the same appearance as high carat gold, and gold-filled items, even with daily wear, can last 10 to 30 years though the layer of gold will eventually wear off exposing the metal underneath. The layer of gold on gold-filled items is 5 to 10 times thicker than that produced by regular

gold plating Gold plating is a method of depositing a thin layer of gold onto the surface of another metal, most often copper or silver (to make silver-gilt), by chemical or electrochemical plating. This article covers plating methods used in the modern elec ...

, and 15 to 25 times thicker than that produced by gold

electroplate Electroplating, also known as electrochemical deposition or electrodeposition, is a process for producing a metal coating on a solid substrate through the reduction of cations of that metal by means of a direct electric current. The part to be ...

(sometimes stamped HGE for "high grade electroplate" or HGP for "heavy gold plate", which have neither of them any legal meaning and indicate only that the item is gold plated).

Definition

In the United States, the quality of gold-filled jewelry is defined by the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...

(FTC). If the gold layer is 10kt fineness, the minimum weight of the plated layer on an item stamped "GF" must equal at least of the total weight of the item. If the gold layer is 12 kt or higher, the minimum layer of karat gold in an item stamped "GF" must equal at least the total weight of the item. The most common stamps found on gold-filled jewelry are 12kt GF and 14kt GF. Also common is 10kt. These standards are for modern gold-filled items. It is not uncommon to see 14kt gold-filled marks, plus many other variations, on items from the 1930s, 1940s, etc., which would have to be marked "Rolled Gold Plate". The Federal Trade Commission allows the use of the terms "rolled gold plate," "R.G.P" or "gold overlay" on items with lower thicknesses of gold than are required for "gold-filled." An example would be an item stamped as " 10kt RGP" meaning that the object is plated with 10kt gold at a thickness that makes weight of the plated layer equal to one-fortieth of the weight of the metal parts of the object. "Double clad" gold-filled sheet is produced with the thickness of gold on each side. On-twentieth 14Kt double clad gold-filled has a layer on each side of 14Kt making the total content of gold . The thinner layer on each side does not wear as well as single clad gold-filled.

References

{{Reflist Precious metals Types of jewellery

Definition

See also

References