How to Care for Gold Plated Jewellery – All About Jewellery

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A touch of gold can make any outfit look that much more put together and elegant. Gold plated jewellery is a great alternative for solid gold. Specially when it comes at the fraction of the price. To keep your gold-plated jewellery for longer you need some extra care to keep the gold bright and stop any fading and tarnishing.  A little care of gold plated items will go a long way in keeping your jewellery for as long as possible. Let’s go over some tips on How to Care for Gold Plated Jewellery  and some more tips and tricks.

But First …

What is Gold Plated?

Gold Plating jewellery is a method of covering a base metal usually silver or copper with a very thin layer of gold.  One of the benefits of gold plating is that it makes the jewellery strong and durable since the gold is plated over a stronger metal. Gold itself is a very soft metal, and it is prone to bend and create nicks and dents. While it is cheaper option, the gold plating cover will eventually wear away. The thicker the plating the longer the jewellery will last before it wears away.

What about Gold Filled?

Gold filled jewellery has a much thicker layer of gold than Gold Plated jewellery. It is similar process like gold plating. Gold filled is much higher quality then gold plated. Gold filled jewellery can be very strong depending on the karat of the gold used. The lower karat of gold is usually stronger than the higher karats. A higher karat of gold shows higher purity of gold.  While the value goes up with the karat of gold, the metal becomes softer and less durable.

The purest and softest form of gold is 24 karat gold. Keep this in mind when you are buying your jewellery. If you are looking for something more durable go for a lower karat like 14 karat or 18 karat. Gold filled jewellery is more expensive than gold plated but it will last you longer. Gold filled jewellery lasts around 10-30 years while pure gold peace’s you can keep pretty much as long as you live.

What is Gold Vermeil?

Vermeil is a French word that gets used a lot in the jewellery world.  For a gold plating to be called “vermeil” it needs to meet certain criteria.

• The Base metal must consist of sterling (92,5%) or fine (99,9%) silver.
• The gold must consist of at least 10 karat gold.
• The thickness of the gold plating must be minimum 2,5 microns.

If these three criteria are not meet the jewellery is considered either gold plated, or gold filled. Vermeil is often used in table wear and even many sports trophies and Olympic gold medals are all made of gold vermeil. Gold Vermeil is more affordable than gold filled jewellery and more valuable than gold plated.

How to Care for Gold Plated Jewellery:   

6 Golden Rules

With proper care and maintenance your jewellery will be sparkling for years. Some common sense and practice will help you as well. Like keeping your jewellery away from hard surfaces to prevent scratches and bumps. Storing your jewellery in a soft protective box or cover with soft velvet lining will also protect your favorite jewellery. Good care and storage will get you far.  And some more tips like Last on First off:

1. Keep your jewellery clean:

Dust and dirt can start to build up and wear away the gold plating. Use a soft damp cotton cloth and wipe away any dirt or dust from your jewellery.

2.Use Jewellery Cloths for extra Polish and Shine:

Jewellery cloths will help you to restore the shine that easily wears away. Make sure not to use any harsh polishing cloths or products as this may strip away the gold plaiting.

3.Use plastic zip bags:

Keeping your gold-plated jewellery in a plastic bag that’s air tight stops the jewellery from tarnishing and wearing of. Thanks to the lack of the oxygen contact with the metal.

4.Keep away from damp and humid places:

Remember not to keep your jewellery in humid places like the bathroom. Forgetting your gold-plated jewellery in the bathroom while you shower is like saying goodbye to your jewellery.

5. Wear Your Jewellery Last 

Make sure your skin is dry from any creams, lotions and potions before you wear your jewellery. Do not spray perfumes or any other sprays while you have jewellery on. Remember to take of your jewellery before going to bed or when you are at home doing some chores. All this creates extra wear on the jewellery.

6. Don’t mix:

Store similar jewellery together, don’t mix gold plated with silver since the different metals can cause each other to tarnish and wear of.

Travelling with Jewellery  –  How to care for gold plated jewellery

3 Golden Rules

Always travel with style and for this you don’t need your hole jewellery collection just few pieces that can make your outfits look more put together. Don’t travel with to expensive jewellery peace’s, specially on vacation. That’s the time to relax and not worry about losing your precious jewel’s. But if you do remember to take a picture of your most expensive jewellery and notify your insurance company that you will be travelling. Keep your jewellery in you hand baggage it is always a safer option let’s go over some more tips on how to care for gold plated jewellery while you travel and some cool ideas about storage.

1. Keep away from extreme temperature, humidity and sunlight:

Like I mentioned before water reacts with the metal and makes it tarnish so remove your jewellery when swimming. Sweating can also react with the metal. Keep your jewellery as dry as possible during your travels. All expensive jewellery is best kept in the hotel safe, when you are going to the beach.

2. Organisation is key:

Use Seven-day pill box, the individual compartments will help you to organise and keep the smaller pieces in place. Another option is to keep your jewellery in your eyeglass case if it’s not being used. Be creative and find what works best for you. If none of this work for you then consider getting a roll up travel jewellery organiser. They are also cost effective and don’t take up too much space. Last but not least is a good old zip bag. You can clearly see what’s in the bag, it’s light weight, keeps the jewellery from tarnishing if it’s air tight and it dose not take any space in your luggage. Whatever option you go with don’t mix all of your jewellery in one place – how to care for gold plated jewellery.

3. Insure all valuable jewellery:

Make sure your jewellery is covered by your insurance. If it’s not then specialist jewellery insurance can cost you cheaper, in some cases as low as £19 per year. The insurance for specific items gives you more extensive coverage worldwide. Rather then hoping that it might be covered by the travel insurance.

Whether you are travelling or at home the way you treat your jewellery will determine how long you will be able to keep it. Now you know how to care for gold plated jewellery.