Gold-Filled is a wonderful metal that consists of a very thick layer of solid Karat Gold that is mechanically bonded to a base metal core using pressure and heat.
Our Gold Filled is made using solid 14K Gold and bonding it to Brass, which is a combination of Copper and Zinc:
Gold-Filled’s manufacturing process is very complicated, as there are more steps to finish the product than karat gold or sterling silver. A brass rod is created and is inserted into a thick gold tube, made out of solid 14K Gold. The tube and core are then heated and repeatedly drawn through rollers to fuse, or mechanically bond, the metals together. The result creates a wire with a permanent layer of gold over the core.
The wire is then fed through our chain machines and is pulled, twisted and interlocked into chain patterns such as curb, rope, figaro, cable etc. Each style only requires a slightly different movement or tooling. After the machinery is done, the chain then undergoes an annealing and polishing process to achieve a shiny gold color.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, the gold layer on Gold-Filled must weigh at least 5% (or 1/20th) of the total weight of the piece. For example, if a chain weighs 10 grams in total, 0.5 grams of that must be 14K Gold. This calculates to around 2.9% gold purity overall (or 0.29 grams of pure gold out of the 10.0 grams in total). 14K Gold, by comparison, is 58.5% pure gold. Find out more of our metal compositions here.
This may seem like a small amount, compared to actual karat gold, but there is over 100x more gold in Gold-Filled than Gold Vermeil or Gold electroplated jewelry. And now, with the gold price at all time highs, the value gap between Gold-Filled and Gold Plated has never been larger.
Gold vermeil is a higher quality version of gold electroplating and therefore is much more expensive. Due to this added cost, it is generally not worth the price point because both are temporary plating processes. Unless the sterling silver piece is cared for meticulously, which would be impossible if the item is worn daily, the gold used to both vermeil and electroplate will eventually fade away. (1-2 years for vermeil, less than 1 year for electroplating if worn daily).
The different qualities of the layer of gold plating are measured in microns. Gold vermeil normally consists of 2.0 micrometers or more vs gold electroplating consists of 0.5 micrometers or less. The vermeil makes the sterling silver more resistant to tarnishing but the layer will eventually fade and tarnishing will occur.
Pricing wise, Gold Filled is slightly more expensive than Sterling Silver however, it is much more durable and more resistant to tarnishing. Gold-Filled is not 100% anti-tarnish like karat gold, but Gold-Filled won’t tarnish for 5-10 years if cared for properly. Learn more on how to prevent tarnishing here.