What is gold-filled/ rolled gold jewellery?
Gold-filled jewellery, also known as "rolled gold"and Gold filled items are created by using heat and pressure to permanently fuse a layer of gold over a less costly base metal such brass .The layer of gold should be equal to 1/20th of the total weight of the finished item. The surface layer of karat gold is usually 9kt, 14kt 18kt & 24kt. Gold filled jewellery has not strict percentage of the total weight of the item, its gold layer thickness varies from 5 – 10 microns.
Thickness of gold-filled/ rolled gold jewellery:
Gold filled designs have the advantage of providing excellent long term wear durability of solid alloy gold products without the weight and higher costs. In most cases, a gold filled item can be repaired if damaged or badly scratched. Unlike gold plated products, the thicker layer used on gold filled items can also be carefully re polished several times without exposing the underlying base metal.Please do not mistake it, as plated or solid Gold.
chart a | Gold Filled Jewellery | ||
Item category | Layer thickness | Estimated durability in years * | |
microns | micro inches | ||
bracelets | 20 – 50 | 787 – 1969 | 3 – 8 |
chains | 5 – 10 | 197 – 394 | 2 – 5 |
Rings | 20 – 40 | 787 – 1574 | 3 – 6 |
* durability estimates provided by the Federal Trade Commission, based on normal and reasonable wear parameter |