18k Gold Plated Jewelry

Gold plating is a thin layer of real gold bonded to another metal. What decides whether a plated piece lasts a season or several years is almost never the gold — it's what sits underneath it. Everything in this collection is plated over stainless steel.

Plated, filled, vermeil — the difference in one paragraph

Gold plated is a gold layer over a base metal. Gold filled is a thicker bonded layer, usually over brass, and costs several times more. Vermeil is gold over sterling silver. Solid gold is gold all the way through, at roughly ten times the price. For jewellery you actually wear every day rather than keep in a box, plating over a stable base is the practical middle.

Why 18k

Karat describes the colour and purity of the gold layer, not how thick it is. 18k is warm and rich without being as soft as 24k, which is why it is the usual choice for a plated finish that has to stand up to being worn.

How long it lasts

Honestly: it depends on you. Plating wears fastest where there is friction and moisture — ring bands, clasps, the back of a bracelet. Earrings and pendants can look new for years because almost nothing rubs them. The care below is not a formality; it is most of the difference between one year and five.

How to keep it looking new

• Rinse with fresh water after swimming in the ocean or a chlorinated pool, then pat dry.
• Put jewellery on last — after perfume, sunscreen and hairspray have dried.
• Store pieces separately so they don't scratch each other.
• Wipe with a soft dry cloth now and then. Skip polishing compounds and ultrasonic cleaners; they are made for solid metal, not plating.