What’s the Difference Between Gold Filled and Gold Plated?

What’s the Difference Between Gold Filled and Gold Plated? Plus: Caring For Your Jewelry

Now that we know the difference between 14k gold and 18k gold, another question arises…

What’s the difference between gold filled and gold plated? What does it mean for care and storage of your jewelry?

You may have noticed that you have the choice between 14k gold filled or 18k gold plated beads on many of our product pages. Here is the difference:

Gold filled jewelry is covered with at least 1/20 total weight in gold. This makes the jewelry resistant to tarnishing or losing its gold finish. It’s an affordable option in comparison to pure gold, which is expensive but quite soft. Gold filled jewelry is allergy-resistant, water-resistant, and tarnish-resistant. Gold filled jewelry is more resilient against sweat and chemicals, but should still be taken off before showering and applying perfumes, lotions and potions, etc.

If you plan to wear your gold filled jewelry daily without having to worry about taking it off for certain activities, you will enjoy this option.

Gold plated jewelry is covered in a thin layer of electroplated gold. At a very affordable price, it is suitable for everyday wear but its luster finish may fade over time with repeated exposure to the oils in your skin, perspiration, water, or other elements.

If you plan to wear your gold plated jewelry occasionally, with certain outfits, and for limited amounts of time, you can do so happily with gold plated jewelry.

For optimal longevity, both gold filled and gold plated jewelry should be taken off before sleeping, showering, swimming, and applying perfumes, lotions and potions. Both options are suitable for everyday fashion wear, but investing in gold filled jewelry, especially if you live a lifestyle that is is exposed to many elements, will buy you additional durability.

All gold jewelry should be stored in a cool, dry place. We recommend storing it inside the sealed poly bag that your jewelry is shipped in. This will keep it from being exposed to other metals in your jewelry box that may affect its composition.

I hope this article provides clarity on the difference between gold filled and gold plated jewelry.