What is 18K Gold plating?

A question came to us at MNOP Jewelry: Do you do 18-karat gold platings? The short answer to that question is: No, we don't. A longer answer has to do with sustainability. But first, let's clarify what is actually meant by gold plating

What is the process of gold plating?

Plating means coating. That is, applying a thin layer of gold or another metal onto another metal object. Plating is widely used in the industry and electronics for conducting electricity or resisting rust. However, in jewelry, plating is a method used to change color. A white gold piece of jewelry can be plated with rhodium to achieve a whiter color. And a "simple" piece of jewelry can be given an 18k gold coating to make it look like real gold.

Gold is a precious metal. That means it is very difficult to dissolve or alter. However, to electroplate, one needs to dissolve the gold in a liquid. Dissolving a precious metal requires extremely strong and dangerous chemicals. The most commonly used one is cyanide! Not good! And something that we at MNOP believe no one should be exposed to unnecessarily in their workplaces.

When gold plating is done, it involves the use of dangerous chemicals, such as cyanide! Cyanide is used to dissolve the gold in a liquid. This dissolved gold is then electroplated onto the metal and becomes a gold coating.

Is gold plating worth anything?

The gold coating we are talking about is extremely thin and measured in microns (thousandths of a millimeter). A plating can be as thin as 0.5 microns (and as thick as up to 2.5 microns) – which corresponds to 0.0005 millimeters. The extremely small amount of real gold used to plate a piece of jewelry does not affect the material composition (a gold-plated silver jewelry costs about the same as a regular silver jewelry).

What are the disadvantages of gold plated jewelry?

Gold-plated jewelry cannot withstand excessive polishing and requires some caution (for example, they cannot be worn while showering) to prevent them from getting scratched or worn out too much. This is somewhat ironic in our eyes since jewelry should be able to be worn frequently and for long periods. Additionally, the process of plating itself requires a significant amount of chemicals. Among them is cyanide, which is directly harmful to health and the environment. Therefore, plating is a sustainability problem in two senses: it does not last for a long time, and it also lacks sustainable production.

Should you buy gold plated jewelry?

There are a few exceptions where plating can be a good alternative, such as when dealing with very large pieces of jewelry. However, generally speaking, it is better for the piece to have the same material throughout. Scratches that occur can be polished out, and the jewelry will regain its shine. The piece can also be polished many times without wearing out or changing color.

An authentic 18k gold piece of jewelry may cost a bit more, but on the other hand, you get a piece of jewelry that can withstand use, wear, and be repaired repeatedly.