You must beware when buying gold articles from gem & jewellery market place. Appearance can be misleading and much so in gold jewellery. So the adage “All that glitters is not gold” applies well in the case of jewellery articles peddled as gold. There are several ways in which base metals can be turned into gold like jewellery. Chiefly amongst these are gold finished, gold plated, rolled god and gold filled ones. Here is a primer on these types.
Gold Finished: This type of jewellery is vended under names such as “gold tone”, “gold flash” and “gilt finished” as well. The jewellery articles are initially made with base metals such as copper, steel or brass and then subjected to a thin coat of gold layer being electroplated using pressure and heat. Another method is to dip the jewellery piece into a gold mixed solution and heat it to dry. The thin layer is about 0.2 to 1.0 microns of gold. A micron means a unit of length equal to one millionth of a meter. You can easily rub off the thin layer even by using your nails. The brightness of gold vanishes in no time.
Gold Plated: Surface of Jewellery articles made from underlying metals such as copper, steel, brass or in some cases silver and palladium is plated with gold using electroplating applied through electricity and chemical deposition. Normal plating uses about 1 to 10 microns gold whereas heavy plating can go up as high as 20 microns gold. Brightness can diminish after prolonged use and the surface can be peeled off or flaked off, depending on the level of microns. Normal plated articles could last for couple of years if carefully used. Heavy plated ones can last a decade or so if you are careful, manufacturing guarantee of the jeweller notwithstanding.
Rolled Gold: Unlike in the case of plating where articles of jewellery being plated, rolled gold is made as a sheet for the jeweller to be used as raw material. There is no plating process applied here. What happens is base metal such as copper, steel or brass is cloaked with a layer of gold and thereafter heat fussed together to arrive at rolled gold. Hence this method is known as fusion process. Generally 20 to 40 microns gold is fused. Thereafter using this rolled gold sheet jewellery pieces are fabricated. Gold content in the finished articles is standardised as 2.5 % of the total weight. Rolled gold items last for several years intact.
Gold Filled: Similar to the above, layer of gold is rolled over underlying metal such as copper, steel, brass and silver under high pressure until it is bonded. Gold filled sheet might contain 40 to 100 microns sometimes even more. Jewellery articles made from gold filled metal can last for a lifetime. Gold content in the finished jewellery articles must be at-least 5% of the total weight
Even though rolled gold and gold filled are referred to by a common name as “Gold Overlay” there is clear distinction of using these depending on the level of microns gold used and the type of underlying metal. For instance the term rolled gold is perceived as applicable to non-precious metals such as copper, steel and brass that are subjected to the fusion process. In the case of gold filled, it can be used for both non-precious metals and precious metals including silver and palladium.
It must be pointed out that gems & metals have inherent cosmics that influence and impact you. Gold is a key metal generating cosmics in the form of and cosmic energy. It helps you in enhancing your mental ability. Gold also provides warmth, wisdom and wealth. Incidence of arthritic disorders and chronic diseases is lessened when you wear gold jewellery. However when the content of gold is less it can be easily presumed that resulting cosmic energy is also would be lower.
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