How long does 24-carat gold plating last?
There is no single answer, and anyone who gives you an exact number is selling you something. How long gold plating lasts comes down to three things: how much gold has been deposited, what lies beneath that layer and how you treat the piece. With normal wear and a little care, a well-plated piece will last for years; with daily sweat, perfume sprayed straight on and no care at all, the wear shows much sooner.
What we can explain precisely is why the gold fades, what speeds that process up and what you can do to slow it down. That is what follows.
What gold plating actually is
Gold plating is a layer of gold deposited onto another metal through an electrochemical process. The piece itself is not gold: it is made of another material, and the gold sits on the surface. That is why we talk about how long it lasts. A piece of solid gold jewellery never "wears through" its gold, because it is gold all the way through. A plated piece has a thin layer that gradually wears away with friction and the passing of time.
This is neither a flaw nor a trick. It is what allows a designed piece with volume, colour and handcrafted work to carry a reasonable price. Solid gold in the shapes we make would be out of reach for almost everyone. The honest alternative is to explain clearly what you are buying and how to look after it.
And what does "24 carat" add?
Carats measure the purity of gold, not the quantity. 24 carat is pure gold, with no alloy. When we say our pieces have 24-carat gold plating, we are talking about the purity of the gold that is deposited, not its thickness or how long it lasts.
It is an important distinction, because many people assume that 24 carat means "lasts longer". It doesn't work that way. A thicker 18-carat plating can outlast a very thin 24-carat one. What pure gold brings is colour: a warm gold, closer to the yellow of real gold, without the pinkish or greenish tone that other alloys give. And a surface with no alloy metals in direct contact with the skin.
What lies beneath matters as much as the gold
This is the part almost nobody tells you, and it explains why two "gold-plated" pieces can behave in completely different ways.
Our pieces start out as brass, a copper alloy. Over that brass we apply a matte finish, and over the matte finish goes a white bronze plating. Only then comes the 24-carat gold plating, and on top of everything, a final hypoallergenic coating.
Each layer has a purpose. The matte finish prepares the surface so that the next metal bonds properly. The white bronze acts as an intermediate layer between the brass and the gold: without it, the copper in the brass tends to migrate towards the surface over time, and that is one of the classic reasons a cheap gold-tone piece darkens within a few months. The gold plating gives the colour. And the final hypoallergenic coating is a protective layer that keeps the gold apart from sweat, creams and everyday friction.
Every piece in our earring collection goes through this same sequence of layers, and it is why we are so keen to talk about it. When you buy a gold piece without knowing what lies beneath, you are buying blind the very part that most determines how long it will last. Gold plating applied directly onto a cheap metal, with no protective layer, deteriorates quickly, however many carats the label may boast.
The four factors that decide how long it lasts
1. The thickness of the layer
The more gold deposited, the longer it takes before the metal beneath shows through. It is the most obvious factor and the one that varies most between makers, because gold is expensive and shaving off microns is the quietest way to make a piece cheaper. It is not something you can see with the naked eye, which is precisely the problem.
2. Friction
Plating wears away mainly through mechanical action. It goes where there is friction, not where there is air. That is why how long it lasts depends so much on where the piece is worn.
A ring rubs against everything: the keyboard, the steering wheel, the shopping bag, the soap, the other fingers. A bracelet rubs against the table and against your sleeve. A pendant rubs against your clothes, but far less. And earrings are by far the pieces that suffer the least friction: they hang, they move and they barely touch anything but the air and the odd strand of hair.
If durability matters to you and you are torn between styles, this is a genuine argument: earrings and necklaces and chokers keep their gold for longer than a ring worn every day, simply because of physics.
3. The chemistry of your skin and your routine
Sweat is slightly acidic and salty. In prolonged contact with the surface of a piece of jewellery, it attacks it little by little. The acidity of skin varies quite a lot from one person to another, and also from one moment to the next: exercise, heat, certain medicines and diet all change it. That is why two people with the same piece can see different results.
Add to that everything you put on top. Perfumes and colognes contain alcohol. Many creams contain oils and active ingredients. Hairspray leaves a sticky film that traps dirt. Hand sanitiser gels are almost pure alcohol. None of this will ruin a piece of jewellery in one go, but it all adds up.
4. Water, depending on which
Water on its own is not the enemy. What is dissolved in it is. The chlorine in swimming pools is harsh on metals. Sea water is salty and abrasive, and it usually comes with sand and sun cream too. Shower water carries soap and shampoo, which leave residue in the joins and the raised details.
A splash will do a piece no harm at all. The problem is repeated exposure: the piece that never comes off, that goes into the pool every August afternoon and dries in the sun without being rinsed.
How to tell the plating is wearing
Wear is not a switch. It is gradual, and there are signs before the metal beneath becomes visible.
- Loss of shine. The piece looks dull even when it is clean. Sometimes all it needs is a wipe with a soft cloth; sometimes it is the beginning of wear.
- A cooler or greyish tone in the areas of most friction: the inside of a ring, the clasp of a bracelet, the edges of a pendant.
- Localised dark marks that do not come off with a dry cloth.
- Areas where the colour clearly differs from the rest of the piece. Here, the layer beneath is already showing.
If you notice the first sign, there is still time to extend the life of the piece considerably by changing your routine. If you are already at the last, the plating has gone in that area and will not come back on its own.
What shortens the life of gold plating the most
In rough order of real impact:
- Putting on perfume or cream while wearing your jewellery. The alcohol and active ingredients go straight onto the surface of the gold.
- Sleeping in your pieces. Eight hours of rubbing against the pillow, every night, soon add up.
- Swimming in the pool or the sea without taking them off. Chlorine and salt, plus sand in the case of the beach.
- Storing them in a heap. Pieces scratch one another inside a jewellery box with no dividers.
- Cleaning them with harsh products. Silver cleaners, bicarbonate of soda, toothpaste and anything abrasive will eat away the plating. They are designed for other materials. This applies as much to a ring as to a gold choker: if it scratches, leave it out.
- Putting them away without drying them. Moisture trapped in a closed pouch does more harm than wearing them.
The routine that really makes it last
There is no need for a ritual. These four habits make quite a difference.
Last on, first off
It is the most useful rule of all. Get dressed, do your hair, put on your cream, put on your perfume, wait for it to dry, and only then put on your jewellery. When you get home, it is the first thing you take off. That way you cut out almost all the chemical contact of an ordinary day.
A dry cloth at the end of the day
A soft cotton or microfibre cloth, a quick wipe over the piece before putting it away. It removes the day's sweat and traces of cream. It is what stops the fine film of dirt that dulls the shine from building up. Thirty seconds.
Store them separately and dry
Each piece in its own pouch or compartment, without touching the others, somewhere dry and away from direct light. The plating protects against the outside world, but not against metal rubbing on metal.
Take them off for water, sport and the gym
Shower, pool, sea, sauna and training. These are the moments of most sweat and most moisture, and you gain nothing by keeping them on.
And if the plating has already gone?
Once the wear has reached the point where the metal beneath shows, no home remedy will bring it back. Cleaners do not put gold back; at best they clean, and at worst they strip away what little is left.
The real solution is to have the piece re-plated. It is a workshop process: the piece is cleaned, the surface is prepared and the gold is deposited again. It is not something to do at home or with a kit. If you have a piece you are fond of and it has reached that point, the sensible thing is to ask at a jewellery workshop before giving it up for lost.
It is worth putting it the other way round, too: a piece that can be re-plated is a piece that can last far longer than its first layer of gold. That is one of the arguments for buying well-made pieces rather than piling up costume jewellery that lasts a single summer.
What to expect from each type of piece
With the same plating and the same care, not every piece ages in the same way.
- Earrings. The ones that hold up best. Little friction, little contact with products, and the fastening is usually the only area that wears. If you are looking for pieces to wear for a long time, this is the most rewarding format.
- Necklaces and chokers. They hold up well. The critical points are the clasp and the part of the chain that rubs against clothing or a shirt collar.
- Rings. The ones that suffer most, by far. The inner face is in constant contact with the skin and the outer face rubs against everything.
- Bracelets. Somewhere in between, but closer to the ring than to the earring: the wrist rests on tables and surfaces all day long.
- Brooches and pins. Very little wear from friction, because they sit on your clothes. What needs watching is the mechanism, not the colour.
If you are deciding what to buy and durability weighs in your decision, this is more useful than any figure in years. A ring worn every day and a pair of weekend earrings are simply not in the same league, however much they share a finish.
About our enamelled pieces
In our coloured pieces, the enamel is hand-painted, piece by piece, and is bisphenol-free. The post and the back are 925 sterling silver. That changes the care a little: as well as protecting the gold, it is best not to rub the enamelled area with anything abrasive and to avoid solvents, which is where the colour can suffer. A soft cloth, with lukewarm water if needed, is all it takes.
The rest of our pieces are brass, with the full process we have described, and no enamel.
The honest answer
Another thing that helps, and which is rarely mentioned: rotate. If you have three pairs of earrings and take turns wearing them, each one gets a fraction of the wear and the sweat, and they all last longer. Always wearing the same piece is the quickest way to wear it out, however good it may be.
How long the gold plating on a piece lasts depends more on you than on the label. The thickness and quality of the plating set the starting point — and there are huge differences there between a piece worked layer by layer and one hastily plated over any old metal — but the pace at which it wears is set by your day-to-day life.
The good news is that the habits that most extend the life of a piece of jewellery are wonderfully simple: put it on last, take it off for water, give it a wipe with a cloth and store it separately. Do that, and a well-made piece will stay with you for a very long time.
And if you would like to see it in person, our workshop and shop are at Calle Alameda 4, in Madrid's Barrio de las Letras. Seeing the finish up close explains in two minutes what has taken several paragraphs here. In the meantime, you can take a look at the gold-plated brass earrings we currently have in our collection.
