Affordable Luxury in Fine Wire Sculpted Jewelry
What is Gold Filled?
Rolled gold or gold
filled material is created by the 150 year old process of joining
base metal with an outer layer of gold. The base
metal can be copper, an alloy or even silver.
Rolled gold is processed as sheet and it is used for pens, watch cases
and high fashion jewelry as well as household items.
Gold filled is processed as wire and is used in this jewelry. This process is
advantageous for several reasons.
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Gold filled wire is created with heat and pressure just like
a diamond.
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Gold plated wire is dipped in gold.
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Gold filled wire has 100 times more gold in gold filled than
gold plated.
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Reduced cost for jewelry items without limiting the beauty,
durability and long-term wear of the piece.
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Thickness of gold, karat purity and color can be controlled
within this process.
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The wire can be created for strength, softness or hardness
or formability by changing out the base metal without changing the beauty of
the product.
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Wire is usually called Gold Filled while plate is normally
called Rolled Gold in the industry, but you might not find this designation
in common usage.
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Gold filled is also sometimes called gold plate or gold
overlay
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Gold filled wire must be at least 10 karat gold
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The gold layer must be at least 1/20th by weight of the
total combined weight of the wire to be considered gold filled.
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If gold filled is marked, the mark says "14 Karat Gold
Filled".
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Gold filled wire is made in the USA
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Vermiel is gold plate (or gold filled) over sterling silver
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