There are different types of plating and knowing which kind they are is important as to how you care for your pieces.

Our plated jewelry pieces have 2.5 microns thick of gold.

The Federal Trade commission labels items as “gold plated” at 0.5 microns and “heavily gold plated” at 2.5 microns. What is the difference between gold-filled and gold plating? Gold filled has about 2 or 3 layers of actual gold mixed with other metals.

Gold plated jewelry is made through a electroplating process taking a base metal and putting a thin gold layer on top.
Because that layer is so much thicker on gold filled jewerly it means it lasts longer and stands up to wear and tear better better then gold-plated. Determining how long gold plated jewerly can last is difficult because it is dependent on many factors. On average about a year or two depending how you care for it.

Of course theres other determining factors like how often you wear it, if you keep it out of the water, if its banging against a watch or other braclelets/necklaces, how often you wash your hands for rings, other elements that can cause damage in the outside world etc.

Typically when the plating is thick like ours, it lasts longer then a piece with thin plating. What is Vermeil ? Vermeil is a sterling silver piece of jewelry plated with at least 2.5 microns of gold and at least 10k or higher in order to call it Vermeil. It is created by using electroplating the silver with gold, an electrical current to bind the two metals together.

Sterling Silver is a very soft porous material much softer then brass so it absorbs more gold in the plating press which is why its considered to last longer. When the gold plating does begin to fade what do I do? We believe in sustainability which is why we have a plating program. You can send us an email at hello@byhues.com to take advantage of our plating program to have the piece refurbished like new.