What Is "Gold-Filled"?

It is a layer of 10Kt or better gold mechanically bonded under heat and pressure to one or more surfaces of a supporting base metal, then rolled or drawn to a given thickness.

In the jewelry industry the quantity of gold must be at least 1/20th by weight of the total product. Under FTC regulations, a product may be marked as 14, 12 or 10Kt Gold-Filled. Karat measurement of gold content must be part of the marking.

These are minimum standards.Thus one might find 14/20GF or even 14 /10GF as a stamp to denote 1/20 14Kt Gold-Filled and 1/10 14Kt Gold-Filled.                        

Gold-Filled items are generally considered life-time products, and the gold layer will not wear off, as it will in electroplated products. We do very occasionally find an individual who cannot wear this material, but it is extremely rare.

What is "Rolled Gold Plate"? It is made the same way as Gold-Filled but with a lower gold content. The minimum standard is that 1/40th of the total weight of the product must be gold. Thus a product marked 10K RGP is 1/40th gold by weight.