According to Rong, you should be able to maintain high-quality gold-plated jewelry for up to five years with proper care. Gold plating can fade and tarnish over time, losing its initial shine and luster. This is common and can happen regardless of the quality of the part. However, many people wonder why gold-plated jewelry tarnishes.
After all, isn't gold an inert metal that doesn't rust or corrode? The lifespan of your jewelry depends on a couple of things. The first is what the gold layer then looks like. Gold-plated jewelry items are the best for “current” trends. By having a gold-plated jewel of a particular style, you can be part of the trend, without worrying about having made a big investment in something that won't last long.
Therefore, gold-plated jewelry has many design possibilities and can be used for many different occasions. You can expect your Agapé gold-plated jewelry to last 5 to 6 years before it starts to show signs of wear and tear. However, you can even prolong it with proper care and maintenance, and there's no reason why it shouldn't last a lifetime. Gold plating has different levels of quality, largely depending on the thickness and purity of the gold coating, the base metal used for the piece and the quality of the craftsmanship.
Gold-plated items have a base metal underneath the gold plate, such as copper or silver, making the piece of jewelry stronger and less likely to bend, even though these jewelry metals tarnish. After all, gold is one of the most valuable resources in the world thanks to its durable properties and, provided it is properly cared for, it can last a long time. Gold is a very soft and malleable metal; the higher the carat, the softer and more malleable the item is. It also significantly slows down the discoloration of gold, since there is more material to begin with.
After a few weeks of wearing your gold-plated jewelry, the plating will likely start to chip, wear, or peel off. This is very important as the dirt and oil on the base metal will prevent the gold layer from adhering properly. Gold must be alloyed with other metals or plated with other base metals for the item to be strong enough to form and shape jewelry. The main reason people buy plated jewelry is because it is a kind of imitation of real jewelry and, unless it discolors, no one will know that it is not real gold.
However, even this amount of gold plating is still very fine in terms of value and the main advantage is that plating lasts longer when it is thicker. There are several practices and methods that have been developed over the years with the increasing popularity of gold-plated jewelry to help prolong its lifespan and prevent the glitter of gold from tarnishing and fading.
