Gold Plating – Isn’t it Rich?
Gold plating is the process of coating base metals like brass and steel or even copper and silver with a thin overlay of gold. Typically, the whole process involves electrochemical or even chemical procedures. Strictly speaking, when creating a gold plate, the base metal is submerged into an electroplating solution where a piece of solid gold is added, also referred to as an anode. Then, by applying electric current, gold is overlaid onto the base metal. It must be pointed out that gold plating only adds a thin layer of this precious metal, so it is highly possible that the distinct yellow metallic color of gold can wear off in time.
Another form of gold plating is known as gold filling. The difference between the conventional way of plating and filling lies in the gold plating thickness and process of adding the gold layer. In gold filling, the base metal is covered with not just one, but several sheets of gold layer. This means that the gold coating added is thicker than ordinary gold plating. Also, the gold filling is attached through mechanical means. It must be emphasized that the base metal is not literally filled with gold. Rather, just like in plating, gold is added on the surface of the base metal. Gold filling is typically used in jewelry making, while gold plating has found its use in electronics.
Indeed, the process of adding a layer of gold onto base metals has been practiced for centuries now. It has been a focal segment of the jewelry business and is now playing an important role in the electronics industry. In practice, gold plating is done using different degrees of gold fineness that can go anywhere from 10 to 18 karats. Also, gold plating thickness depends a lot on the usage of the particular object or jewelry. For instance, gold plated cigarette cases can have gold that is 75 to 400 microns thick, that’s about 7.5% to 40% of a millimeter; 1000 microns are the equivalent of just 1 millimeter.
The thickness or the karat of gold deposited onto the surface of an object can be controlled during the process of gold electroplating. The really hard wearing gold plated objects have at least 5% gold in their total weight, and usually 14 karats of the precious metal has been added. Always remember that no matter how much gold was used to plate your jewelry, or any other object for that matter, only with proper care will you be able to ensure that your gold plated objects will last a lifetime.
