Gold plated or gilded?
Fine gold or 18 carat gold?

What does it all mean?
Let’s explain!

When we talk about quality for a gold-plated jewel, we need to know 2 things:
The gold assaying (or karats)
&
& the thickness

Karats, what is it?

Pure gold (1000/1000 or 24 karats) called "fine gold" is a soft metal. Therefore it is quickly damaged (scratches, impacts...).

It is therefore mixed with other metals to acquire hardness and resistance, this is called gold alloy.

This alloy can be made with copper, silver or other metals.

The more gold you find in the alloy, the more beautiful the color of the gold will remain over time.

At Ana & Cha, we use 75% (18 karat) gold for our plating, which means that we mix 75% of pure gold and 25% of other metals. It is a recognized quality standard because it is resistant and keeps its beautiful color. Our plating does not blacken or redden.

The thickness

After the gold quality, we have to pay attention to the quantity of gold plated. And there, we talk about gilding or plating

Gilding doesn't mean anything until you know the thickness of the gold.

The thickness of a gilding is rarely over 1 micron, often 0.5 micron or less.

Gold plated means something. And Cocorico, it is a French standard!

It means that the manufacturer commits to applying a minimum thickness of 3 microns of gold on the whole jewel (it's at least 3 times more than a gilded jewel!)

In addition, the manufacturer is required to affix its hallmark on the jewel as a guarantee of quality!

The hallmark is discreetly inserted into a small square on your jewellery.

At Ana & Cha, we make gold-plated jewellery! We apply 3 microns of gold on all of our jewels and specifically 5 microns on the rings with stones. The gold, which is 90% recycled, is plated on a lead-free, cadmium-free, nickel-free, non-allergic brass baseAll our jewelry is hallmarked, so we are committed to quality!

All our jewellery is hallmarked, so we are committed to quality!