Essentials Magnetic Scarf Pins

Plated Jewellery: 

If a piece of jewellery is referred to as plated or electro-plated, that means that it was made out of a strong base metal (like steel, copper, or zinc alloy), and then essentially dipped it in a softer and less robust precious metal (like gold or silver) to give it a thin layer of precious metal on the outside. In plated jewellery, the precious metal usually makes up about 0.5% of the total weight of the item.

Plating jewellery creates vibrant colours and protects your skin from allergies to the base metal, but the plating will eventually wear away to reveal the metal underneath. 

Filled Jewellery: 

If a piece of jewellery is referred to as filled, that means that it was made out of a strong base metal (like steel, copper, or zinc alloy), with a sheet of precious metal over top. This is similar to the plating process, but much more robust. In filled jewellery, the precious metal usually makes up about 5% of the total weight of the item.

Filled jewellery is a little more expensive than plated jewellery because there is more of the precious metal, but it lasts longer because the precious metal won't flake away like it will in plated jewellery, while the core metal is stronger than a solid precious metal item. 

Solid Jewellery: 

If a piece of jewellery is referred to as solid, that means it is made entirely out of the advertised precious metal, usually with a small percentage of alloy metals mixed in to make it stronger. Pure silver or gold is very soft and loses its shape swiftly, so it's alloyed with a small percentage of another metal (usually copper) to make it strong enough to stand up to day to day wear.

Solid jewellery tends to look lovely and cost more because of the larger percentage of precious metals, but it is fussier to maintain. You'll need to regularly clean it to avoid the inevitable onset of tarnish, and you may occasionally need to bend it back into shape if you notice it's starting to look a bit wonky. 

Colour-Toned Jewellery:

If a piece of jewellery is referred to as colour-toned, that means that the entire piece is made out of the strong metal (like steel, copper, or zinc alloy), and the metal has been dyed to resemble another metal (usually gold).

Colour-toned jewellery generally does not contain any precious metals. Colour-toning usually produces a darker starting colour than plating, but the colour is more reliable and will last for longer, and the overall piece is very strong and won't lose its shape. 

The Cake Metaphor:

I like to use the cake metaphor to remember the difference. 

If your jewellery has been plated, it's like a cake with a thin layer of icing on the outside and plain insides.

If your jewellery has been filled, it's like a cake with a thick layer of fondant on the outside and plain insides.

If your jewellery is solid, it's all icing and no cake. We're not judging, you do you, boo!

If you jewellery has been colour-toned, it's like a cake that has been coloured using food colouring instead of icing. 

Why Not Both?

After that cake metaphor, I bet you're asking the same question I was: But I can have coloured icing AND a pretty rainbow cake on the inside! Why can't I have the same in jewellery? 

The answer is that you can! It's quite common for manufacturers to colour tone the base metal of their plated jewellery before they plate it, because that makes it less obvious when the plating starts to wear away.  It will still fade as the precious metal wears away, but the difference is less visible.

But, most manufacturers won't tell you if they've done that, so it's kind of one of those things where you just have to hope for the best. 

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