Gold-plated or gilded?
Fine gold or 18 carats?

What does all this mean?
We explain it to you!

When we talk about quality for a gold-coated jewel, there are 2 things to know:
The fineness (or carat weight) of the gold
&
The thickness

What is the fineness (or carat weight)?

Pure gold (1000 thousandths or 24 carats) called "fine gold" is a soft metal. Therefore, it wears out quickly (scratches, impacts...).

We will therefore mix it with other metals to gain hardness and resistance, this is what we call the gold alloy.

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

The richer the alloy is in gold, the more beautiful the color of the gold will remain over time.

At Ana & Cha, for our plating, we use 750/000 gold (18 carats): this means that we put 75% pure gold and 25% other metals such as silver and copper. It is a recognized quality standard because it is resistant and retains its beautiful color. Our plating does not tarnish and does not turn red.

The thickness

After the quality of the gold, we need to look at the amount of gold deposited. And here, we talk about gilding or plating.

Gilded means nothing until we know the thickness of the gold deposited.

The thickness of a gilding is rarely more than 1 micron, often 0.5 micron or even less.

Gold-plated means something. And Cocorico, it's a French standard!

This means that the manufacturer commits to depositing a gold thickness of 3 microns minimum on the entirety of your jewel (that's at least 3 times more than for gilded!)

Moreover, the manufacturer is obliged to affix his responsibility hallmark on the jewel because he commits to the quality!

The hallmark is discreetly inserted in a small square on your jewel.

At Ana & Cha, we make gold-plated jewelry! We deposit 3 microns of gold on all our jewelry and 5 microns particularly on rings with stones. The gold, recycled at 90%, is deposited on a hypoallergenic brass base, lead-free, cadmium-free, and nickel-free.

All our jewelry is hallmarked, so we commit to the quality!