How Long Does The Gold Plating on Silver Jewelry Last?

The answer to this purely depends on the extent of usage, the jewellery type and adherence to simple care instructions. We make our gold plated jewellry to last forever, however, re-gold plating may be required after extensive use.

Fading of Color with Usage

Just like garments lose their vibrancy over time, gold plated silver jewelry will have some color fading as the delicate gold layer atop the silver base gradually diminishes with wear. However, unlike clothes - where irreversible wear and tear happens at the fabric level, sterling silver jewellery is  physically very resilient. Typically, noticeable fading will only happen after about 15-20 wears - given that proper handling and storage instructions are followed. 

Some Products Fade Faster Than Others

Jewelry products like rings fade faster than, say a necklace set because of the rubbing of the skin with the inside part of the ring and also that the fingers tend to get sweaty fast. Similarly, inside rim of a bangle or backside of earrings near the stem will tend to fade first.

Basic Care to Prolong Life and Prevent Tarnishing

Understanding Why Silver Tarnishes

Despite the thin layer of gold on the surface, the underlying sterling silver tends to react when exposed to certain chemicals, particularly sulfides, nitrides and chlorides. 

There are several sources of such chemicals. The atmosphere is polluted. Social gatherings, where such ethnic jewelry is typically worn, tend to have high concentrations of perfumes etc in the air. Sweating is an unavoidable natural phenomenon even in cold weather and human sweat contains many chemicals.

Exposure to such chemicals for long continuous periods allows them to react with underlying silver and cause it to "blacken" or tarnish by formation of compounds like silver sulfide etc.

Tarnishing Can be Prevented, or Significantly Slowed

Fortunately, such chemical reactions unfold at a slow pace. If we can minimise the exposure time of the jewellery to these chemicals, we can prevent tarnish. After all, ethnic Indian jewelry is only worn for brief periods, residing mostly in storage.

It is paramount to safeguard proper storage and maintain the surface of the jewelry free of chemical during this storage phase and increase the life of the gold plating. 

Simple & Practical Instructions to Protect your Gold Plated Silver Jewelry from Tarnish

Many websites suggest a gentle wipe to clean - a method we find impractical as it can't reach all areas of jewelry. Others insist on the generic warning to 'Keep away from moisture and perfumes' - which is even more impractical. Think of it: If the scent of a perfume reaches your nostrils so you can smell it, it is also reaching your jewelry - even if you aren't the one wearing the perfume!

Our jewellery is washable and the best way to clean it, is to rinse with regular tap water followed by extensive drying with a household hair blow drier. You may also soak the jewelry in soap water for even more thorough cleaning. The whole pre-storage cleaning procedure takes 3-5 minutes, but will go a long way in extending the life of the gold plating.

Clean the jewelry, ideally after every wear to wash away these chemicals from the surface before they are able to significantly attack the underlying silver base. Then store it in ziplocks to isolate from the atmosphere. Do not store in fancy velvet jewellery boxes - they contain nasty chemicals behind the velvet. 

 

Summary

Our gold plated silver jewellery is built to last forever. One can easily prolong the life of the gold plating by following simple post wear procedure. Good news is that even tarnished silver jewelry can be gold plated again to original new condition.

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