14kt Gold Fill
14kt Gold Fill
The karatage used to describe gold-filled pertains to the karatage of the gold layer component of the product. This portion of the finished product must be at least 1/20 of the metal’s total weight according to Federal Trade Commission regulations. Therefore products described as 14/20 GF are 14kt gold-filled items with 1/20 gold content.
Gold-filled items are very durable. The gold layer will not wear off, as it may in plated products. It is a lifetime product.
14kt Gold-Filled is NOT the same as 14kt solid gold. It is an alternative gold product with less solid gold content. Jewelers are legally required to specify “Gold-Filled” when selling these products. Shortening the materials descriptions to just”14kt” or “14kt gold” is fraudulent.
Gold-Filled sheet metal and wire are made by bonding surface layers of fold to a supporting layer of brass with heat and pressure and then rolling, or drawing out, the metal to a desired thickness. The finished product has a surface layer of fold which is very thick compared to rolled gold plate or the heaviest electroplate (“gold plated”) materials.