You know the feeling. You buy a piece of jewellery — not the cheapest, because you wanted something beautiful. A few months later you see it: silver-coloured patches where your pendant moves the most. On the back. Near the clasp. Along the edge.

Not through neglect. Not because you treated it badly. But because a choice was already made at the beginning — a choice about material — that made this inevitable.

In this blog we explain why gold on sterling silver is so vulnerable, why gold on surgical steel has a fundamentally different lifespan, and which details make the difference between a piece of jewellery you still wear with pleasure in two years and one that makes you feel ashamed when someone gets too close.

 

 

The basic problem: plating is always a layer

Every gold-coloured piece of jewellery under the price of solid gold is plated. That means: there is a thin layer of gold on a base material. How well that layer adheres, how thick it is, and how the base material reacts to your skin and environment — that determines how long the jewellery looks good.

With sterling silver (925 silver), the base material is already a precious metal in itself. That sounds like an advantage. But that is exactly where the pitfall lies.

Why gold on silver wears off faster — and exactly where

Sterling silver is soft. That is a property of the material. And that softness has consequences for how well a layer of gold adheres to it and how long it lasts.

With traditional plating — electrolytic plating, the most commonly used method — the jewellery is dipped in a bath and the gold is drawn onto the surface via an electric current. Sounds technical. What it means in practice: the layer of gold does not adhere equally well everywhere. On flat, smooth surfaces it adheres reasonably well. But on edges, connection points, links, clasps and engraved details — exactly the places that experience the most friction — the layer is thinner and less even.

Add the softness of silver to that, and you have a combination where:

— The layer of gold wears off faster in high-friction areas

— The silver underneath oxidises (discolours) more easily through sweat and moisture

— You therefore see silver-coloured patches exactly in the most visible places

 

That is not bad luck. That is material behaviour. And it is predictable from the moment the jewellery is made.

Gold on steel: a fundamentally different base

Surgical steel — and specifically 316L stainless steel, the standard for high-quality jewellery — is harder, denser in structure and chemically inert. The latter means: it reacts almost not at all to sweat, water, perfume or skin acids. It does not oxidise. It does not discolour.

But it goes further than just the base material.

PVD plating: not dipped, but anchored

We use PVD plating — Physical Vapour Deposition. That is a different process than electrolytic plating. Instead of dipping the jewellery in a liquid, the gold is evaporated in a vacuum chamber and literally anchored into the top layer of the steel. Not on it. In it.

The result:

— The layer of gold is 5 to 10 times thicker than with standard plating

— The adhesion is even — also on edges, links and clasps

— The material underneath does not react to moisture or acids

— The colour remains consistent, even after repeated contact with water, sweat or perfume

 

The colour: why cheap steel still looks different

Not every plated steel piece of jewellery is the same. And here is a distinction that is rarely explained.

The gold tone of PVD plating depends on the exact temperature, duration and composition in the vacuum process. Cheaper manufacturers do not standardise this per batch. The result: two pieces of jewellery from the same collection can be slightly different in colour. Sometimes yellower. Sometimes more rose than intended. Sometimes duller.

We tune the gold tone per production to one reference: the warm, muted gold tone of fine jewellery. Not too yellow. Not too red. The colour that disappears next to solid gold instead of clashing with it.

Each piece is also polished by hand. Not mechanically — that gives a too uniform, flat shine that looks cheap. Polishing by hand accentuates the three-dimensional shapes of the jewellery: the highest points light up, the depths retain character. That is the difference between jewellery that looks made and jewellery that looks lived.

 

 

Small batches, conscious choices

We make jewellery in limited quantities. Not as a marketing trick, but because quality control at this level does not tolerate scale. Each piece is individually checked for colour consistency, layer thickness and finish. What is not good does not go out the door.

If something is sold out, it does not always come back. That is the choice we consciously make.

What this means for you

When you buy a piece of jewellery, you buy a decision. That decision is already made before you see it — in the material, the plating process, the thickness of the layer and the consistency of the colour.

A piece of plated silver can look beautiful on day one. But in the places that experience the most friction — your neck, your wrist, the clasp you open every day — the material begins to show its true nature.

That is not a matter of poor quality in the classic sense. It is material behaviour. And if you know how it works, you can make a better choice.