Gold Jewelry

Listed on this page are our fine and antique and vintage gold jewelry pieces for sale. Most solid gold jewelry sold today is either 12kt, 14kt, or 18 kt. Other types of “gold” jewelry include these categories:

Rolled Gold: Rolled gold pieces are made by bonding through heat and pressure a very thin sheet of solid gold of a specific karat purity onto a base metal (typically brass). Jewelry made from rolled gold wear very well over time and are sometimes hard to tell from solid gold pieces. Pieces are usually marked "rolled gold", "RG" or "RGP" or “14 KT RG”.

Gold Filled: Gold-filled is composed of a solid layer of a specific karat gold, bonded with heat and pressure onto a base metal such as brass. A piece might be marked “14 kt GF” meaning a thin layer of 14kt solid gold was bonded onto a base metal. High quality gold filled pieces have the look, luster, and beauty of solid gold piece and generally wear well. Today, the minimum layer of gold in an item stamped "GF" must equal at least 1/20 the weight of the total item, so you may also see piece marked "1/20 14 kt GF,” and on some antique pieces (for example pocket watches), the gold may be warranted for number of years against wear.

Gold Plated: Gold-plated jewelry are made of base metal with a very thin layer of gold applied to the surface by the process of electroplating, where electricity deposits gold on jewelry that act as electrodes . Gold plated items may be marked “EP” or “GEP” but are most often not marked by manufacture process. The layer of gold is very thin it will wear off much quicker than gold filled pieces. These pieces will often be sold with makers marks as part of major costume jewelry lines.

Vermeil: Vermeil (pronounced ver-may’) is gold plated solid sterling silver. They are easy to identify because they are marked "sterling" or "925" but are gold colored. These pieces are also called "gold on sterling" jewelry, but should not be confused with miked gold and sterling or gold inlay pieces.

Gold Washed: "Gold washed" or sometimes “gold finished” jewelry are base metal pieces with an extremely thin layer of gold typically applied by a dipping process. The gold finish wear away much quicker than gold plate, gold-filled, or rolled gold. The pieces are unmarked in terms of manufacturing process but may have a makers mark.

Gold tone: Gold tone pieces are those that have the color of gold, but actually have no gold content.