When considering what metal gold plated chains are made of, there are essentially 2 parts to consider: the gold plated layer which you can see and the material that lies beneath this layer which you cannot see.

The Visible: At The Chain Hut the visible gold plated element of our Gold Plated Chains and bracelets are genuine 9ct Rose Gold or Yellow Gold. However the availability of Gold plated chains do exist with alternative carats of plating. 9ct Yellow gold in particular is a lighter colour, much like solid 9ct Yellow Gold. Other carats (ct) including 14ct a more popular colour in the United States, 18, 22, 24 carat are also options that can be produced. As the number of carats increase, the tone of gold becomes darker with 24ct gold being the darkest. 24ct gold in colour is Gold in its most natural unaltered appearance as mined from the earth. The thickness of the gold plating can even be measured. The gold plating can either be thin, known as flash plating or thicker, known as microns. Flash plating generally is better suited for occasional wear and will gradually wear away if worn daily. This is compared with micron level gold plating owing to the layer of gold itself being much less. At The Chain Hut our Gold plated chains and bracelets are plated with a premium layer of genuine 9ct Gold that is double the standard of the majority of gold plated jewellery.

The Invisible: The process of plating real gold itself can be applied on many other metals and objects, whether mobile phones, key rings and such like. In fashion jewellery gold plated chains hidden beneath the visible gold plating can be made from cheaper unknown base metals or non-precious metals such as copper or steel and there’s almost no limit on what gold can be plated upon. But beneath the plated layer of our 9ct Gold Plated Chains and bracelets, lies only genuine precious metal: solid Sterling Silver. Our Gold plated chains conform to the highest standards of safety in line with European REACH regulations that prohibits the use of toxic metals such as nickel, lead, cadmium and others, making all of our Gold Plated jewellery safe to wear. As a certified Assay Assured retailer, you can have full peace of mind our Gold plated jewellery is what we say it is and is crafted with genuine precious metal from the surface to the core.