I work with gold filled metal, and i do the same things i do to my sterling silver to make it shiny in the end, but for some reason the gold filled always tarnishes so fast?!?  Is there some technique that anyone knows to keep you gold filled jewelry shiny longer?  I make a lot of my things matte, rather than a shiny, could that be it?  any advice would be wonderful!!

thanks!

chrissy

I'm guessing that your gold filled is 10k because pure gold doesn't tarnish; it's the alloy that it's mixed with that's discolouring.  In 10k, you have more alloy than gold so perhaps 14k gold fill might work better for you.

 

Here's a link that talks more (a LOT more - lol!!!)  about tarnish and gold: http://www.gold.org/jewellery/technology/caratage/tarnishing.html

Thats really interesting because gold-filled is not supposed to tarnish (or at least the variety that Rio sells). I've purchased both gold-filled sheet and wire from Rio and some of it has been sitting around or worn for about 3 years tarnish free. Where did you purchase your gold filled from? Did they give you any information about how they make their gold filled?

I have 12k gf and i dont have that problem either

Great article Llisa.

Aaron

Thanks for all of the info.  I got my gold filled metal from lonniesinc.com,  they said it was 12/20 gold filled?  All I know is that i my stuff was showing at a festival and when i got it back have of my pieces were discolored and tarnished?  I guess thats a good sign that people were touching and looking at my pieces but i am sure at the end of the festival people were not interested in buying a tarnished piece.  Maybe i'll try to order from someone else from now on?  So Rio grande has good gold filled metal?  thanks for the article too- it helped!!

chrissy  

Rio Grande only sells 14/20 gold-filled, which means that it's 1/20th 14 karat gold by weight (or 5% 14 karat). Gold-filled metal is made by pressure-bonding a layer of gold to a base metal core (in Rio's case they use brass). I'm not familiar with lonniesinc.com, but 12/20 gold-filled means that it's 1/20th by weight 12 karat gold. I still can't figure out why your wire tarnished, yes its 12 karat versus 14 karat, but its still not supposed to tarnish. Did your work get wet at the festival? Are you sure it's really tarnish and not just dirty from a lot of people handling it? Is there any way you sanded through the gold-filled layer and were left with brass (which tarnishes very easily)? I'm pretty stumped ... but I've always purchased my gold-filled through Rio and never had a problem. Good luck!

I can't figure it out either??  MAybe because they were a matte finish and not shiny?  Could that be it?  It seems like its always happening- i just made some new items out of the gold filled and they were matte, wore them for a day and now they are darker?  I am so frustrated!

So I finally purchased my gold filled metal from Rio Grande, double clad, 14/20- and i finished a piece, which was a charm on a necklace, and once again i got that brassy dark color on part of the piece after it was worn a couple times.  Has anyone ever finished their gold filled in a matte finish, where it stayed the same color, if so tell me your secret??  I find when I finish it in the glossy finish- it does not happen, but i want it matte! 

 I use gold fill (primarily from RioGrande) and love it.  I make wire jewelry with it.  Most of what I make goes either to my wife or  a family member, and some I sell.  It always looks great with no tarnish. 

Having said that, let me make an observation.  I have a friend who raves about his copper bracelet that he wears all the time to relieve pain in his joints.  I tried to wear one and my arm immediately turned green and my joints hurt more.  My wife wears a copper bracelet on her ankle and thinks it reduces some foot pain and it doesn't turn green.  My point is, the same metal reacts differently on different people.  It sounded like you made an item out of double clad 14/20 gold fill sheet.  While the two main surfaces are well covered with gold, the cut edge exposes the underlying base metal which is likely mostly copper.  So if you are (like me) one of those who reacts quickly to copper, that may be enough to get this result. 

Maybe it would help if you coated the edge of the sheet with clear nail polish occasionally. 

 You said MATTE FINISH didn't you? The gold layer on GF is not very thick. If you abrade it with a wire brush or file (or even a tripoli wheel) you can go right through the gold into the brass base. The brass will discolor. If it is the matte areas that are discoloring, I fear that may be your problem.

GF does get dirty and will usually clean up nicely with a rinse or swish in warm water with mild soap or dilute sudsey ammonia. Rinse it off well and set to to dry.