Thread: So what exactly is gold wash and..

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

...and gold plate is thicker - typically not less than 0.7 micron (heavy gold electroplate may be a bit thinner). Gold wash, sometimes called 'flash gold' or 'gold tone' can be thinner than 0.1 micron, and I dont think that there is a minimum karat standard for it.

The thicker platings, including Heavy Gold Electroplate must have minimum of 10 karat. The trouble is, the higher the purity, the softer the coating...

Regards,
Neil

Neil,
Remember gold filled, sometimes called "rolled gold"?
An item would be marked something like "RG or GF 1/20 14k". That meant the total weight of the item was 1/20 14K. It was a very heavy gold covering. I think it was mechanically applied to the base metal. I have an old Cross pen that is gold filled.