Building a jewelry collection takes time and of course, money. It can be easy to put together a good collection and one that you can expect to pass on to loved ones. You should have a good mix of different types of jewelry in your collection.
You can easily combine fine jewelry and gemstones with costume jewelry. Another great way to round out a collection is by bringing in precious metals. Very often jewelry does not retain the value it has at the time of purchase. One way to get quality at a price that will work for any budget is to shop for gold plated jewelry.
There are distinct advantages and disadvantages to buying pieces like this and adding them to a collection. Here are just some of the positive aspects and negative aspects of gold jewelry purchases.
The process of gold plating occurs with a piece of metal or alloy being covered with another type of metal. You could have a copper ring onto which gold is layered. This would turn that ring into a gold plated ring. It would still have some value as the gold plating would be done with real gold. It would, however, cost less than a ring made of solid gold.
Buying jewelry with gold plating is easier to do if you have to stick to a budget. You can buy stylish pieces that will eventually need to be replaced with trendier jewelry without having to worry so much about the money spent on them. You can also afford to buy more at once so you can easily end up with a necklace and bracelet set for a lot less than the individual pieces would cost if they were pure gold.
There are some disadvantages. You cannot expect to get your gold plated jewelry replated always. The more complex a piece is, the harder this is to have done for a low price. Most gold plating will fade away over time and replating is a necessity. However, this is dictated by the thickness of the jewelry itself together with how often you wear your jewelry.
If you are looking to buy jewelry that you know you will wear infrequently, gold plated items are ideal. It makes it easy to replace them with different styles as they change and evolve, too. Gold plated items are also decent quality.
If you are planning on wearing something every day such as a wedding band, it makes more sense to invest in something that is not gold plate. You would want solid gold for an item like this. Before buying plated jewelry, make sure that you are informed of all metals it contains, especially when it comes to the layer under the plating.
Many people are allergic to metal like nickel which can be found in gold plating. Once the plating wears away the allergen can cause itching and discoloration to the skin. Gold plated items are still a great value to add to any collection now and in the future.