Quality. 

It's so important!

And something we take pride in and stand behind at Katie Dean Jewelry.

That's why for our rings, necklace charms and portions of our earrings, we use more 18k gold in our plating process for thicker, sturdier plating and exclusively use gold filled and vermeil chains for our necklaces and earring posts.

Gold Plating on our rings, necklace charms and the top charm of our earrings, are of remarkably good quality. We use 2.5 microns of 18k gold (micron is a unit of measurement) in our plating process which is considered heavy plating in the industry. Virtually the best you can get before making them gold filled which is exponentially more expensive to make because of the difficulty in the production process. Our plated pieces are made with a brass base, then plated with nickel (nickel makes the gold plating shine) and on top of that they are plated with 18k gold. *Our earrings are made nickel free. 

Gold Filled chains and the remaining components of our pieces, are made with a process that involves pressure bonding multiple layers of 14k gold to the base metal chain of jewelers brass or silver. This creates a top layer of gold consisting of typically 5% 14k gold. It may not sound like a lot but it truly is much better and can mean that your piece will last exponentially longer than a plated chain would. 

The benefit of buying necklaces with gold filled chain are numerous. To name a few: it is great for sensitive skin (hypoallergenic for mild cases), it will not rust, the gold doesn't flake off and we have not encountered situations where it turns skin green. If you have a severe metal allergy we do recommend that you buy solid gold only but if you want to experiment with gold fill jewelry please do so at your own risk. *Our gold plated pieces also do not flake off or turn your skin green but if you have skin sensitivities we recommend that you stick with gold filled or solid gold jewelry.

With any jewelry, the way you care for your piece will make a huge difference in the life span of your jewels. You can read more about that here. 

Please keep in mind we do not replace or exchange pieces that show aging once they have been worn since everyones body chemistry is different and will affect the jewelry differently therefore making these factors outside of our control. For more information on how to properly care for your jewelry, please refer to our Jewelry Care page.

As always, please feel free to get in touch with any questions! You can email us at hello@katiedeanjewelry, leave a comment below or talk with us on Instagram @katiedeanjewelry.

Thank you for supporting a Made in America brand!

xoxo, Katie