Gold Plated Flatware Q & A

Silverware
Anti-Tarnish Bag

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A. Gold plated flatware is very corrosion resistant and can be stored safely practically anywhere. The problem you should be addressing is scratching and wearing of the gold surface -- the items should not be stored in contact with each other (even tissue paper, plastic or thin cloth should be used to separate the items), plated items should be washed by hand and dried by hand, and in general be gentle with them.

Special care will help to prolong the condition of the surfaces. Polishing should not be necessary and will, in fact, reduce the luster of the gold (most polishes are way too abrasive for gold).

A. Hello Marcia,
What a coincidence that I came across your question! I've kept mine in the original box and each piece in its own plastic sleeve since 1990. I've always wanted a chest to store it in, but it's one of those things that I keep forgetting about. I've only used the gold set maybe two or three times since I received it. Mom always told me to hand wash it, dry it immediately and keep each piece separate while being stored.

A. Hi Joan. Gold plated flatware isn't in short supply if you have the money (about $2000 for a 48-piece to 60-piece service, but any specific pattern is probably in very short supply. Note that 'titanium gold' is not plated with gold, it is just approximately the color of gold.

But any sterling, silver plate, or stainless steel can be gold plated by a plating shop that offers it. Good luck!

Regards,

A. International Silver Company Consumer Returned Goods Dept. 175 McClellan Highway East Boston, MA 02128 phone 617-561-2200

A. I just purchased a place setting for 8 with extra pieces from Faberware, it is very pretty gold plated flatware and very reasonable, it also came in a mahogany tray with a velvet cover, I can't wait to use it on my Christmas table this year. You might want to check with Faberware to see if they have a design that would suit your purpose.

A. I have a 23k gold electroplated set. I don't know much about it other than it was made in Japan for Excel Cutlery Inc.

A. Hi Monica. Stainless is the same stainless that you are already familiar with. Zinc is a much lighter and much more corrosion-prone material.

Gold costs more than a thousand dollars an ounce, so I think you will want to minimize wear and tear on your gold surface by avoiding the dishwasher no matter how it's advertised :-) But if it's not really gold -- just something that looks gold-ish -- then, sure, you might be able to put it in the dishwasher, and you won't be risking the gold value.

A. Hi Karen. No flatware is actually solid 24-karat gold. They mean plated with 24-karat gold. Gold plated and gold electroplated are the same thing, and all of the plating is probably 24-karat gold. All except the "gold tone", which probably isn't real gold, but some kind of bronze or PVD coating. The gold plating must be hand washed and will wear off depending on how thick it is. If some sources list a specific thickness, it's probably thicker than the others and longer lasting.

The thickness can range from almost nothing for most gold plated flatware, to very thick for super premium flatware. Most of it may well cost about the same, but you can also get gold plated flatware that costs about $4000 per piece, about a quarter million dollars for a full set :-)

Titanium gold (actually gold colored titanium nitride) is not real gold and is much less expensive, but still looks nice; and if you're paying $100 or so for 60-piece service, it's probably a gold-tone titanium nitride finish and you can probably go ahead and dishwasher it if it doesn't say not to.

Regards,

Pacific Cloth /
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A. Hi, Betty. Pacific cloth / jewelers cloth may not be totally necessary, but it won't hurt, and it will limit scuffing.

Regards,

A. Hi, Barbara.

Pure 24k gold cannot tarnish, and that gold plating is probably close to 24K. It does, however, have to be quite thick to have zero porosity (or air can attack the underlying silver). The flatware can also scratch and lose its nice polished look, so I think some sort of cloth or individual bagging is always a good idea.

Regards,

24 Kt Gold Plating Solution

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A. Hi Sandy. Yes, gold plated flatware can certainly be replated! The question is whether you can find a plating shop or silversmith to do it for you at what you feel is an affordable price.

Gold colored flatware can range from $60 for a 60-piece set of gold colored titanium nitride on stainless steel to several thousand dollars per piece for vermeil (very heavy gold plating on sterling silver), so it's very hard to say what someone else would feel is a reasonable price for replating.

Regards,

Gold test kit

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A. Hi Yasmine. The short answer is it probably doesn't matter to most people for most purposes. The longer answer is that the gold plating is so thin that it doesn't really have intrinsic value. That is, the cost of separating the very thin gold plating from the base metal can be more than, the value of the recovered gold. Because it has little intrinsic value, it's very possible that the regulatory bodies don't require marking. Nonetheless, your flatware might say 'gold plated' if in fact it is. There are 'gold test kits' which involve seeing what color a drop of acid turns, but they might stain your gold plating.

Regards,

A. Hi Steve. I think it would be better to try to sell it on eBay or Craigslist or wherever. You won't know the gold value for sure, if any, until you know the thickness of the gold, but odds are strong that is has almost no scrap value.

Regards,

A. Hi Mary Ann. We don't suggest or post suggestions of brands or sources (huh? why?), but people are very welcome to suggest that you get bronze flatware, or simulated gold via PVD titanium nitride deposition, or real gold plated, or whatever they feel is best. It's a difficult question to answer anyway because a full service of gold-toned flatware can be had for well under $100, whereas real gold plated flatware is more like $2000, and you can spend almost a quarter million dollars for super-premium super heavy gold plated sterling silver. Realistically, for most of us (the rich are different from you and me, someone once said), I think the answer is get a gold-colored set cheap, use it all the time, put it in the dishwasher, and replace it when you need to ... or ... get a $2000 real gold plated set and take very careful care of it.

Regards,

A. Hi Michel. The best way to remove those gold plated areas is probably by abrasion (sanding) rather than chemically. But, like everything else, experience is helpful ... a local jeweler can probably do it quicker & better than the average amateur.

Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Hi Dolores. Terribly sorry for your hardship :-(

Even a doctor probably wouldn't offer a response to such internet postings, and we're not doctors or cancer epidemiologists, but I have personally never heard what I have felt was a trustable report about gold, silver, german silver, or stainless steel being carcinogenic. Your doctor might possibly have a connection with a university research team or a poison control center who would be interested in what strikes you & me as something that might not be coincidental. But people eat gold as an expensive decoration on fancy desserts, so I personally doubt that the gold plating is the source of your misfortune.

Regards,

A. Hi Dorothy.

If it's not gold, the color is probably titanium nitride; this is not, as far as I've ever heard, considered to be unsafe.

But we've seen in Chinese wallboard, lead paint on McDonalds glasses, and cadmium in jewelry sold at Walmart ... so I doubt that anyone can fully assure you that some unknown brand of stainless from China is not "at all a harmful material to use" :-(

Regards,

A. Hi Carmela. Hopefully someone may tell us the history or materials of construction of your flatware. But, sorry, we don't post 'valuations'; they lead to offers to buy/sell, and before you know it we're a free eBay and a spamfest rather than a technical site anymore :-(
The best way to get approximate value without paying for an appraisal is to look for similar stuff on eBay [affil link], etsy, replacements.com, or other sites. There are many websites which will offer an appraisal for you ... but they don't do it for free.

Regards,

A. Hi David,
I hope you go to garage sales for the fun that they can be, rather than as a business ... because I don't think I can offer encouraging news :-(

Although I'm no expert, I've personally never seen a set which included two different patterns, so I'd be a bit dubious that it's a "set". There is probably no legal need to stamp flatware, but companies proud of their brand names almost always do so. Titanium nitride is a durable gold-colored coating used on inexpensive silverware, and is close enough in color to require an acid test or at least an expert eye; I don't have an expert eye, and I doubt that anyone can tell you which it is from a photo unless they know the full history of the pattern. This free site doesn't do appraisals; we'd drown under traffic if we offered to do for free what others charge for. You can retain an appraiser, but whether it would be worth it is a good question. If you have time, eBay has 10,000 listings for gold flatware (even after excluding 'Dirilyte').

Gold flatware on eBay (affil link)]

Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Contact replacements.com you can send them a photo of the item and they will tell you exactly what it is. I have sent pics of flatware & crystal and they were able to give me the information I was seeking.