From someone who sells hundreds of pieces of gold-tone costume jewelry each year: let's talk varying degrees of quality and some misconceptions when it comes to "gold" jewelry.
The top three jewelry-related questions that we get at Blue Suede Vintage are:
- Is this real gold?
- Can I wear it in the shower/swimming pool/ocean?
- Will it tarnish? And/or will it turn my skin green?
I can answer some of those, but let's first break down each quality level of gold or gold tone jewelry. These are listed from the highest quality/most expensive to the lowest quality/least expensive.
"Real" Gold: solid 24k or less
As I'm writing this, the price of gold is at an all-time high (over $4,600 PER OUNCE, Jan 2026). So in short, when you're asking if the $10 pair of earrings that you have in your hand is real gold... the answer is always going to be no. Unless you're in a magical land of insanely cheap jewelry, in which case, I would like to join.
Twenty-four karat gold is the highest "purity" of gold that you can buy, and it's usually going to be the option with the richest or butteriest color. But 24k is also the softest gold, which doesn't make it ideal for all kinds of jewelry.
The lowest karat of gold is usually 10k, but I've seen 8-9k in very old pieces. This makes it the least pure real gold that you can buy, meaning it is also the cheapest.
Currently, Blue Suede Vintage does not carry any real gold or fine jewelry, but maybe one day we will!
Gold-Filled Jewelry: GF
Many of my favorite Victorian jewelry pieces are gold filled, often marked as "GF." This is not real, "pure" gold. It means the piece has a thick layer of any karat of gold around a non-gold base metal (copper, brass, nickel, or a combination).
The idea is that a thick layer of gold may wear down some over time, but it should not wear enough to reveal the non-gold base metal beneath. Gold filled is less expensive than real gold but more expensive than gold plate.
Gold Vermeil Jewelry
Gold vermeil is once again a layer of any karat of gold around a base metal, but the layer is usually a little thinner than gold filled (and thicker than gold plate, but we'll get to that). Also, specifically with gold vermeil the base metal will always be sterling silver. The base metal may be higher quality than whatever comes in your gold filled piece, but there is less gold within the piece overall.
Gold Plate Jewelry: GP
Most of what we sell at Blue Suede Vintage is gold plated jewelry, or costume jewelry. Gold plate is the thinnest layer of gold around any base metal. Twelve and 14kts are commonly used.
Not always, but often, our vintage costume jewelry that is signed--or stamped with a brand name like Monet, Napier, or Trifari--is going to be higher quality and well-plated. If we have found a brand signature on the piece, we will almost always mark that on the tag.
The risk that you take with buying pre-loved jewelry is that if the piece was worn often by its original owner, some of the plating may be worn off. Always inspect the pieces that you are interested in purchasing, but we try to always reflect an item's condition in its resale price.
Gold Electroplate Jewelry: GE/HGE
In the 1970s and 80s, it was very common to see "GE" or "HGE" which means gold electroplate or heavy gold electroplate. This references the method by which the piece was gold plated, with HGE thought of as being a bit higher quality than GE.
Can I wear my costume jewelry in the shower/swimming pool/ocean?
First, I wouldn't recommend wearing any jewelry in the ocean. Too scary for me. But I definitely would not recommend wearing costume jewelry in any of these situations because you're just exposing it to additional wear and possibly chemicals. It's best to leave it all off if you want to prolong the life of your pieces.
I don't even recommend that my customers wear any of their fine jewelry in the shower unless they are willing to clean or have it cleaned regularly. Especially when you're dealing with diamonds and gemstones, it's amazing how much soap, shampoo, and general buildup can get on your jewelry and dull the stones or shine.
Will this jewelry tarnish? And/or will it turn my skin green?
Unless you are purchasing real gold--fine jewelry--there is a chance that your piece will tarnish at some point. You likely won't have tarnish or wear issues with new gold-filled pieces. But if you're buying something like an antique gold-filled piece that could have already been previously worn hundreds (thousands?) of times, you may not know how much of that gold fill is left. It's possible the gold could wear off at some point.
A piece will turn your skin green if fill/plating wears off and the base metal is copper OR if the piece did not contain any gold to begin with. When purchasing costume jewelry--and most of ours is priced $5-30--it's just the risk that you take.