Gold marketing deceptions and why transparency matters — Sharon Z Jewelry

Why the deception?

And why is a solid silver necklace so cheap to begin with? And why are consumers on the hook to do the work of discovering what this necklace is actually made of?

Side note – yes I said it – silver jewelry shouldn’t be cheap either. Silver has all of the same labor issues that gold does and labor should be paid fairly. Ok back to gold.

I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST GOLD VERMEIL. Really. A thick layer of gold over silver is a perfectly lovely piece of jewelry to buy. Same with gold fill and gold plate.

If your budget doesn’t have the room for solid gold, and if you are willing to do the upkeep on plated jewelry (it needs occasional re-plating), then please spend within your budget – no judgements here. But if a customer sees a listing like this and compares it to the same necklace in solid gold, they will absolutely get sticker shock, and think that a jeweler is overcharging them. They aren’t.

Designers working in gold vermeil and gold fill shouldn’t be embarrassed about the materials they are working with – there is no reason not to be up front with consumers about what they sell. Plenty of successful brands sell both and CLEARLY STATE WHAT THE JEWELRY IS MADE OF.

Really. Just be honest, be up front and I promise it will be fine.

Honesty in marketing is one of the best ways to create lasting relationships with your customers.

But marketing like the image I posted above just creates more myths that need dispelling.

End rant.

Have questions about gold? post it in the comments below!

This post originally appeared as a Twitter thread here