bling aijewelry stamps · plated / filled
not solidHGE stamp on jewelry: what it means.
HGE means heavy gold electroplate: electroplated gold that's thicker than standard plating. despite marks like 18K HGE, the piece is plated base metal, not solid gold.
- metal
- heavy gold electroplate
- base metal + electroplated gold
- also stamped as
- HGE · 18K HGE · 14K HGE · H.G.E. · heavy gold electroplate
- solid or plated
- a coating over another metal
the mark
what HGE means.
in the united states, heavy gold electroplate means a layer of at least 10k gold at least 100 millionths of an inch (about 2.5 microns) thick. that's roughly fourteen times the minimum for ordinary gold electroplate.
HGE turns up often on vintage costume jewelry and rings, usually stamped 18K HGE or 14K HGE, which leads a lot of people to think the piece is solid gold.
the thicker layer lasts longer than regular plating, but it still wears through eventually, and it has no practical scrap value.
before you trust it
how to check a HGE stamp.
- read the whole stamp. letters after the number change everything: 14K GF, 14K GP, 18K HGE and 1/20 12K RGP all describe plated or filled pieces, not solid gold.
- look at the inside of rings and the edges of pendants. on older HGE pieces the gold has often worn thin enough to show brass or base metal.
questions
the HGE stamp, answered.
other stamps
every mark is searchable in the hallmark decoder. selling vintage or estate pieces? see photography for vintage and estate sellers.
selling what you found?
photograph it like it's worth something.
bling ai turns a phone photo of a piece into a listing shot that looks like a campaign, so good jewelry sells for what it is.
