I like to think of myself as the sexy outer layer of gold that gets bonded to another metal – preferably silver – in an intensely-heated and pressured exchange.
To some, that may sound a little superficial, which is why I want to take this opportunity for you to really get to know me.
I’m a bit like a middle child. I have an older sibling in 18-carat gold, who has a typical eldest-child superiority complex, and a younger sibling in PVD steel, who is lots of fun but is struggling to work out who she wants to be when she grows up like so many youngsters.
I really don’t get in the way of 18-carat gold or even 9-carat gold, as they are readily available – albeit in small, neat, classic designs. I hardly ever see them out on the town and almost never at the big events; I guess they are just too expensive and have become too precious.
Who knows? Maybe they’ve even become a little insecure.
No, I can make a statement all by myself: a big, beautiful, bold statement. When I dress up my excellent friend sterling silver, I give her a timeless gold lustre that makes others take note, and when we walk into a room together, we turn heads with our brilliance and abundance.
It is our combination that gives colour, radiance and a finish that allows a great design to truly shine.
People can see I have class and manufacturers go to quite a bit of trouble to create me – most of which are very particular and have developed some really clever techniques.
Not only do they take exceptional pride in their craft but they also have a great eye for design – they’re not shy when it comes to plating fine materials like sterling silver with four or eight microns of satin-finished 22-carat gold.
I guess this is the crucial point I’m trying to make: while other metals have remained the same, I’ve grown up and the plating of yesteryear is miles off the quality available today. Yet some retailers still make sweeping statements when looking at the pieces I adorn like, “Sorry but my customers don’t like plating. They only like real gold or sterling silver.” For goodness sake, I am real! I’m real gold and, more often than not, I adorn real sterling silver.
You see, I am not standing here as just Plating; I’m also the treatment that gives colour, radiance and a finish that allows a great design to truly shine.
Since when did retailers stand back and wait for customers to tell them about jewellery? That would be like that summer when my good friend Pandora arrived and everyone said she wouldn’t sell. Well, I’m a bit like that; without me, the shelves would be very predictable and customers would be missing out.
I’d like to remind those who believe that I am not as good as my finer siblings that I have impacted the lives of red carpet stars, adorned princesses, and accessorised sirens of the silver screen, rock and pop stars, and fashionistas.
I’ve also accumulated a following of bloggers. I love these girls and they seem to love me. They know what they want and know how to make a statement without blowing their bank accounts, and they love the way I can enhance their latest look over and over. I am told they are starting to influence others as well.
Remember when gold was $300 an ounce? It was a time when I was given as much thought in jewellery circles as gold leaf.
Now that gold is more than $1,000 per ounce, jewellery creators have no choice but to down-size their designs or simply create for a small circle of the exceptionally well-heeled.
Thank goodness the technology for making me has become so refined and we can keep creating big, beautiful designs that draw people into the stores.
Madonna, a singer with neither the finest voice nor looks, is now touted to have a net worth of $1 billion not because she is precious but because she is bold and ready to lead. Don’t you think it is worth applying the same logic of her success to me? In her words, “You know that we are living in a material world, and I am a material girl.“
Name: Helen Hagerty
Company: Julie Sandlau Australia
Position: brand and sales manager
Location: Sydney, NSW
Years in the industry: 14