For as long as most people can remember, buying jewellery has meant making a choice between two imperfect options.
The first: affordable jewellery that looks good when you buy it and deteriorates from there. Gold-plated pieces that tarnish within months. Fashion metals that leave green marks on skin. Pieces that get set aside to “protect” and never find their way back. The jewellery drawer becomes a small graveyard of things that promised more than they delivered.
The second: fine jewellery that genuinely lasts — 9K, 18K, solid gold that holds its colour and its integrity through years of daily wear. The problem is the price. Real fine jewellery, for most people, means buying one piece and saving it for occasions that feel worthy of it. Which means it lives in a box. Which means it is, most of the time, not being worn at all.
For years, the industry accepted this as the natural order of things. You either bought cheap and replaced often, or you bought well and wore rarely. The middle ground — something genuinely good at a price that made daily wear feel reasonable — simply did not exist.
Quarter Carat was built to close that gap.
What 6K Solid Gold Actually Is
6K gold is not a plated piece with a better marketing story. It is a solid gold alloy — 25% pure gold, with the remaining composition made up of silver, copper and zinc, running all the way through the piece. There is no base metal beneath a surface coating. There is no coating. The material you see is the material the piece is made of, from the outside to the inside, on day one and on day one thousand.
This is what makes the durability claim honest rather than aspirational. A solid gold piece does not tarnish the way plated jewellery does because there is no layer to wear through. It does not leave marks on skin because the alloy composition — deliberately formulated, tested, and refined — contains none of the reactive metals that cause reactions. No nickel, no brass, no cobalt.
Quarter Carat pioneered this alloy in Australia. It did not exist here before. That is not a marketing claim — it is simply the reason the brand was founded.
Jewellery That Does Not Ask You to Be Careful
The practical experience of wearing a solid gold piece is different from wearing a plated one in ways that are hard to describe until you have done both. With plated jewellery, there is a low-level mental accounting that runs in the background. Take it off before the gym. Remove it before the shower. Do not spray perfume on it. Set it aside before cooking, before swimming, before anything that might accelerate the degradation of the surface.
With solid gold, that accounting stops. You put it on. You forget about it. You wear it through the Monday morning walk, the work day, the dinner, the weekend. It is there when you remember it and irrelevant when you do not. That is not an accident of design — it is the point of it.
The Locked in Love Necklace was designed with this in mind — a solid gold pendant on a fine paperclip chain that sits against the chest and disappears into daily life. Simple enough to wear every day, present enough to mean something. The Fine Paperclip Bracelet works the same way at the wrist: dainty, solid, completely forgotten about until someone asks where it is from. These are not pieces built for occasions. They are built for everything that is not an occasion — which is most of life.
Why This Did Not Exist Before
The honest answer is that the jewellery industry did not have a strong incentive to create it. Plated jewellery has high margins and repeat purchase rates — customers replace pieces when they degrade, which keeps them buying. Fine jewellery has high margins on the other end and a customer base willing to pay for the material. The middle — something solid, something real, something accessible — required starting from a different place entirely.
Quarter Carat started there. The 6K alloy was developed and tested specifically to achieve a composition that was durable, skin-safe, and priced so that the people who had always been buying and replacing plated jewellery could buy once and keep it instead. Pieces start from $149. The Locked in Love Pendant is $270. The Crossover Ring is $370. These are not fashion jewellery prices. They are solid gold prices — for something that is actually made with solid gold.
About Quarter Carat
Quarter Carat is Australia’s first 6K solid gold jewellery label, founded by Christina Loccisano and backed by over 30 years of fine jewellery industry expertise. The 6K alloy is 25% pure gold, solid all the way through, hypoallergenic, and designed for every ordinary moment. Pieces start from $149. Shop at quartercarat.com.au.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between solid gold and plated jewellery?
Solid gold jewellery has gold running all the way through the piece — there is no base metal beneath a coating. Plated jewellery has a thin layer of gold over a base metal that wears through over time with daily use, sweat and moisture. For everyday wear, solid gold holds its appearance and requires no special care, while plated jewellery degrades and typically needs replacing within months to a few years.
What is 6K gold?
6K gold is a solid gold alloy containing 25% pure gold, with the remaining composition made up of silver, copper and zinc. The gold runs all the way through the piece — it is not a surface coating. Quarter Carat pioneered the use of 6K gold in Australia as a way to offer solid gold jewellery at a more accessible price point than 9K or 18K.
Is 6K gold good for everyday wear?
Yes. Because 6K gold is solid all the way through, it does not tarnish the way plated jewellery does. It requires no special care routine, no removal before everyday activities, and no management. It is designed specifically for daily wear — to be put on, forgotten about, and still look the same years later.
Why does affordable jewellery tarnish?
Most affordable jewellery is plated — a thin layer of gold over a base metal like brass or copper. That layer wears down with daily use, exposing the reactive metal beneath, which tarnishes and can cause skin discolouration. Solid gold does not have this problem because the gold is the material throughout the piece, not a surface applied on top.
Where can I buy affordable solid gold jewellery in Australia?
Quarter Carat offers 6K solid gold jewellery starting from $149 — Australia’s first label dedicated to this price point. The range includes necklaces, bracelets, rings, bangles and earrings, all made from a solid gold alloy designed for everyday wear. Available at quartercarat.com.au.