If your jewellery keeps going dull, leaving a green ring on your wrist, or making your neck itch after an hour of wearing it, you do not have sensitive skin. You have a plating problem.
This is the thing the jewellery industry does not go out of its way to explain: almost all jewellery sold at accessible price points in Australia is plated. A thin layer of gold over a base metal, usually brass or copper. It looks the part when you buy it. Within weeks or months of daily wear, that coating breaks down. The base metal underneath contacts your skin. Your skin reacts. The green mark, the dull finish, the irritation: that is the coating failing, not your body overreacting.
The fix is not a better cleaner or a more careful routine. The fix is a different material.
What Is Actually Happening
Gold plating is exactly what it sounds like: a layer of gold deposited over something else. The base metal is almost always brass or copper, because they are cheap and easy to work with. Both react with moisture and skin chemistry. Copper, in particular, oxidises on contact with sweat and produces that distinctive green discolouration on your skin.
The coating delays this. While the gold layer is intact, you do not feel the base metal. But the coating is thin, and daily wear thins it further. Clasp points go first. Then the backs of pendants. Then the inside of rings. Once the coating is gone, the base metal has direct contact with your skin all day.
Gold vermeil is the same problem with a thicker coat. Gold-filled has a thicker layer still. Both still have a base metal underneath that will eventually make itself known.
Solid gold has no base metal underneath. The gold alloy runs all the way through the piece. There is nothing to wear through to.
The Budget Problem That Is Not Actually a Problem
The usual objection here is price. Solid gold is expensive. You have been buying plated jewellery because you cannot afford the alternative.
This is where 6K solid gold changes the equation. At 25% pure gold, solid all the way through, 6K sits well below 9K prices while delivering the same fundamental property that matters: no base metal, no coating, no reaction.
The Fine Paperclip Bracelet is $180. The Link Ring starts from $300. The Bold Square Hoops are $350. These are not budget jewellery prices. But compared to a 9K equivalent at $399, $700, and $600 respectively, they are the most accessible solid gold available in Australia.
And compared to replacing plated jewellery every few months, the maths shifts quickly.
What Solid Gold Actually Costs Per Wear
A $40 plated bracelet worn daily lasts roughly three to six months before it starts to discolour or degrade noticeably. Over two years, you might buy four or five of them. That is $160 to $200 spent on something that never stopped being the problem.
A $180 solid gold bracelet worn daily for two years costs $180. Same wrist. No green marks. No replacement. Claudia has worn the Fine Paperclip Bracelet every day since November. Eight months, gym, shower, the lot. Unchanged.
The upgrade costs more upfront. It costs less over time. And it stops the problem rather than delaying it.
What to Check Before You Buy
Not all jewellery labelled as solid gold is the same, and in Australia there is no legal requirement to have karat stamps independently verified. A stamp is a manufacturer's claim, not a certification.
What to look for:
A karat stamp inside the piece. 6K, 9K, 18K, or the millesimal equivalent (250, 375, 750). If it says GP, GF, GEP or has no stamp at all, it is plated or filled.
A brand that tests what they sell. Quarter Carat tests every batch of 6K gold with an XRF machine before it goes into production. The machine reads the exact elemental composition. Ours reads: gold, copper, silver, zinc. No nickel, no cadmium, no brass. Every piece is stamped with the 6K mark and the QC logo.
No nickel in the alloy. Nickel is the most common cause of genuine metal allergies in jewellery. It appears in many gold alloys as a hardening agent, including some 9K pieces. If you have ever been told you are allergic to gold, there is a reasonable chance the reaction was to nickel in the alloy. Our alloy does not contain it.
The Pieces That Fix the Problem
If your skin reacts to earrings: the Puffed Wide Huggies or Bold Square Hoops. Both sit close to or through the ear with no base metal at any contact point.
If your wrist goes green: the Fine Paperclip Bracelet at $180 or the Open Circle Bangle. No clasp reactions. No base metal. Nothing to wear through.
If your necklace leaves a mark on your neck: the Fine Paperclip Necklace at $270. Solid 6K gold from the clasp to the last link.
If your ring discolours your finger: any ring in the QC range. The Crossover Ring, the Link Ring, the Honey Ring. Solid gold throughout. Nothing underneath.
Pieces from $149. Ships throughout Australia. The stamp is there if you look for it.
About Quarter Carat
Quarter Carat is Australia's first 6K solid gold jewellery label. Every piece is XRF-tested for composition before production and stamped with the karat and QC logo. No nickel, no cadmium, no base metal. Shop at quartercarat.com.au.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my jewellery turn my skin green?
The green discolouration comes from the base metal underneath the gold coating, usually copper or brass, reacting with moisture and skin chemistry. When the gold plating wears through, which it always does with daily wear, the base metal makes direct contact with your skin. The fix is solid gold jewellery, which has no base metal underneath and therefore nothing to cause a reaction.
Why does my gold jewellery go dull?
Dullness in gold jewellery is usually the plating wearing thin. As the gold layer breaks down, the base metal underneath starts to show through, changing the colour and finish of the piece. Solid gold does not go dull in this way because the material is consistent throughout. It can develop a patina with heavy wear, which is different from degradation and can be polished off if preferred.
What is the cheapest solid gold jewellery in Australia that won't react with skin?
Quarter Carat's 6K solid gold pieces start from $149. The Fine Paperclip Bracelet is $180. The Link Ring starts from $300. All pieces are XRF-tested, contain no nickel or cadmium, and are stamped with the 6K karat mark. No base metal, no coating, no skin reaction.
Is 6K gold real gold?
Yes. 6K gold is a solid gold alloy containing 25% pure gold. The gold runs all the way through the piece. It is not plated, not filled, and not fashion jewellery. It sits below the Australian consumer law minimum of 9K to be marketed as gold jewellery but is correctly described as a solid gold alloy, which is what it is.
Am I actually allergic to gold, or is it the metal underneath?
Most people who think they are allergic to gold are reacting to the base metals in the alloy, most commonly nickel, or to the base metal beneath the plating of cheap jewellery. True gold allergy is rare. If you have worn 9K or higher solid gold without a reaction, your skin is not the problem. Quarter Carat's 6K alloy contains no nickel, no cadmium, and no base metal beneath the gold.