RGP (rolled gold plate)

How to read it

The FTC’s jewelry guides reserve rolled gold plate, like gold filled, for a layer of gold alloy of at least 10 karat applied by a mechanical process. Rolled gold plate and gold overlay are marked with a fraction giving the layer’s share of the metal’s weight before the karat: the guides’ own example is 1/40 12 Kt. R.G.P. The layer must be at least 1/40th of the weight of the metal in the entire article; at 1/20th or more, the term gold filled may be used instead. The Stamping Act names rolled gold plate among the plated goods its rules cover.

Also searched as: gold overlay, R.G.P., RGP, rolled gold.

Rolled gold plate or gold filled?

The same process with less gold: gold filled needs at least 1/20th of the weight, and a rolled gold plate mark such as 1/40 states a smaller share. The FTC’s consumer guide puts gold filled, gold overlay and rolled gold plate (RGP) in one group, all a layer of at least 10 karat gold mechanically applied to a base metal, and gives 12K RGP and 14K gold overlay as example markings.

RGP, R.G.P., rolled gold and gold overlay

These are names for the same kind of product. The FTC’s guides allow Gold Overlay, Rolled Gold Plate, Rolled Gold Plated or an adequate abbreviation (their examples include 14 Kt. Gold Overlay and 14K. R.G.P.), with the karat of the plating marked first and the fraction before it where the guides call for one. British rules use the phrase rolled gold.

Rolled gold plate or gold electroplate?

The difference is the process. Rolled gold plate is gold alloy affixed by soldering, brazing, welding or other mechanical means; gold electroplate is deposited by an electrolytic process and measured by thickness in microns, not by a share of the weight.

What the fraction does not say

The fraction describes the whole article’s metal, not any one spot on it. The FTC’s guides list parts not considered in the assay of rolled gold plate products, other than watchcases, including joints, catches, screws, pin stems, springs and bracelet and necklace snap tongues. They also say that gold plating covered with a base metal such as nickel and then a thin wash of gold should be disclosed as such.

Rolled gold in Britain

The Hallmarking Act allows the word gold on an unhallmarked article when it is qualified by the word rolled or plated, with that word in lettering at least as large as the rest of the description. Business Companion, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute’s guide, says the description rolled gold is permitted if it is true. It cannot be hallmarked: the UK assay offices’ guidance notes say gold-plated base metal, including rolled gold on base metal, cannot be hallmarked.

The silver counterpart

Silver had a rolled process of its own. The Silver Society writes that Sheffield plate was invented around 1743 by fusing a sheet of sterling silver to a base or core of copper, and that neither Sheffield plate nor electroplated items carry silver marks.

A gold mark on a rolled gold piece

The Stamping Act bars a gold fineness mark on such an article unless words plainly say it is rolled gold plate, gold plate, gold electroplate or gold filled, and bars the words sterling and coin from it altogether.

The fraction before 2018

The fraction rule is older than the current guides. The FTC’s 2018 statement describes the previous guides as allowing gold overlay and rolled gold plate for items that did not meet the 1/20th weight ratio of gold filled, provided a fraction accurately disclosing the coating’s weight ratio came immediately before the karat, with 1/40th 12 Kt. R.G.P. as the example then too.