The gold on this item is closer to a dark yellow/bronze than gold. It's quite pretty and looks good on my sofa, but as with anything with a large embroidered design there's a lot of buckling of the fabric on the sides of each nutcracker which causes a wrinkled look, but the stitching appears sturdy and it is firmly filled with stuffing, doesn't feel flimsy or thin. Overall I'm quite happy with the way it looks and feels.