The difference between gold filled jewelry and gold plated jewelry is that gold filled jewelry must legally contain 5% solid gold by weight. Gold plated jewelry typically contains less than 1% of solid gold and the process of making this jewelry is by dipping the base metal into a liquid solution of gold ions. Gold filled jewelry is made by bonding the solid layer of gold onto the base metal using high pressure and heat. Many of our gold filled jewelry pieces bear a stamp of "1/20 14K GF" indicating that the jewelry contains at least 1/20 of 14 Karat gold by weight. You may find out more about the exact Karat gold of each jewelry piece in the details section of the product page.