<Li> Neutral gold cyanide, for high - purity plating </Li> <Li> Acid gold plating for bright hard gold and gold alloy plating </Li> <Li> Non-cyanide, generally sulphite or chloride - based for gold and gold alloy plating </Li> <P> Gold plating of silver is used in the manufacture of jewelry . Silver atoms diffuse into the gold layer, causing slow gradual fading of its color and eventually causing tarnishing of the surface . This process may take months and even years, depending on the thickness of the gold layer . A barrier metal layer is used to counter this effect . Copper, which also migrates into gold, does so more slowly than silver . The copper is usually further plated with nickel . A gold - plated silver article is usually a silver substrate with layers of copper, nickel, and gold deposited on top of it . </P>

Who is gold and who is gold plated