Gold-plated bangles: how to make the colour last

Gold-plated bangles last longest when they are put on after perfume and lotion, kept away from water, stacked with a gap or a guard, wiped dry after wearing and stored apart from each other. Plating is a very thin layer of gold over a base metal, and it wears away through friction and chemicals rather than age. Slow those two things down and the colour lasts seasons instead of weeks.

Bangles have it harder than most plated jewellery. They move constantly, they knock against each other and against tables, and they sit exactly where hands get washed. So the care is a little more specific than for a pair of earrings.

Why plated bangles lose their colour

Notice that most of these are daily habits rather than accidents. That is good news, because habits are easy to change.

Stacking without grinding the plating off

A stack of twelve plated bangles is twelve pieces of fine abrasive paper rubbing against each other every time you move your arm. It looks beautiful and it is the fastest way to wear plating at the edges.

• Mix materials. A plated bangle between two glass churiyan, or two plated bangles with a thread or fabric bangle between them, rubs far less than a solid metal stack.
• Put the hardest piece on the outside. A steel or solid bangle at each end takes the knocks from tables and doors instead of the plated ones.
• Wear fewer on the wrist you use most. The writing or cooking hand does much more damage to a stack than the other.
• Rotate. The same two bangles every day for a year will fade before a set of six worn in turns.
• Do not rest your wrist on a desk or a steering wheel with a stack on. It is the most common cause of scratches on the underside.

Perfume, attar and the last-on rule

Perfume and attar are some of the hardest things on plating. Alcohol-based perfume and body spray cloud the surface; oil-based attar leaves a film that dulls it and traps dirt. The fix costs nothing: get dressed, put on perfume, lotion and hand cream, let them dry, and put bangles on last. At night, bangles come off first.

Water, wudu and summer sweat

If you pray five times a day, wudu is the single biggest thing working against plated bangles. Each soaking is small; twenty-five a week adds up quickly. The practical choices are to slide bangles off before wudu and put them back afterwards, to keep plated bangles for occasions and wear something water-proof daily, or to accept that daily-wear plated bangles are a one or two season purchase.

Summer does the same thing more slowly. In June heat, a stack of bangles sits in sweat all day. Take them off when you get home, wipe them and let them air before they go in the box. In humid cities the same advice applies with more force, and the longer guide on jewellery care in a humid climate covers the details.

Cleaning, gently

1. 1Wipe each bangle with a soft, dry microfibre cloth after every wear. This removes sweat and oil before they have time to work on the plating.
2. 2If a bangle is visibly grubby, dip a soft cloth in lukewarm water with one drop of mild dish soap, wipe gently and do not soak.
3. 3Rinse by wiping with a second cloth dampened in plain water.
4. 4Dry completely straight away, including the inside curve and around any stones. Leave it on a towel for an hour before storing.
5. 5Never use toothpaste, baking soda, lemon, vinegar, silver dip or a polishing cloth with compound in it. All of them remove plating.

Storing bangles so they do not rub

Loose bangles in a drawer scratch each other every time the drawer opens. Storage is where plated bangles quietly lose half their life.

• A bangle box or a bangle rod, with a soft divider or a piece of tissue between plated pieces.
• Each good pair in its own small zip bag with the air pressed out. Less air means slower tarnish on the base metal underneath.
• A sachet of silica gel in the box during the monsoon. The ones that come in shoe boxes are fine.
• Away from the bathroom, the kitchen and the window. Steam, cooking fumes and sun all speed things up.
• Separate from silver and steel pieces, which are harder and will scratch plating in a shared pouch.

When the plating has worn

Worn plating shows as a change in colour, usually a pinkish, brassy or silvery patch on the rim or the inner band. It is not dirt and it will not clean off. At that point there are three options: wear it as it is, keep it for occasions where it will be one of many, or have it re-plated by a local jeweller, which is worthwhile for a heavier or sentimental bangle and rarely worth it for a light one.

How long plating lasts depends on its thickness, and a thin flash coat on an inexpensive bangle will wear much faster than heavier plating whatever you do. The comparison between plated pieces and stainless steel is worth reading if you want bangles for daily wear rather than occasions.

Plating is not fragile. It is thin. Treat it like a finish rather than a metal, and it behaves much better.