Why do high end brands use these materials??

[Starbrite]

There is nothing i hate more than tarnished jewelry! Especially when it turns your skin green..

Maybe I am ignorant to the topic but I am looking to buy earrings and find that most designers will sell gold plated bronze. Why? I understand real gold is a lot more expensive but why not sterling silver? Something waterproof that will last forever?

I fell in love with earrings from a french designer, Annelise Michelson, and they are around $600.. they are gold-plated bronze.. Am i buying earrings that wont last for at least a few years worn regularly?

 

[sooyang]

Edit: I did not know the designer but from looking at more items, some of the designs look like beautiful artwork. I can’t imagine how much more you would have to pay to get them in full gold.... the designs Are trendy and sometimes quite bold. They probably thought, when they are not well known as goldsmith / artisan brand, no one would fork out a huge $ to wear trendy pieces when people could use the money towards iconic, classic pieces from more known luxury brands.

 

[Jinsun]

These are definitely considered costume jewelry. But they are edgy and fun. I’m sure you could find something similar in stores like express. I haven’t been inside express in a few years but I think they’d have something similar.

I remember when vita fede costume jewelry were popular. I spent a few hundred on one of the pyramid bracelet.

 

[Muffin_Top]

Thank you for making me discover this designer, these are typically the kind of spectacular jewelry I enjoy.
I see this brand as a designer rather than as a true jeweler, and as sooyang meant, plain gold or even gold-plated silver might be too expensive for such big pieces (from a rather unknown name on the international sphere)