Gold Leaf is a material commonly used in the jewellery industry to give jewellery the look of real gold. The gold leaf itself is produced by melting pure gold with small additions of other metals and then pouring it into so-called zaines. Zaine describes the particularly thin bars from which the gold leaf is made. They are usually between two and five millimetres thick and are further processed while still glowing. The purpose of this is to preserve their suppleness, which is indispensable for the further use of this gold. Once the zaine has been hammered and rolled into a gold ribbon of approx. 1/33 mm thickness, it is then processed again with so-called spring hammers until it is finally only approx. 1/1000 mm thick. Gold leaf is often used in the jewellery industry because it provides a cheap material with the look and tarnish protection of real gold, but it is also used for exterior work. For such works, which are exposed to the weather, naturally thicker gold leaf is needed than for jewellery. The gold coating for outdoor use is therefore called double or triple gold and has a thickness of about 1/4500 mm to about 1/3000 mm. The single gold has a thickness of approx. 1/9000 mm.
