What gold-tone plating is
Rico is gold-tone plated over a zinc alloy base, set with hand-set rhinestone pave. The Silver option is silver-tone plating on the same alloy body.
Plating is a surface, so treat it like one. On after lotion and perfume, off before a shower, a swim or the gym, stored dry and away from other metal. Handled that way the finish holds.
Sculpted in the round, not stamped flat
Many breed pendants are a flat face cast in one plane. Rico is sculpted in the round, so the body has a raised, rounded back and the dog stands off your chest instead of lying against it. He is caught mid-prance, one paw up, ears forward, bow tie on, and from the side he still reads as a dog.
The face and the bow tie are worked in two tones, and the rhinestone pave is laid stone by stone. Depth is what people notice first, before the sparkle.
Why this one is $49.99 and not $500
Under about $20 usually buys a small stamped charm in plated brass or pewter, flat on both sides. Hallmarked karat gold in this breed generally starts in the low hundreds, and at the top of that range the pendant often ships on its own with the chain sold separately. A gold chihuahua necklace from us is $49.99, in the plated tier, with the money going into the sculpting and the hand-set stones rather than into the metal.
If you want karat gold, buy karat gold. Solid gold versions can be made to order on request, by email.
The chain is included, and a name can be added
Worth saying, because the karat pendants at the other end of this search often are not sold with one. Ours measures about 20 inches, or roughly 50 cm, measured by hand rather than taken from a supplier sheet. There is no length or size to choose, only the finish.
Buying it as a gift, you can add the Keepsake Engraved Charm on this page. It clips onto the same chain and takes two short engraved lines.
The rest of the chihuahua jewelry
Rico is one of four chihuahua necklaces we make. Coco is paved edge to edge, Lola sits up holding a pink heart, and Paco is cast in full sparkle with oversized ears. Coco also comes as a pair of earrings. To see them together before you settle on a finish, start at the chihuahua necklace collection.
