Actually that's gilding.<br>Plating is the use of electricity and a solution to surface a material on the micron level with the metal from the solution.<br>Gilding is the more wasteful process of decorating things with gold leaf.,(reply>), Pedant!,(reply>), @Lajos Winkler And it doesn't matter how the gold leaf is made.<br>You're using it to physically cover something, and that's not plating.,(reply>), Lajos Winkler uh, no? These are literally made by rolling the metal into thinner and thinner sheets. Just like aluminum foil.,(reply>), Gold leafs like these are not made by gilding. This is an electrochemically deposited on a surface later etched away with some other compound.