High quality gold jewelry has always been out of reach for most people, and even more so in the days before gold electroplating was developed. In the early 18th century, a family of jewelry makers in London came up with a suitable substitute for gold called pinchbeck, after its creator Christopher Pinchbeck. This metal alloy looked very much like gold, but didn't tarnish. Pinchbeck jewelry became quite popular over the next hundred years or so, because not only could the middle class afford it, the ultra-wealthy could have copies of their real gold jewelry made from it to deter theft. And the Pinchbeck name was quite reputable among jewelry makers.
But over time, lower quality jewelry pieces started being passed off as Pinchbeck originals, and fraudsters would buy pieces made of pinchbeck and try to resell them as real gold. The Pinchbeck family didn't like what was happening to their reputation from such imitators and fraudsters, and took a strange tactic to end the business of selling jewelry made of pinchbeck. A couple of hundred years later, antiques made of real pinchbeck quite valuable to collectors, because they can no longer be copied. Read about the pinchbeck alloy and the family business that made it rare at Messy Nessy Chic.