Gloss pigments having high colour saturation

A pigment the particles of which have a length of from 2 μm to 5 mm, a width of from 2 μm to 2 mm and a thickness of from 50 nm to 1.5 μm and a ratio of length to thickness of at least 2:1, the particles having a core SD having two substantially parallel faces, the distance between which is the shortest axis of the core, and optionally having layers QZ and/or DM applied to those parallel faces or to the entire surface, and wherein

• the core SD has a thickness of from 20 to 350 nm and comprises from 50 to 97 atom % silicon, bonded to from 3 to 95 atom % oxygen per 100 atom % silicon;
• optionally, a layer QZ having a thickness of from 0 to 500 nm is present, which is applied to the core SD and comprises from 17 to 51 atom % silicon, which is bonded to more than 95 atom % oxygen per 100 atom % silicon;
• and
• optionally, a layer DM having a thickness of from 0 to 300 nm is present, which has a transparency of from 50 to 100% and a complex refractive index Ñ=n+ik according to the condition {square root}{square root over (n2+k2)}≧1.5 at the wavelength of maximum visible reflection of the particles, which is substantially composed of carbon, an organic compound, a metal, a dielectric or a mixture thereof, and which is either on the core SD or, in the presence of a layer QZ, is separated from the core SD by the layer QZ.