Not sure how gild on armor will be bad or good for game play nor I have strong feelings about it. I like more numbers and we normally just adapt to the changes.
Instead of it or in addition to it we could be able to recycling metal items (armor and gear) into bar again, repairing a armor should decrease its durability just like symbels do.
If the change sticks, you should consider making armor affect speed (ohhh sensitive topic) somehow, or stamina usage on land or swiming (speacily on swamps)
off topic: add more metals so blacksmiths could tinker on alloys just like alchemists does.