Gold-plated, gold-filled and vermeil, these words have been use a lot in the jewelry world. Are these terms described for the same thing, or they are different?

To get the right answer, let’s see the definition of each term.

Gold-plated: is a metal based dipped into a bath of electroplating solution. The metal can be steel, brass or other metals which will plated by gold when electric current was applied. The thin layer of gold will cover on the metal based. However, the gold can wear off quite easy after sometimes according to its thin layering.

Gold-filled: also called as rolled-gold. Although the technique is called gold-filled but the jewelry items are not actually filled with gold. The metal based jewelry (mainly made by copper or brass) is covered by a sheet of gold using a mechanical bonding process, which will result in thick gold coating. Gold-filled jewelry is usually made with 14K gold and increased the life time of each jewelry piece.

Vermeil: is a sterling silver based with gold-plated technique on top. Normally, 22K – 24K of gold was used for applying on this sterling silver jewelry for the gold vermeil jewelry.

Therefore, the difference between gold-plated and gold-filled is about the thickness of gold apply on the metal based jewelry and the technique used. While the difference between gold-filled and vermeil is about the metal based used in each jewelry piece, vermeil is termed for sterling silver while for gold-filled is usually used copper or brass metal.

It is important for you to know the differences between these terms to make the right choice for your jewelry pieces. You can go with the solid gold for the beautiful jewelry piecebut it is coming withhigh price according to the increased of gold price in the world market. Gold-filled, gold-plated and vermeil is an alternative option you can go for in an affordable price. Gold vermeil and gold filled is the next level with an amazing look and high quality of gold cover. Gold plating is the lower level but come with cheapest price (compare between all these items).

Whether you want to go with any of these items, all you need to do with the items are similar to other jewelry pieces. Just keep them away from any chemicals, clean it regularly and polish gently with jewelry polishing cloth.  By this caring, your jewelry piece will stay with you for a longer time.

In general, sterling silver is referred to the alloy of 92.5% pure silver with 7.5% of other metal, usually copper. Sterling silver properties are suitable for jewelry maker to create a nice piece of jewelry. However, how can you be sure whether the sterling silver jewelry that you are looking at is really contained the metal silver? There are ways to test whether your silver jewelry is made by real silver or not. Rear and learn.

1. Using magnet: this is the simple and easy way to test your silver. Silver, in the similar way as gold and platinum, they are not attracted to the magnet. If the silver jewelry piece is attracted by a magnet, you can be sure that the piece is not real silver.

2. The mark of “925”, “.925”, or “S925” to indicatepercent of silver inside the alloy metal. This mark should be put somewhere on the jewelry body, on the clasp or other hidden area of the jewelry. It can be either stamp or mark of this number. Typically, for necklaces and bracelets, the stamp will be on the clasp while for rings, it will be stamp on the inside of the band.

3. Using a soft and white cloth: rub the piece with this cloth, if there are black marks on the cloth, you can be sure that the piece contained real silver. This black mark is occurred by oxidation of silver in the air. This is the reason for tarnish of silver jewelry after sometimes. Don’t worry about the beauty of jewelry, you can easily remove these marks by polishing reagent.

4. Using your smelling skill: a real sterling silver will not smell in anything. But if you got some smell, like faintly copper or brassy odor, the piece might probably not a real sterling silver.

5. Check on price: the real sterling silver is more expensive that the unreal on. There is no good to go with the really cheap one, although it was on sale.

6. Using chemical reaction between silver and nitric acid. The sterling silver will turn its color to creamy color while silver plated or nickel-silver will turn green. However, to test by this way, you have to be aware for the risk of handling this chemical reagent.

With these tips, you can test sterling silver by yourself and you don’t have to worry about the real sterling silver anymore.

Buying a new jewelry piece can be both enjoyable and confusing task. Here are some guidelines for you for selection of the high quality jewelry. Take your time read and start to make more fun on your shopping.

1. Keep looking, is the first thing to remember. For any shopping, you need to look around, compare for quality, design, material made, price and also after sale service. Especially if you are not familiar with the merchandize before, the refund and return policy would be one of the most important thing to check. If you are not sure where to start, ask your friends, family members or co-workers for their suggestions

2. If you look for pearls, ask whether the pearls are natural, culture or imitation. This information will directly effect to pearls price. Make sure that you have paid the price for the reasonable pearls quality.

3. Check for the metal making jewelry, you should get the one without any mark on it.

4. If you go with gemstones, ask whether the gemstones have been treated or not. If they are treated, how to take care or do you really need special care for this particular piece? Get all these information before make your final decision with it.

5. Make sure that all information about the gems has been wrote down in the sale receipt. You can also ask for the certificate form a gemological laboratory if you go with the precious gemstone like diamonds, ruby or sapphires.

6. For the online shopper, check the company information before make a purchase from them. There are always illegal websites in the internet world. You can look for the address, phone number and call them to ask questions about their products and service. Make sure that you have check about the company service and reputation beforehand.

7. Get all the details about the products you want to purchase. Check for the refund and return policy in case if you are not satisfied with the piece, you can ship it back to the store.

8. Finally, if you haveproblem with the new piece, you can try to solve the problem with the jeweler first. But if the response is not that great, contact to the local business center or local consumer protection agency to protect your right as the customer. Photo by wholesale-jewelry.com