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.
