Gold Vermeil vs Gold Plated jewelry, what is the difference?

Just when you think you finally understand the difference in materials in the world of jewelry, another new term comes along: Gold Vermeil. At Eline Rosina we work with three different kinds of gold products. Gold plated jewelry, 14 karat solid gold and recently we also added gold vermeil earrings and gold vermeil bracelets to our collection of gold jewelry.

In this blog, I will explain to you exactly what gold vermeil Jewelry means and answer the question: is gold vermeil jewelry worth it?

In order to be considered gold vermeil jewelry, the base metal of a piece of jewelry must be sterling silver. This is a higher quality, more durable alternative than cheap materials such as brass or stainless steel for example. However, there is a second requirement for a piece of jewelry to be called gold vermeil. The gold layer over the sterling silver base must have a thickness of 2.5 microns. All of our gold vermeil jewelry has a thick 18-karat gold layer of 2.5 microns over a base of recycled sterling silver.

So what is the difference between gold vermeil and gold plated jewelry?

Now you know exactly what gold vermeil means and the two requirements for a product to be given this title. The other option for plated jewelry is gold plated jewelry. A good part of our collection consists of the material gold plated recycled sterling silver. Gold plated actually means nothing more than a layer of gold and says nothing about the base material underneath. Often brass or stainless steel is chosen for cheaper products. We believe in working with only the best materials and have chosen the precious metal sterling silver. We also find it important to be sustainable when it comes to our materials, therefore our jewelry is made of recycled sterling silver with a gold plating. The difference with our gold vermeil jewelry is to be found only in the thickness of the gold plating. Where gold vermeil has a micron layer of 2.5 is this in our gold plated jewelry ranging between 0.25 and 1 micron.

The gold layer of gold vermeil jewelry is up to 10 times thicker than the gold layer on gold plated jewelry. Therefore your jewelry will last longer than gold plated jewelry. This brings us to the other important difference: the price tag of gold vermeil jewelry. Because of the thick gold layer the price of gold vermeil earrings is a lot higher than gold plated earrings. In answer to the question whether gold vermeil jewelry is worth the higher price, you have to ask yourself whether you want to go for a more on trend item that you might want to replace again in the future or would rather invest in our timeless essentials in gold vermeil which you can see as true investment pieces.

Shop the entire Gold Vermeil jewelry collection here.