Buying a new piece of jewelry is one of the most exciting purchases you can make. Whether it’s a gift for yourself or a special person in your life, jewelry is timeless - that is, if you’re buying high-quality, solid gold. With many options to choose from, we understand that choosing and purchasing the right jewelry piece can be difficult. But we’re here to make it easier. Are you looking to understand the differences between real gold, gold-plated, vermeil or filled? Read on to find out more.
Gold Plated
When a piece of jewelry is gold plated, it merely means that a base metal has been plated or dipped in a thin layer of solid gold. Base metals can range from sterling silver, brass, nickel, copper or steel. Although these pieces appear to be as visually appealing as real gold, it is susceptible to fading and revealing its natural metal colour because of its thin layer. While buying these items may seem like you’re getting a better deal, it often requires higher maintenance like taking off the jewelry before washing, rinsing, or rubbing. If you’re willing to put in the work and remember to take off your jewelry before jumping in the shower, gold plated pieces can be a great, affordable option.
Gold Vermeil
Gold vermeil is very similar to gold plating, but instead of dipping lower-cost base metals in gold, we dip sterling silver. Gold vermeil is a more premium version of gold plating because its material is hypoallergenic and plated with a thicker solid gold layer. While this is a preferred option when it comes to gold plating, with enough wear and tear, the plating can slowly come off as well.
Gold Filled
Gold-filled jewelry is considered to be an even more premium version of both plating and vermeil. That’s because Gold filled jewelry is made through a bonding process that melts a thick gold layer to its base metal. Despite these pieces having stamps with a karat number, it only indicates the 5% requirement of gold necessary to fill the coating mounted to the base metal. While gold filled jewelry is a favourable choice as it gives off a similar look to real gold, there is still a chance of discolouring and wear and tear over time.
Solid Gold
When people refer to "gold jewelry," they simply mean solid gold materials. In its pure form, solid gold is 24 karats and is the softest and most gentle metal. In most cases, it's rare to find pieces of jewelry made out of 100% pure gold because of its smooth and delicate material. Instead, other alloys are added to the gold mixture to create a solid combination of what we refer to as "solid gold." When discussing gold materials, the karat indicates the parts of the pure gold piece to the other alloys. A 10k gold piece of jewelry is ten parts solid gold, 14 parts alloys and a 14k gold piece of jewelry is 14 parts solid gold and ten parts alloys, and so on. The higher the gold element, the softer the piece of gold may be.
Solid gold is the only metal that will never tarnish, discolour or lose its value over time. So, what are you waiting for? With many options to choose from, we guarantee you will find something you like. Visit us at our online store, or follow us on Instagram @daintydiamondd to find the perfect piece.
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