If you find a piece of gold jewelry with 925 or some variation stamped on it, odds are very good the piece isn't solid gold. It's instead likely the piece's base is sterling silver and gold has been plated or otherwise applied atop the base.
The extra layer of tarnish-resistant gold protects the silver from oxidation. But, as the plating wears away, its protection does too. So, you should only buy gold-plated jewelry for special occasions or buy pieces that won't experience much wear and tear, like earrings or necklaces.
In fine jewelry, the most desirable kind of gold plating is gold over sterling silver, sometimes called "vermeil." Just as is sounds, vermeil is sterling silver that has been plated with a 14kt or 18kt gold in yellow, rose, or white.
Yes, as plated jewellery is a layer of gold placed on to the surface of another metal (usually sterling silver) to coat the piece, anything plated will eventually tarnish over time and wear.
With proper care, you can maintain gold-plated jewelry for up to five years. This entails following our recommendations above concerning proper storage and keeping your gold-plated jewelry away from elements that can affect the gold layer. Home-plating kits are also widely available.
Solid Gold
Even gold vermeil, with its base of sterling silver, is best left out of water, which can tarnish the enveloping layer of gold. It's ultimately best to keep all of your jewelry dry if possible. However, if necessary, solid gold is the best type for wearing in the shower or bath.
Yes, electroplated gold is real gold. The process of electroplating involves coating a thin layer of gold onto another metal, such as copper or silver, through electrical currents. This gives the piece an overall gold appearance and can be mistaken for solid gold.
Because it is frequently exposed to the elements and can cause damage, pieces that are worn daily will wear out faster. The average lifespan of gold-plated pieces is two years. After that, the gold plated jewelry tarnishes and starts to wear down.
On average, gold plated jewelry can last about two years before the gold plating begins to tarnish and wear down. However, the length of time can be much shorter or longer depending on whether or not you decide to properly maintain your jewelry collection.
Wearing solid gold jewelry, white gold or yellow gold, in the shower will not harm the metal itself, however it can reduce the shine therefore it is not recommended.
Reasons for Choosing Gold Over Silver
Gold is more lustrous than silver, hence attractive. Value of gold being more makes it more of a luxury item than silver which is less in value than the former. Yellow color since antiquity has been more preferred than White. So, must be gold more desirable.
Gold is much rarer than silver, and this imbalance in supply and demand between the two metals makes up the majority of the difference in their prices. However, both precious metals have significant value.
There are many advantages to choosing gold over silver jewellery, its timelessness included but no reason is as advantageous as its durability. Gold is an extremely tough mineral that naturally makes jewellery set into gold very durable and hardwearing.
Gold vermeil is a legally regulated term that refers to jewelry with a sterling silver base metal and a layer of gold plating that is at least 2.5 microns thick. Gold vermeil is superior to gold plated jewelry in terms of longevity, quality and value!
Vermeil, also known as “silver gilt”, refers to high quality (pure or sterling) silver that is plated with a thin layer of gold. Most vermeil jewelry available now is created by electroplating the silver with gold, a chemical process that uses an electrical current to bind the two metals together.
The cleasing of gold-plated sterling silver
A soft cotton cloth is best for dry cleaning the gold-plated silver jewelry. This makes it easy to clean and polish the gems at the same time. Alternatively, wet cleaning in the form of a lukewarm soapy water bath is suitable.
A: Yes, vermeil gold, which refers to gold-plated sterling silver jewelry, can experience gold tarnish over time. While vermeil jewelry features a thick layer of gold plating on the surface, the underlying sterling silver can react with elements in the environment and cause discoloration.
You can get your jewelry plated with gold. It's yet another way to transform your silver. You may have heard the terms “vermeil” or “gold-plated.” While they're not exactly the same, they both turn silver jewelry into gold. Vermeil is sometimes called silver gilt.
However, there are two potential issues that you should be mindful of when wearing the two metals together and that is the transfer of tarnishing and also scratching. While gold and silver cannot cause tarnishing on one another, they can transfer it.
That depends. Again, “925 gold” doesn't actually exist. This hallmark only indicates the purity of the sterling silver base beneath the gold. Knowing this, you should be aware that gold jewelry with a 925 hallmark or stamp is typically going to be less valuable than solid gold jewelry.
If you have a gold piece with a 925 mark, it's most likely sterling silver underneath gold plating. You'll normally see this kind of stamp on a gold vermeil (pronounced as "ver-may"), meaning that it's sterling silver that has gold plating.
If 925 is stamped on your jewelry, you know it is superior silver jewelry. If it is on your gold piece, you have a gold-plated sterling silver item that is made out of two high-quality metals - silver and gold.
Gold vermeil (pronounced ver-may) is 2.5 microns of gold plating on top of sterling silver. US standards require there to be at least 2.5 microns of gold plated on top of sterling silver, but some other countries require less, such as Canada only requiring 1.0 micron.
Fool's gold is the most common of these. Better known as Iron Pyrite, this sulphide mineral is infamous for looking just close enough to gold to fool the untrained eye. Fool's gold is much less dense than the real thing however, so this is a very easy way to check between the two.
Gold and Silver plated jewelry: Using Silver and gold in water will cause the metal plating to wear out. When silver and gold plated jewelry are exposed to soaps and other alkaline media, their surface may begin to chip off, exposing the metal and affecting the appearance of your jewelry.