Gold Vermeil

Gold Vermeil (Pronounced vehr-may; its French!) – is when a layer of gold solution is plated over a precious metal such as fine or sterling silver.  Here in the UK we have three legal requirements for Gold Vermeil.

1.   The base metal is precious, such as 925 sterling silver or 999 fine silver.

2.   A minimum of 2.5 microns is required.  A micron is 1/1000^th of a millimetre. 

3.   The gold solution is more than 10k gold.

At Jarvis & Co. Jewellery we use 22k yellow hard gold plating solution and 14-18k red hard gold plating solution.  Different countries have different plating laws and regulations; for example, in Canada the thickness for vermeil is 1.0micron.

To put it in another way, vermeil pieces are made with Precious Materials with heavy plating to ensure long-lasting wear.

How is gold vermeil different from gold-plated?

Gold-plated jewellery refers to jewellery that has flash gold plating of at least 0.5 microns thick over a non precious base metal such as copper or bronze. It does not require sterling silver to be used as the base material, and usually uses a less valuable material at its core. Since the plating is so thin, the gold colour will wear very quickly compared to gold vermeil. Gold vermeil is superior to gold-plated jewellery.

Should I buy vermeil?

In the realm of gold-tone jewellery, gold vermeil is the best quality jewellery you can get short of buying solid gold. For people who want a cheap, high quality alternative to solid gold, vermeil is your answer!  You can shop for gold vermeil jewellery right here on our shop! At Jarvis & Co. Jewellery, all of our gold-tone products are either gold vermeil or solid gold. Our vermeil products use 14k-18k gold and plating that is 2.5-3.0 microns thick.