What is Gold Vermeil?

At Azendi, we are renowned for our distinctive sterling silver designs, but maybe you prefer the warm tones of rose gold, or you really suit yellow gold jewellery? To increase the colour choices available to you we now also produce many of our designs in yellow gold vermeil and rose gold vermeil.

Sterling SIlver Electroplated with Gold

Gold vermeil is a process that allows us to create exciting jewellery with the look of gold, but with a price only marginally more expensive than sterling silver. So what exactly is gold vermeil? For our gold vermeil jewellery, we use gold electroplated onto sterling silver. The difference between vermeil and standard gold plating is that vermeil consists of a much thicker layer of gold (at least 2 microns thick) which is chemically bonded to the underlying precious metal.

Caring for your Vermeil Jewellery

By using sterling silver and high-quality gold electroplating, we can create jewellery of the highest calibre. To prolong the vibrancy of vermeil, we recommend that you keep the piece in a cloth pouch or in our provided jewellery box to reduce any tarnishing. As with sterling silver, avoid letting your vermeil jewellery come into contact with chlorinated water, cosmetic products, or household cleaning products. To clean, gently polish with a soft microfibre cloth – this will remove any excess perfumes and skin oils. We do not recommend using any form of chemical cleaners as this will strip the gold finish and lead to a dissatisfying result. Depending on the item and the regularity of wear, gold vermeil can fade over time. On necklaces and earrings, gold vermeil will last for many years, but on a ring that is worn regularly we could expect the gold vermeil to wear at a faster rate. If you would like your piece re-finished, this is possible for a small charge; please contact our friendly Customer Service team on 0208 912 5510 for more details.

Hallmarking

As a precious metal every single piece of our vermeil jewellery complies with the Hallmarking Act, and as such all gold vermeil items weighing over 7.73g are sent for independent testing and marking at Edinburgh Assay Office. The jewellery will be tested and hallmarked ‘925’ sterling silver; a mark of quality and assurance.

You have probably heard of “gold plating” – this usually refers to flash plating, popular with manufacturers of costume jewellery. Flash plating is where a very thin layer of gold (less than 0.25 microns thick), is plated to a base metal to give it a gold appearance. As well as being low quality, it has very low resistance to wear and is a very inexpensive way to give the appearance of a gold colour. The base metal underneath will not be precious and would normally be a cheap material such as steel or brass.