Gold plated, Vermeille, double? what is that?!

• Posted on 4 September 2023
• By Hanneke Weigel
• 0

Gold plated, Vermeille, Rhodium plated and Double? This are all different kinds of surface platings that can make a jewel more beautiful. Every treatment has its own advantages. But what are the differences between them?  In our blog we explain everything about this.

Temporary

Important to know is that all of the treatment are surface treatments. That means they are not permanent and will wear out over time. Then the true material of the jewel will show again.

Gold plated

Gold plated is one of the most known surface treatment where a thin layer of gold is deposited on the surface of the jewel. The thickness of this layer is measured in mircon. The more micron the thicker the layer. On most gold plated jewels the layer of gold is 1 micron thick.

The advantage of a gold plating is that the jewel looks like gold without the cost of a gold jewel. Further more is that gold is anti allergic. But be aware beneath the surface of a gold plated jewel their is not always a precious metal.

Top tip: Be aware of the metal under the surface of your jewel so you can enjoy the jewel the longest.

Vermeille

Vermeille is a fairly unknown name of a kind of gold plating. The proces is the same to gold plating but the jewel underneath is always silver and the layer of gold plating is 2,5 micron thick. In our webshop we also offer vermeille on our sterling silver dogs but because vermeille is so unknown we refer to this plating as deluxe gold plating.

Rhodium plated

Rhodium is a kind of platinum with an intense white colour. It is used on silver to prevent it from tarnish and on white gold to change the natural champagne colour of the gold to a white surface.

Double

Double is also a gold plate but on a brass base metal. The advantage is that brass has a yellow gold like colour so when the layer starts to show. The downside of Double is that when the gold layer is worn the brasse can tarnish to a green colour and leave a blak mark on the skin. Then it is time to replate the jewel.

 Silver plating

Last one in our list is the widely known silver plating. This treatment can be used on a wide ragen of products to give it a deluxe look of silver. Silver plating can be done on a wide range of materials.