Gold is a very important asset that is best for investment, luxury, and value. Due to its value in it, gold has a lot of applications like in jewelry, raw gold, and other examples like gold plating and vermeil. Gold is a limited resource though and will exhaust eventually.
Gold Plated vs Gold Vermeil
The main difference between gold plated and gold vermeil is that gold-plated has a layer of gold over a material that is thin and may be greater than just 0.5 microns. On the other hand, gold vermeil includes a layer of gold on a material that is above 2.5 microns thick.
Gold plated materials have a thin layer of gold on some cheap valued material like copper or brass. Gold plating is an affordable way to experience a very thin sheet of gold on any item, maybe jewelry or some other product. The thickness of the plating is more than 0.5 microns.
Gold vermeil is a way of adding a thicker sheet of gold metal to any product to make it valuable. It is done in the same way as gold plating. However, the thickness of the layer is more than 2.5 microns and it makes the item heavy enough.
Comparison Table Between Gold Plated and Gold Vermeil
| Parameters of Comparison | Gold Plated | Gold Vermeil |
| Definition | Gold plating requires a thin layer of gold, more than 0.5 microns to get layered on something. | Gold vermeil is a process of adding a thicker gold layer of more than 2.5 microns. |
| Heaviness | Gold-plated things are generally light. | Gold vermeil products are quite heavy. |
| Durability | Gold plated items have a smaller durability factor. | Articles with gold vermeil are more durable and classy. |
| Preference | It is less preferred because it is short-lasting. | Gold vermeil jewelry or items are longer lasting than gold plated. |
| Base material | It can be done on any precious or non-precious material, like copper or brass. | It requires a precious base metal like silver. |
What is Gold Plated?
Gold plating is a technique in which real gold metal is layered as a thin sheet on some material that may either be precious or non-precious. Some materials include copper and brass that are electroplated with gold. There is a specific thickness of the layer of gold that is added to an item.
This layer can be at least 0.5 microns thin. It is plated on an item to increase its worth. However, due to more wear and tear as in the case of a jewelry item, gold plated materials have a short span of duration and they do not leave a good impact on quality and durability. Gold plating is done through a technique called electroplating which is obtained by an electrochemical process. In this technique, the electric current carries the gold metal ions to get deposited on the surface of the base material and makes a thin layer on the base item.
Gold plated items become strong in value due to the use of real gold. But since the amount of gold used is less, it becomes still less valuable. However, it completely depends on the size of the article that is to be gold plated and the gold karat used in electroplating.
What is Gold Vermeil?
Gold Vermeil is another type of gold plating article. It is done through a more thick layer of gold than the general plating. This layer of gold is usually greater than or equal to 2.5 microns of thickness and is coated through a material called vermeil. Vermeil is a precious material that is made through plating gold metal of high karats like 20k on a high and standard silver sheet.
The application of gold vermeil is the same as the gold plating process. It also requires an electrochemical process to deposit vermeil material on the base material. To electroplate an article through gold vermeil, the article must complete some standards. It should be a quality precious metal like copper. Vermeil is applied on items using high-quality standards that make sure that the articles never lose their quality in a short span of time, thus making them durable and longer-ranged.
Besides electroplating the gold medal on an item through vermeil, it also ensures that the heaviness of the articles increases because the gold used in gold vermeil is more massive and more highly durable. The used item does not get tarnished real quick.
Main Differences Between Gold Plated and Gold Vermeil
- Gold plated cannot compete with the quality that vermeil offers. On the other hand, gold vermeil has higher quality and more weight.
- Gold plated articles are usually smaller in size. On the other hand, gold vermeil items are large.
- Gold plated jewelry has a clear understanding that jewelry is gold-plated. On the other hand, gold vermeil is massive and it does not make someone understand that the item has a covering of gold.
- Gold plated articles make use of lower karats gold like 10 also. On the other hand, the gold vermeil technique uses higher karat gold like 12, 14, etc.
- Gold plated articles tarnish in a short time. On the other hand, gold vermeil has very less tarnishing fear.
Conclusion
Since gold is a very important asset that matters a lot in the world today, people often look into the benefits of gold plating or vermeil in their articles. This is more often done to add more valuables in their belongings or just as a status symbol. Several articles like watches, mobile phones, and even other electronics like earphones are gold plated today by people to share their financial status with the world.
Both gold vermeil and gold plating are serious techniques to add real gold to items we have, whether it be jewelry. However, the gold plating technique is more recognized than gold vermeil. Some people even use plating instead of vermeil in their everyday tone.
References
- http://www.emotivedesign.pt/tcgcsjpltf/ytxf-earrings-navachi-5075691.html
- https://aip.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1063/1.440138