Are sterling silver rings good?
In my opinion, sterling silver rings are good if you like the look, feel and characteristics of the metal. Sterling Silver is 92.5% Silver and 7.5% Copper. It is very shiny & a beautiful white color. It does tarnish (discolor due to oxidation) but it is easily cleaned with a polishing cloth and/or a silver dip liquid cleaner that removes the tarnish without a polishing cloth. It is a very inexpensive & stylish white metal compared to white gold and platinum.
Is gold plated sterling silver worth anything?
Ja, sterling silver is 92.5% sølv, med de resterende 7.5% consisting of primarily copper. This is referring to melt value. As far as collector value, it would depend on the esthetic value. Someone trying to complete a set may pay more. But, silver is selling for over $15 per ounce right now, so if you have a lot, you might be able to get a good price. The gold plate is of negligible value, unless the smelter has a large amount which he can separate from the silver.
What is gold plated sterling silver? How is it used and what are some examples?
The biggest question for the budding jewellery lover; what is gold vermeil? A term that you will start to see all the time once you read this article.
I am a huge lover of vermeil jewellery but it is not a commonly known phrase. Gold Vermeil is simply thickly plated sterling silver jewellery.The thickness of the gold must be a minimum of 2.5 microns and the base metal must be sterling silver. Fashion and costume jewellery is often called gold plated which means that the plating is not very thick and the base metal is usually brass. All UK vermeil pieces should be stamped with the 925 mark to indicate that the silver is 92.5% rent sølv.
Although the process of gold plating silver is known as electrolysis the original plating process was called fire guiding but is no longer commonly used. Vermeil jewellery was popularised in 19th Century France hence the word vermeil is pronounced “Ver-may
Why should you love vermeil jewellery; this is only gold plated jewellery?
Traditionally gold plated jewellery has a bad rep. It wears off eventually and it’s obviously not as good as a solid piece of gold jewellery. Think green ring marks on your finger as a teenager and all that jewellery you painted with clear nail varnish to protect it. I feel this bad rep for any type of plating has only come from a lack of understanding of what the different plating types are.
For me, Vermeil gives me the look of solid gold jewellery at a fraction of the cost. Particularly when my ear piercings started to get more sensitive I wanted to invest in better quality earrings but found that most jewellers are still selling very traditional pieces and as I mentioned before a gold plated item from a fashion retailer doesn’t feel precious to me and is likely to wear out in time.
If you still think “this is just plated jewellery” the only alternative jewellery at a similar price point is 9ct jewellery. There are not as many fashion forward 9ct gold jewellers (Jessica De Lotz to name one) as this metal still belongs to the more traditional style jewellery stores. 9ct gold has risen hugely in popularity in the UK with the gold price rocketing through the roof but when I see 9ct jewellery all I hear is the word 9ct and that is the lowest purity on the market and many other countries would consider 9ct gold too low quality to sell on the market.
I am also always raising my eyebrows at how much money people invest in fashion jewellery pieces when Vermeil jewellery offers real quality at a similar cost.
If you want to see some example of vermeil pieces versus gold plated brass jewellery see my examples here and read my full article: What is Gold Vermeil and why I love it