1. Gold Plating & Vermeil
Ok so here I go with Blog post number ONE…
Excuse the self-predicting raw nature of this initial post, however my goal is to be honest, transparent and informative throughout these diary posts and today we hit the topic of Gold Plated jewellery.
As you may or may not have recently seen, all Gold Vermeil items have now been removed from the Atteya site, minus the final few ‘In Stock’ items that will remain on sale until they all sell out. Grab them whilst they last as they’re golden (excuse the pun). This was a beyond conflicting decision to make, however one that fully aligns with the ethos of Atteya, and so with that… it had to be done.
So let’s go back to the beginning, as you may be wondering, what the hell the difference is between Flash Plating, Gold Plated/Gold Toned and Gold Vermeil when looking for your next golden jewels. Equally, you may wonder how they differ from solid Gold and perhaps could be conflicted on which to buy.
Gold Vermeil, pronounced vuh-may, is french for silver-gilt or gilded silver and of extremely high quality that not only requires expert knowledge to perfect but has been used since ancient times. Simply put, it is gilding or applying gold over Solid Sterling Silver and can be found in works including jewellery, sporting trophies/medals, religious ornaments… To qualify as Gold Vermeil in Jewellery Production, the piece must have at least 2.5 microns of gold plated/gilded on to solid sterling silver (rather than base metals such as common copper, tin or zinc). This extra thick layer of gold plating in Vermeil means that the gold can last on necklaces and earrings for roughly 1 - 2 years and rings for 6 months - 1 year depending all on your PH level, the consistency of wear and protection when not worn. For extra measure, all Atteya Gold Vermeil Jewellery has at-least 3 microns or more (upon request) plated on Solid Sterling Silver which may then last for up to 3 years or more. As an example, the Gold Vermeil Rasta Hoops in this journal posts photo (also below) were first plated in Feb 2020 and have been worn pretty much daily yet only show the tiniest hints of its solid silver core. As I said… snap them up on sale before they’re all gone as Gold is rather resistant!
Ok so now, what is a micron, and how do Gold Plated/Toned and Flash Plated jewellery differ. I’m no scientist and do not pretend to be but from what my research prior to launching Atteya shared, a micron is, a unit of length equal to one millionth of a metre and one thousandth of a millimeter. With one micron being equivalent to 0.00003937 inches, or 0.001 mm. For perspective, human hair is between 10 and 100 microns in diameter. My font will not allow but if I could put in a million exclamation marks right now I would.
Despite the above explanation, whilst we still cannot even begin to equate what 2.5 microns physically looks like, we know that microns are tiny but gold is mighty and 2.5 microns in standard Vermeil and 3 microns in Atteya Vermeil means for a few years of solid Gold gilded jewellery.
Now let’s talk about Flash Plated and Gold Plated/Gold Toned. My first suggestion would be to never ever buy it. Potentially you, like me, have been caught out here before not realising how quickly the gold would wear off and it boggles my mind as to how the aforementioned gold plated types are found on so many luxury / high-end designer websites…
To be qualified as Gold Plated or Gold Toned Jewellery, the jewellery must have at least 0.5 microns of gold plated onto a base metal which could either be copper, iron, zinc or if you’re lucky brass or bronze (beautiful metals). However most sellers will never reveal if the base metal is as high as brass or bronze so you can never be sure. The term Gold Toned is also a vague one as it could fall into the category of Flash Plating which is 0.175 microns of gold on a base metal. Hence why your finger turns green or black and you’re left with a redish metal ring that for those with sensitive skin can cause rather horrible irritation as copper is in-fact poisonous to us and can, again I’m not a scientist, after long wear in jewellery absorb into your skin.
All of the above, is a rather long summary of why I chose a higher level of Gold Vermeil for the Atteya pieces as with longevity in mind, felt my customers should only be able to purchase a higher quality of silver-gilt jewellery from Atteya.
Then my continued natural process of sustainable awareness advanced. Silver-gilding or plating is horrendously bad for the environment. Whilst it is an ancient and high quality process that has been and is still used widely across the industry, it sadly comprises of many toxic chemicals such as potassium gold cyanide which is released during the process. It also comprises of solvents, acid and alkaline cleaners to only name a few. For perspective, cyanide prevents cells of the body from using oxygen and when this happens, cells simply die and cyanide in particular is more harmful to the heart and brain as they use a lot of oxygen, so super harmful in gold plating manufacturing. The off-spill of high cyanide concentrations also place a huge threat on our ecosystems/environment which have, in particular from the gold mining industry (I’ll get onto that in another post) have resulted in major fish kills, contaminated drinking water supplies and seriously harmed agricultural land. As well as this, plating does not conform to Atteya’s ethos of longevity. As once the silver or base metal has been plated, the process doesn’t allow for recycling of the metal or re-polishing the gold on the piece.
So…. in conclusion, whilst I loved offering this high quality and more affordable version of ‘gold’ jewellery in Atteya’s offering, having educated myself on the above human and environmental outcomes of the industry I have decided to no longer stock any new items in Gold Vermeil. Putting my ethos of conscious production first, I have, since Atteya’s 2nd Birthday, removed previously listed Gold Vermeil items apart from the few last in stock which will remain under the ‘Ready to Ship’ category online until they’re sold. I’d also like to reiterate now that despite the horrendous affects of the industrial process, the finished jewellery causes no harm to yourself. Additionally, if you have previously purchased an Atteya Gold Vermeil piece from me I hope you might embrace the natural transformation of your new Solid Silver jewel and will happily offer one free clean up and re-polish of that piece once the gold has worn off to give it longevity and a new life.
I hope you found the above some what informative and hopefully a useful read for your future gold jewellery purchasing.
Atteya is now a solely Fine Jewellery producer in Solid Sterling Silver or Solid 9ct - 18ct Gold and I am excited to design and launch new FOREVER PIECES in this manner to come!
Love Atteya xxx
The pair of hoops and ring were both first Gold Vermeil plated in February 2020