Jewelry

[imamagpie]

I recently splurged and purchased a morganite ring and earrings, both in 14k rose gold with very nice stones (not from QVC). Now I'm trying to accessorize these pieces with bracelets of some type, and am wondering about the durability of gold over sterling. I've just received two sets of bangles by Portofino, rose gold over sterling, and the color is perfect, plus they're nice looking and comfortable. However, I've avoided vermeil, etc., in the past for concerns about losing the surface coating of gold. Now I'm trying to decide whether to keep them, as they still weren't cheap. I looked at costume grade bangles in a couple of local department stores, and was shocked that per-bangle, the costume-grade base metal pieces cost as much or more than the sterling-based pieces I just got. Would love some input from anyone who's had experience with gold over silver. This week I receive the Vicenza tri-color thin bangles that were on with Lisa R last week, so I'll also be comparing Portofino to Vicenza. Help! I don't want to throw away my money on junk!