Jewelry

[Grouchomarx]

Several years ago I bought a necklace from the Q. It was a gold vermeil lariat style necklace.  Very pretty.  I haven't worn it in a while and the other day I took it out an noticed it looked......decrepit in some way. Upon closer inspection, it looked like the gold finish was tarnished or discolored somehow.  Have you ever heard of this?  Maybe it wasn't gold vermeil after all?  I recalled it was sterling silver with gold vermeil on top.  It was not an inexpensive piece, so not costume. I think I may have to throw it out. It looks like it was dropped in the ocean for a year.

[Kachina624]

@Grouchomarx.  Have you used a polishing cloth on it to see if it will remove the tarnish?  That would be my first step.

[chrystaltree]

Try using a polishing cloth but it sounds to me like it is not gold vermeil at all.  I don't recall QVC ever selling gold vermeil.  It's probably gold over silver or even worse a gold wash over silver.  Those products do wear off over time and when they get old, they do look dull and dirty.  Gold vermeil is a very thick layer of 14k or 18k gold, it does't wear off and the piece looks like sold gold.  I tossed out some gold over silver chains a few months ago.  They were in the bottom of my jewelry box, pretty yucky looking.  So, I know exactly what you are talking about.  

[SilleeMee]

I had that kind of tarnishing on some of my gold-over silver jewelry. All I did was dip it in Connoisseurs Silver jewelry cleaner jar with the basket and it came out looking good. After that I keep my plated stuff in an anti-tarnish jewelry box so it won't tarnish like that again.

[Lavenderjunkie]

Yes,  it's happened to me,  especially on rings and bracelets.  And prongs are most likely to wear and tarnish.

Also,  gold can oxidize,  depending upon what is in the gold alloy.  A cleaning solution of some kind might remove oxidation.   Rubbing jewelry that is plated will wear down the plating.

[Grouchomarx]

Thanks for your tips! I appreciate it. I’ll see if I can rehab this baby.

[CalminHeart]

Vermeil is just a coating of gold over silver, bronze, or whatever.  It wears off.  And it wears off faster on some people than others depending on skin acidity, quality of gold, quantity of gold, etc.  

Vermeil is overpriced anyway.  The only vermeil I'd buy is in pendants.  Otherwise, I'd rather save my money and get a piece of gold on most things.  

[depglass]

Throw out silver?  Heavens no.  I have two baggies in a drawer labeled scrap silver and scrap gold.  Often I accumulate no more than broken chains, but occasionally I will have a larger piece not woth repairing.  If you have a lot of jewelry, you or your heirs might end up selling part of your collection for scrap.  Every bit helps.  All silver will have 925 somewhere on the piece, sometimes just on the hidden part of the clasp.  

[Tique]

@Grouchomarx  I remember QVC selling a line that was gold clad.She was featured on those destination shows that LR used to do. The name of the line was Veronese. The vendor, who was Italian, used to say clean the jewelry with soap and water. You may want to try that also.

[good2shop]

Vermeil IS gold over silver. If the under metal is anything else--like bronze or brass--it's NOT vermeil. The Federal Trade Commission has a strict and specific definition of vermeil--it has to be a sterling base, the gold plating must be 10K or higher, and the gold must be at least 2.5 microns thick to be legally called vermeil. (The definition of gold plated is a minimum of .5 microns thick.)

Some of the comments seemed to dis vermeil, but it's high quality plated jewelry, because it has a precious base AND a minimum of 2.5 microns of plating. There's a lot of gold plated--or clad as it's called to sound better--jewelry out there, but it can't legally be called vermeil if the plating isn't thick enough. (The FTC has definitions and standards around all of this.) I don't know if the clad jewelry on QVC these days actually qualifies as vermeil. Even when the base is sterling silver, if the plating isn't more than 2.5 microns, you can't use the word. 

Because it is a silver base, vermeil can show tarnish sometimes. And although the plating is relatively substantial, it will wear over time, sometimes yellow gold vermeil jewelry looks less yellow and more white as the plating fades. Using chemical silver cleaners and polishes on vermeil jewelry will remove the tarnish really well, but it can also hasten the wear of the plating.