The question of our gold vermeil jewelry turning green has knocked the minds of almost every designer or jeweler. Gold vermeil is getting popular among the folks. This is very luxurious-looking jewelry.
It fulfills the place of pure gold jewelry as it can’t be recognized by the naked eye that whether it is gold or gold vermeil. Gold vermeil is made with sterling silver or pure 99.9% silver as a base metal. It is covered by gold plates.
Silver oxidizes too soon and it can be the reason that our gold vermeil turns green. Gold vermeil is also known as silver gilded or silver gilt. The reason is that it has sterling silver as its base and gold is merely plated.
Does a good and fine gold vermeil turn green? Yeah, buddies! It can also turn green as there is a chemical reaction of sterling silver or fine silver with the atmospheric conditions and the body chemicals.
The water, the sweat, the oxygen in the air, and the chemicals sometimes we use as dish wash, or detergents we use can be the greatest agents of turning our gold vermeil green.
Factors that Affect Our Gold Vermeil To Turn Green
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By that time, the love and demand for gold vermeil are increasing. Women, as well as men, are crazy about this jewelry format. The reason behind all this is very simple. Gold vermeil is too cheap as compared with pure gold jewelry.
But it looks as original as gold. No one can find the difference between a pure gold item and vermeil. The affordability makes this form of jewelry more attractive.
But still, there is a question about its color fading and turning green. Sometimes you find your finger has a faded greenish line. You become somewhat curious and a little afraid. You start to think it may be the sign of some unknown disease or a virus.
Behold! Nothing is like that. It s just the gold vermeil you are wearing continuously for many months. It needs to be cleaned or re-polished.
What makes your gold vermeil green? What are the factors that involve turning our ring greenish? Let’s have a look at them.
Silver is A Fast Reactant to Oxides
Silver whether fine with 99.8% pure silver or sterling with 92.5% silver is too reactant to other metals, atmospheric oxygen, sweats chemicals, and water oxygen. It also makes a connection with sulfur present in the atmosphere and forms sulfide of silver. This is a cause of Turning our gold vermeil green.
Similarly, when we get interaction with water by taking bath, washing dishes, or anything other activity, the minerals, and oxygen combines with silver to make oxides of silver. This will instantly work to discolor the ring or bracelet in gold vermeil.
Scientific research discloses the fact that many metals especially sterling silver start to react with other metals, elements, or atmosphere instantly after being exposed to air.
When we see it with naked eyes, we never find it. But if we use a microscope, we will remain surprised to see the instant reaction of silver with others.
People living in areas near the sea face this issue to the next level. It is too difficult for them to carry jewelry, especially silver jewelry. The ratio of turning gold vermeil green is too high just because of the high precipitation.
Good quality gold plating takes time to resist but it is not a permanent solution. And the quality of vermeil jewelry is that it never uses other metals than sterling or fine silver.
Reaction with Cosmetic Chemicals
All kinds of cosmetic, hair products, washing chemicals as dish wash and detergents, perfumes, and body sprays have the worst most impact on vermeil gold. All the chemicals written above have a too strong reaction with silver or even gold.
It takes seconds to make a connection in which a new chemical is formed. It turns our jewelry out to be green. Zinc oxide, Titanium oxide, and ferric oxide are the main chemicals present in almost every cosmetic item.
All these substances quickly respond to the sterling silver, coated or not, and smudge its color and shine. Other metals are alloys to silver as copper and nickel. These are also friends of other substances or elements. They play an important role in making our gold vermeil jewelry green.
It Is Not For Everyday Use
One of the most affecting factors that lead our gold vermeil jewelry to turn green is our careless use of the jewelry. Everyone indeed wants to have some ring, bracelet, earrings, or some other jewelry item permanently. But actually, it is bad for our jewelry care.
When we wear gold vermeil all the time during our routine, it doesn’t need to get in contact with water. All the daylong practices we do become an unwanted partner with that item. It gets friction with many metals, face air, or maybe suffocation. All the tasks we do have a great impact on our jewelry.
Slowly and without getting itself noticed, it turns green. We realize it when someday sitting on our couch suddenly we find our ring finger green. We think it a kind of tint from something during work. But it is the product of the reaction taking place between our ring and the environment.
Quality and Processing of Gold Plates
No doubt gold vermeil can made from 10k gold plates to 24k. But the quality of that article changes accordingly. If we use low-quality gold, there is a chance of our jewelry turning green or lose its original shine.
We know that before some decades, the fold was plated by casting it in the fire. It was a good method but could damage the article too. There is a fear f some d-shaping and deformity issues. It may also have not that great finishing as gold vermeil will get after the electroplating process.
Oh my God! What does this mean? It means if w is not using good quality gold and still prepare the item with fire casting, it will have a chance to turn green too early.
The reason behind this is very simple, when gold vermeil is heated, the element present in sterling silver, copper alloy, or gold are activated. As soon as they get a chance, they start making their chemistry from another chemical. This turns our ring green.
Meanwhile, the gold plated with electroplating procedure does not have any chemical reaction that speedy as a normal plating does. This is why electroplating is becoming more famous.
All these described factors are more or less responsible for the discoloring of gold vermeil. We must keep all these factors in our mind before going to buy some gold vermeil. It has attraction. It is pocket-friendly. It can give the feel of pure gold.
Still, it has a chance to get greenish. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t regain its original shine and luster. A little care and polish can bring your jewelry its shine back.Methods to Avoid Our Gold Vermeil Turn Green
If we get up in the morning and find our ring finger or wrist turning green. We can be depressed enough to consult a doctor considering it an allergy. It can be the reaction of some pills we had taken at night.
No no no! It is not so. It is just the green color of our ring, earring, or bracelet that we use to wear day and night. There is no need to be so tense.
Therefore if you feel some agitation in the same greenish area, it tends to be an allergy. You must instantly put your jewelry off, wash your hands and visit your doctor.
Gold vermeil’s green color is not poisonous but some people have very sensitive skins. They can get allergenic by anything. That’s why we should try to avoid this situation. There are certain steps we can take to avoid our gold vermeil turn green.
Use Your Vermeil with Gaps
Yeah! Off course! We want to look special whenever we go to hang out or attend some office meeting. This craze of looking special and graceful makes us buy varied jewelry. Vermeil is an affordable choice that gives us as glamorous looks as Jessie j and Monica Vinader looks after wearing gold vermeil vs gold plated.
But behold! Wearing your rings or earrings all day long is not a good option. We must be careful in the use of gold vermeil jewelry so that it will not throw greenish color by some chemical reaction. We must have a scheduled wearing of our jewelry if we want to make it long-lasting.
As we know already that sterling silver that is the base metal of vermeil jewelry, starts instantly reacting with surrounding elements and forms a compound of green color.
By knowing all these facts, we must be a little more careful about the daily use of vermeil. Make a routine to wear it daily but have some intervals. If your wear it twice or thrice a week, it will be more encouraging to increase its life.
Cleanliness Is Half a Faith
With our busy schedule, we urge and desire to look up-to-date and glamorous. We wear some jewelry articles to look smarter and attractive. But if we don’t clean it properly and do not give them care, they will lose their original glare.
It is riskier when we wear gold vermeil. Gold vermeil should be cleaned and taken care of almost daily otherwise it will start to produce the green color.
Every one of us is too busy in this materialistic world. We don’t have enough time left to spend on jewelry cleaning. But only one or two minutes from our tough schedule will save our gold vermeil turning green or even black.
When we clean it with a dry cloth and apply some polishing oil, all the dust, residue, sweat particles, and pollutants are washed away. This will certainly be helpful to avoid it being green for at least some years.
Cosmetic, the Enemy to Vermeil
Yes! Another enemy of our gold vermeil is cosmetics. Our careless attitude plays a significant role in making our gold vermeil turn green.
When we apply makeup, perfume, powders, and even lotions, the chemicals like Titanium oxide and zinc oxide form a strong relationship with silver and copper alloy present both in sterling silver as well as gold. This is another reason to turn our jewelry green.
But it’s not a big deal dude! We can take care of it easily. We won’t wear our gold vermeil before all our makeup including perfumes. When we are completely ready to set out, we should wear it that moment.
This is the best way to make our vermeil safe from any interaction with cosmetic chemicals. Washing hands after applying makeup will also be very helpful.
Be Wise during Home Chores
While you are busy with your home chores and your rings and bracelets are still in your finger or hands, they will be damage. Just wear it off when you are washing dishes, cleaning home, and using detergents.
The shampoos and soaps are as harmful to snatch the original shine of vermeil as these detergents are. Water and washing chemicals will make your gold vermeil turn green in some days even.
So we need to be careful if we want our gold vermeil will not to turn green and will retain its original color and luster.
Polishing Our Vermeil is Not A Bad Idea
A tricky piece of advice can help you people a lot! You can do a colorless polish on the inner side of your rings or earrings. If your bracelet or bangle is flat enough to apply polish, do it instantly.
This practice will be very helpful in not getting any interaction with our skin. There are too many chances of reaction with our body chemicals. Silver and copper are the best reactants. The same is water. So sweat is watery as well as salty. It can turn our jewelry green.
Nail polish will make a thick guard layer through which no chemical will pass. This is another way to add life to our gold vermeil.
Place Your Jewelry in Air Tight Containers
As soon as you wear your gold vermeil off, clean it and put it in an airtight box or containers. There should be zip lock bags in which you place your jewelry items. But be careful to put each article separately because jewelry metals instantly react with each other, Here let me also share with you video from youtube:
This method will be a good way to save your vermeil from turning green. It will increase the life of your jewelry.
Avoid Heat
Again we believe that heat proves always damaging for gold vermeil. We should put our vermeil off while we are near heat. Whether we are in the kitchen or doing something else with heat or fire, we keep the jewelry of gold vermeil away from it.
Heat plays an important role in activating the silver and copper ions to react with atmospheric elements. All the reaction takes place speedily in the presence of heat. This is why the sooner you keep vermeil away from heat, and the better it will be for vermeil’s color and shape.
Use Hot Water and Towel Clothes to Clean Vermeil
If you want to retain the original shine and color of your vermeil jewelry, wash it with hot water. After washing it clean and rub it with a towel cloth. Don’t let any moisture stay in your jewelry. It will be harmful to it. This method is very good for your jewelry protection from turning green.
But if you feel it difficult to clean it, take it to a jeweler. It is much better than doing some false experience.
All these above tips and ideas will help your gold vermeil turning green. These ideas are far better than doing nothing. We spend our money on buying the vermeil or any other jewelry, we should care for it so that it may not lose its color and will get tarnish or green.
Conclusion
After understanding the nature and type of gold vermeil, we can easily handle it. It is getting ever-growing popularity due to its more than fewer prices as compared to that of 24k pure gold items. Its grace and luster compel the women to buy it. No one can find the difference by merely looking at it.
A normal budgeted man can feel glad to gift his beloved with that of some vermeil ring or bracelet. It may be the cause of developing a strong connection between them.
The problem of discoloring or turning vermeil green still exists. It is because of the base metal sterling silver. Its inclination to form a relationship with other metals or elements is too high. But we are helpless in this matter.
We have to use sterling silver for a good combination with gold plates. Otherwise, if we use some other metals like copper or nickel, it will be gold-plated jewelry, not gold vermeil.
Just do some care to your gold vermeil so that it may live long with you. This will lead you to enjoy your jewelry for a long period.
