Material & Care
Three materials, three price points, and three very different answers to "how long will this actually last?"
We sell one of them. Here's the honest comparison anyway — including the parts that don't favor us.
| PVD steel | Gold vermeil | Solid gold | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold layer | 3 microns, bonded | 2.5 microns min. (legal minimum), plated | Not plated — solid all the way through |
| Base metal | 316L stainless steel | Sterling silver | None |
| Realistic lifespan | Years of daily wear | 1–2 years before visible wear | Decades — passed down, not worn out |
| Water & sweat | Built for it | The thing that kills it fastest | Fine, but the base metal isn't the risk — scratching is |
| Typical price | €40 | €150 | €900+ |
A three-micron PVD gold layer bonded to 316L steel, with no reactive base metal underneath to push it off. It shrugs off the shower, the sea, sweat, and years of daily wear without flaking or tarnishing.
The trade-off: it's not solid gold, and it never will be. What you're buying is durability at a price, not an heirloom.
Vermeil is real gold plated over sterling silver — by law, at least 2.5 microns. That's thinner than what we use, and silver is a reactive metal, so it tarnishes underneath the plating over time, especially with water and sweat exposure.
It photographs beautifully and it feels closer to solid gold on the hand. But realistically, most vermeil pieces show wear at the edges and high-contact points within a year or two of regular use — sooner if you shower or swim in it often.
No plating, nothing to wear through — the gold goes all the way through the piece. It can scratch and dent like any soft metal, but it won't ever reveal a base metal underneath, because there isn't one.
This is the material for the one piece you're not buying to match an outfit — an engagement ring, a piece you want to pass down. It's priced like it, too.
It depends what you're optimizing for. Vermeil feels closer to solid gold and photographs warmer; PVD steel lasts far longer under water, sweat, and daily wear because there's no reactive silver base underneath to tarnish.
Yes, eventually — the sterling silver base underneath is a reactive metal, and the legally required minimum plating (2.5 microns) is thin enough that regular water and sweat exposure wears through it over one to two years.
Gold filled uses a mechanically bonded layer that's far thicker than standard plating — closer to PVD in durability, though still not solid gold. Gold plated (including most vermeil) uses a thinner layer applied by electroplating.
No — a good PVD finish is visually indistinguishable from solid gold at normal viewing distance. The difference is in the metal underneath, not how it looks.
We make the steel one. Now you know exactly why — and when it isn't the right answer.