Metals

Gold Filled

Gold Filled jewellery is often confused with Gold Plated because both involve a layer of solid gold over a base metal. Gold Filled and Gold Plated, however, are not the same thing.

Like Fine Gold (a.k.a. solid gold), Gold Filled is regulated, where Gold Plating is not. Gold filled pieces legally must be at least 5% of the item’s total weight. Gold plating is estimated to use on average only 0.05%, meaning Gold Filled jewellery uses easily 100 times more gold than gold filled.

Gold filled jewellery, categorized as Demi-Fine Jewellery, is the second best quality jewellery after Fine Jewellery: 14k to 24k solid gold. Therefore, Gold Filled jewellery is the best alternative to solid gold.

Consisting of a very thick outer layer of solid gold, Gold Filled jewellery can be worn for decades without losing its outer golden glow. It is tarnish resistant and hypoallergenic. If you want pieces that can last a lifetime, but don’t have the funds to purchase Fine Jewellery, Gold Filled is the way to go!

Sterling Silver

Sterling silver consists of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% copper — the copper introduces harness to the silver, which is very soft and malleable alone, prone to denting and scratching. While the best quality for jewellery, sterling silver is still susceptible to tarnish over time, which is why caring for your silver is important.

To keep your silver looking good as new, remove before washing hands, exercising, showering or entering a pool/hot tub. Always apply skincare, perfume, or hair products before wearing your silver jewellery as the chemicals may cause the silver to tarnish. To clean, buff gently with a polishing cloth. When not worm, store in a safe dry box or jewellery pouch.

Gold Vermeil

Like Gold Plated and Gold Filled jewellery, vermeil is a layer of solid gold over a base metal — in the case of vermeil, this metal is sterling silver.

Vermeil is regulated, like solid gold and Gold Filled, in which the jewellery must have a silver core and gold layer of at least 2.5 microns thick of a minimum of 10k gold.

Gold vermeil lands in the “bridge” category of jewellery, meaning it sits between Demi Fine Jewellery (Gold Filled) and costume jewellery (Gold Plated). The outer gold layer will eventually wear down, but because the base metal is also a precious metal, you can have it re-plated as often as needed.

Gold Filled vs. Vermeil

It is important to note that the creation process of Gold Filled jewellery is unlike that of any other types of jewellery. Gold Filled jewellery cannot be cast from a mold or machine manufactured like in the case of solid metals or plated metals.

The process of making gold filled is essentially sandwiching two sheets of gold arounf a base metal and fusing them together. This jewellery can only be made by hand, and this is the major pitfall of Gold Filled jewellery for jewellers. Some designs may not be able to be produced in Gold Filled, in which case a jeweller must choose vermeil as the best quality option for jewellery more affordable than solid gold.

Stones

Cubic Zarconia

Often regarded as visually very similar to real diamonds, Cubic Zarconia (CZ) is a very popular diamond alternative. It has many of the same qualities as a high quality diamond — a radiant brilliance, free of inclusions and blemishes, cut in many different shapes, colourless — but for a fraction of the price.

Cubic Zarconia is a lab-grown crystalline stone that, to the naked eye, looks almost the same as a diamond, however they differ in durability. It is a well known fact that diamonds are the hardest substance on earth, and therefore Cubic Zarconia is no match there. Over time, Cubic Zarconia will dull, scratch or even chip and need to be replaced, but if taken care of properly, this won’t occur for many years. The good new is that, as CZ is relatively inexpensive, replacing this stone won’t weigh too heavily on your wallet.

Glass Faux Pearls

Why faux pearls? Real pearls are, first of all, expensive, but also very fragile. Delicate and prone to scratches, real pearls require substantial frequent upkeep.

In order to keep our more affordable pricing with ease of care, we opted for high-quality glass pearl beads. With the weight and warming sensation that real pearls possess, no one will know the difference!

Garnet

The birthstone of Caldwell + Co.’s founder, the garnet is a mineral gemstone that has been used in jewellery and decorative objects for thousands of years - one of the oldest known gemstones. Highly valued by some of the greatest ancient cultures, Egyptian, Greek and Roman, this stone is a timeless pop of colour to any jewellery piece. It has a dispersion (the tendency to split light into its spectral colours) that gives it a “fire” that exceeds that of a diamond’s!

Garnets are typically known for their dark reddish hues, but there are a number of different types of garnets of varying colours and durabilities. In order to keep your garnet jewellery looking good as new for the longest amount of time, clean in warm sudsy water and polish with a microfibre cloth. Store in a padded container or soft cloth/pouch when not in use.