18k or 14k Gold Plated Jewellery - Is It Worth the Money?

[RikkiTikki]

Missoma, Monica Vinader etc - does it look and last better than costume jewellery from Marks, Next, H&M, Mango etc? Some looks very yellow - both gold plated and cheap options.

NO. Gold plated jewellery is worthless. Even 18k plus. You can get the same quality stuff as Monica Vinader on Temu. Seriously. Same with gold vermeil. You’re paying for the brand only.

No. You'd do far better buying silver jewellry.

Or just go for obvious costume jewellry. A lot of costume jewellery is more fun and more interesting than "tasteful" gold plated jewellry.

I actually don't agree. I have a lot of Monica Vinader jewellery that I wear all the time and it is in perfect condition. The stuff I buy from cheap shops doesn't last and the colour comes off .

Agree. I don’t have anything from Monica Vinader but I’ve got plenty of really nice gold plated / vermeiled earrings etc over silver from various jewellers / craft places, and they’re lovely and last very well, with a much better appearance / finish than anything I’ve picked up in eg monsoon or marks.
I do find that plated bracelets wear off more easily, though I don’t really mind as it tends to just soften the colour a bit to goldy silver. I agree that sometimes the necklaces or some of the jewellery looks a rather lurid gold colour - it depends on the make I think. I have to be careful to not clash gold shades if I’ve got a more yellowy necklace and I am choosing which earrings to wear.

I much prefer a gold shade to silver on me, so don’t just wear silver instead.

I don’t judge others preferences but personally I would never buy plated jewellery.

I especially would never pay a lot for it, I’d rather have less expensive metals than wear plated.

My friend has Monica Vinader plated jewellery and it's tarnished / worn off. Expensive for what it is I think.

I do have some pure gold bits but I also buy cheap PVD coated jewellery. It doesn't wear off and there's loads of choice these days.

Same. I have some Monica vinader bits. Some are fine. Some are super tarnished and have barely been worn. Actually rusting! Which is bizarre.

Not impressed as only a few years old.

I've spent money on gold plated & gold vermeil both cheap and expensive and it never lasts.
So now I only buy the cheaper plated items to mix in with my real gold pieces.

So far I've got 3 real gold items:

I inherited a 14ct yellow gold delicate chain with a catholic medal inscribed & dated 1934 from an old family friend.. (I can wear the chain with other pendants or alone).

I've bought a 9ct yellow gold link bracelet from Ernest Jones for under £200 (20% off with blue light card).

And wear a pair of hoops my sister bought me for £80 from Goldsmiths.

I'm saving up for a chunkier chain I've seen in an antique jewellers.

I've seen plated jewellery for sale for up to £250!! It's shocking really considering it can't be polished up once it's tarnished.

It’s still not valuable. The base metal is probably stainless steel or similar. You can find that on Temu aswell.

Probably not worth it but I do love MV designs and I recently bought a ring that was 50% off in their current Black Friday sale and it's made me so happy and I love it, so worth jt just for that. Wouldn't pay full price though.

It’s not “valuable” like solid gold is, but people generally buy it for the design rather than as investment pieces. And it’s sterling silver not base metal.
I think there’s plenty of much nicer gold vermeil stuff out there than Monica v, and at a better price, but it’s not all the same as cheap base metal from Temu.