For jewellery to be classed as ‘vermeil’ this simply means that the base metal has to be .925 sterling silver with gold plating over the top.

'Vermeil' (pronounced ver-may) comes from the old French word 'vermilion', meaning a red colour.    

Vermeil is often a popular choice as it uses sterling silver as the base and gold to plate with (the level of plating can vary but we use 18ct gold and the highest micron coverage available of 3 microns), this means that those with allergies can usually wear vermeil pieces as it does not use brass, copper, nickel or lead in the process.