What it weighs.
What it's worth.

Vermeil sits between plate and solid gold, and the distinction is regulated rather than marketing. Under US Federal Trade Commission guidance, vermeil must be sterling silver plated with gold at least 2.5 microns thick and 10K or finer — thicker than ordinary plating over brass, and with a base metal that has its own value. In practice that buys years rather than months of wear, and the piece can be replated. What it does not buy is permanence: it is a surface, it thins where a ring rubs, and it has no melt value beyond the silver. Buy vermeil when you want the look at a tenth of the outlay and accept replating as maintenance. Buy solid gold when you want the piece to survive being worn every day for a decade.

Far less than you paid, and the honest answer is that nobody should buy one as a store of value. Lab-grown stones are real diamonds, graded by the same laboratories, but production capacity has grown quickly and retail prices have fallen steadily — which means the stone you buy today competes with cheaper new supply tomorrow. Secondary-market demand is thin, and many buyers of pre-owned jewelry price a lab-grown centre stone at close to nothing, valuing the setting metal instead. For most of the brands we cover we have found no published resale data at all, and we will not estimate a recovery rate we cannot source. Treat a lab-grown purchase as consumption: judge it on cost per wear, not on what it might fetch later.

Assume nothing is returnable until the policy says it is. Across the brands we cover, custom, engraved, special-size and made-to-order pieces are routinely final sale, return windows can be as short as a week, return shipping is often deducted from the refund, and international orders may be excluded entirely. None of that is unusual in the category, but it is a very different posture from mainstream apparel returns. Before ordering: read the window, check who pays return shipping, check whether resizing counts as alteration and voids the return, and screenshot the policy on the day you buy. If a brand’s stated terms and its checkout copy disagree — which we have seen — treat the more restrictive version as the one you will be held to, and ask in writing.

Yes, on three axes. Purity: 14K is 58.3 per cent gold, 18K is 75 per cent, so 18K carries more metal value per gram and reads warmer in yellow. Durability: the higher alloy content in 14K makes it harder and more scratch-resistant, which is why a lot of everyday jewelry is 14K by design rather than by economy. Price: at the same weight and design, 18K costs meaningfully more, and the gap widens with heavier pieces. Neither is the better choice in the abstract. For a ring worn daily, particularly one with prongs, 14K holds up better. For a piece worn occasionally where colour is the point, 18K is doing what you are paying for. Compare weight in grams as well as karat — a light 18K chain can hold less gold than a heavy 14K one.