Knowing the difference between fine, semi-fine, and fashion jewelry can be relatively simple: it all boils down to the items that the jewelry is produced from. Getting a glimpse of the quality of the precious stones and metals is needed to know if a piece of jewelry is believed to be fine jewelry, semi-fine, and fashion jewelry.
Difference Fine Jewelry, Semi-fine Jewelry, and Fashion Jewelry
What is Fine Jewelry?
The word fine jewelry is used to pinpoint jewelry that is derived from precious metals. The core metals used in fine jewelry are palladium, platinum, rhodium, gold, and silver. Precious metals are also known as noble metals, which indicates that they are resistant to corrosion and oxidation, are durable, and are somewhat expensive to source from the earth’s crust.
Fine Jewelry made of precious metals is usually combined with gemstones like sapphires, real diamonds, rubies, and other gems. As fine jewelry is derived from quality materials, they are usually stronger, lasting, and costly to make. A jeweler has to be at a high skill level and possess the equipment required to make real pieces made from precious stones and precious metals. Fine jewelry is usually smaller and has a fragile design and style because of the amount spent producing it.
Fine jewelry will not tarnish very fast with adequate care and preservation and can probably be used for many more years. They can also be repaired, changed, recycled, and resized. Fine jewelry possesses a greater status in society and is usually acquired to graced special events like anniversaries, engagements, investment purposes, and other important occasions.
According to their profession, designers of fine jewelry are required to tag their jewelry with standardized stamps that show the kind of precious metal used in its fabrication. Examples of very popular High-end jewelry brands are Cartier, Bulgari, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany & Co, and Georg Jensen.
Fine jewelry is meant to be used for generations and has to attain much stricter standards than fashion jewelry.
Semi-fine Jewelry
Semi-fine jewelry is that jewelry variety that reveals the connection between fine jewelry and fashion jewelry. Semi-fine jewelry is often gold vermeil (a thicker gold plating), gold plated, or gold fill jewelry. This type of jewels is usually made using real stones such as morganite, opals, aquamarine, etc.
but what differentiates semi-fine jewelry from fashion jewelry is the base metal employed during production is often sterling silver, so beneath the vermeil or gold-plated layer is even a top-quality metal that will last many years into the future. You will also find much more semi-fine jewelry produced with lab-enhanced or created stones as they have exact visual properties to real stones but at a lower cost.
It’s crucial that gold plated or semi-fine jewelry should not be put on to sleep, in the shower, pool, or when exercising. Be careful when you’re applying lotions as water, and the oil of the lotion can make gold plating tarnish as time goes by. Jewelry that exists within the semi-fine category ought to be kept for fashion inclined pieces but has no likelihood of lasting a lifetime.
The “semi-fine” variety may be important to jewelry makers to very precisely compartmentalize their pieces, but it is not a basis by which professionals and authenticators judge jewelry. In the mind of a professional, “semi-fine” jewelry is still viewed as fashion jewelry due to its application of base metals—again, the items that makeup jewelry is the determining factor as to whether a unit is considered fine jewelry or fashion jewelry.
What is Fashion Jewelry
Fashion jewelry is also referred to as imitation jewelry, costume jewelry, and fake jewelry and is produced with very inexpensive base metals and simulated stones. Metals often used in fashion jewelry comprise copper, zinc alloy, brass even stainless steel. Every kind of abundant metal can be easily extracted and processed and is used in making fashion jewelry.
It is also having a lesser price tag than precious metals required to make fine jewelry. The base metal is plated with a very costly noble metal such as platinum, rose gold, or gold, which covers it to make it more attractive, stronger and to render the finest jewelry look, taking out the price tag.
Fashion jewelry can be produced from textiles, base metal alloys to leather and usually includes simulated stones such as Swarovski crystals and plastic stones.
The choicest part of fashion jewelry is that bigger and fantastic pieces are created because of the reduced cost of production. More kinds of styles and designs are available and thus imbibes changing fashion trends.
Due to the fact that fashion jewelry is made from lower-quality materials that do not last that much nor have the longevity of precious metals used in fine jewelry. One other thing to pinpoint is they wear off and break easily and can’t be repaired just like that as they have been plated, so any disturbance to the surface will damage the plating on this part of the piece. It would not be worth repairing it as the cost of replacing it will be cheaper.
So, bear in mind that Fashion jewelry requires tender loving care if you want to use it for years, such as removing it after use every day and not allowing it to mix with sweat, water, and perfume. The main players in the fashion jewelry business are Michael Kors, Swarovski, and Chanel fashion jewelry.
Conclusion
If you’re not sure about where designer jewelry lies between both categories, just inspect the composition of the jewelry. A few designers do increase the prices of fashion jewelry just because of its association with a designer’s name, so it appears as if a low-quality piece is worth more than the actual price. But most designers only make high-quality jewelry made from precious metals and real gemstones.