Gold and all its variations for findings

OK, I've read the discussions on the links from Sooz's pages, and I've
looked till my eyes are sore, so I guess I can now ask here.

I've read definitions of gold filled, gold plated and vermeil, but what I
can't figure out is which would be the best to use for making jewelry. I'm
a silver sort of person myself, but on occasion if someone wants something
with gold in it, I want to be sure that I'm using the right thing. So bear
with me he

Vermeil is silver plated with gold. First choice for materials?
Gold filled is a sheet of gold bonded to another metal, no telling what the
metal is sometimes. Second best?
Gold plate is gold over brass usually, so least desireable of the three.

I would normally use only beads and crimps and possibly clasps. I have
found some nice Bali vermeil which looks like the best thing for making good
jewelry, but what is acceptable/desireable for things such as crimps? Is a
gold filled crimp sturdy enough to use, the gold is bonded securely and will
still look like gold when I'm done?

Thanks for any thoughts. I know, I'm a pest but at least I'm your pest. I
really want to just be sure when we start doing things that require AD in
the heading to putting the right stuff together.

-Su