A novel self-seeding route is developed for fabrication of metallic nanocomposites of gold (core) and silver (shell) (Au@Ag core@shell). Herein, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) is used as both reducing and stabilizing agent. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Au@Ag core@shell can be tuned by controlling the thickness of the Ag shell. The different growth stages of the Au@Ag core@shell have been traced by in situ UV-vis absorption spectra. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy are used for the characterization of the prepared samples. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.