Description

• Platinum vermeil is sterling silver coated in platinum. Typically the silver core is much larger than the platinum coating, which makes the cost of vermeil much less than that of platinum alone. Platinum vermeil is difficult to discern, except by an experienced jeweler. To most people, platinum vermeil has the same bright silver coloring as pure platinum metal. However, because vermeil has a silver center, it is weaker than pure platinum.
  
  

Materials

• Platinum vermeil is made from a thin platinum coating and a silver core. The silver core must be made of pure sterling silver to be considered vermeil. Vermeil products are also called silver grit, because of the composition of the internal silver piece. Any coated metal that has a nickel core, or some other metal in addition to the silver and platinum, is not a true vermeil. It is illegal to sell products coated in other metals as vermeil.
  
  

Formation

• In the past, vermeil was made by melting gold onto the silver (platinum was not used in the past). Mercury was used to help with the fusion process. However, this made the workers go blind, so it was stopped. Modern vermeil is not made by hand, but is rather made through an electrolysis process. A thickness of at least 10 karats is required, with 14 karats used the most.
  
  

Uses

• Vermeil is used for several different purposes. One of the main uses for vermeil is to offer less expensive jewelry options. Not only does it save the consumer money, but it also saves on the use of precious metals, which is especially beneficial for platinum, which is priced at over $2,000 per oz in 2010. Platinum vermeil can also be used to make delicate shapes that could not be made from pure platinum, because it is too tough.
  
  

History

• Vermeil was first made around the middle of the 1700s in France. The word vermeil means silver coating in French. Vermeil was first made from gold only. The process was very popular in the 1940s and '50s, and there is a room in the White House called The Vermeil Room that holds many different vermeil objects. Platinum vermeil was first made in the early 1900s.