Comments for See if i was told different - white gold of sterling silver

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Gold over Silver in the 1940s
by: Yvonne

Good Morning!

Yes, it's worth something! It would be interesting to know what you were told about Gold over Silver??

Background story of Gold over Silver for your information:

In a world with war, in the 1940s - platinum - a dense, hard white metal, at the height of fashion from 1900 - 1930 was channelled - away from the the production of jewelry to the production of armaments. Gold which is softer than platinum became the principal precious metal, and in answer to your question, for those who could not afford pure gold, vast quantities of sterling silver was plated with gold to create - Vermeil.

The idea of plating silver with gold was not new at this point in the History of Jewelry and dates back to the 18th century; the problem was the arbitrary plating process they were using at the time. It was extremely dangerous (due to the toxic fumes, produced using the technique, which involved mercury) and was banned by the 19th century.

This all changed however, during the 1940s. There was a revival in Vermeil when the electrolytic technique was invented.

Warm Regards
Yvonne

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