VG-10 stands for V Gold 10 ("gold" meaning quality), or sometimes V-Kin-10 (kin means "gold" in Japanese), and is a quality cutlery grade stainless steel

Stainless steel

In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....

 produced in Japan.
Takefu Special Steel co.,Ltd, based in Takefu, Fukui Prefecture

Fukui Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Fukui.- Prehistory :The Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry, on the Sugiyama River within the city limits of Katsuyama, has yielded the Fukuiraptor kitadaniensis and Fukuisaurus tetoriensis as well as an unnamed...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 (former cutlery/sword-making center of Echizen

Echizen Province

was an old province of Japan, which is today the northern part of Fukui Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Etchū and Echigo Provinces.Echizen is famous for washi . A text dated AD 774 mentions the washi made in this area. Echizen-produced Washi is still the most commonly sold traditional...

) originally designed VG-10 stainless steel.

VG-10's initial market was aimed at Japanese chefs, but found its home in sport cutlery. However, Spyderco

Spyderco

Spyderco is a Golden, Colorado, U.S.A. based cutlery company that produces knives and knife sharpeners. Spyderco introduced many features that are now common on folding knives, including the pocket clip, serrations, and the opening hole...

 which produced some of its most popular models from VG-10 steel in Japan, resulting in a larger market for the steel.

Almost all VG-10 steel knife blades are manufactured in Japan.

Composition

VG-10 is a stainless steel

Stainless steel

In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....

 with a high carbon

Carbon

Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...

 content.

VG-10 chemical makeup:

Carbon:1.0% Chromium:15.0% Molybdenum:1.0% Vanadium:0.2% Cobalt:1.5%

VG-10 should not be confused with VG-1

VG-1(steel)

VG-1 is a high Carbon Molybdenum stainless steel manufactured by Takefu Special Steel Co.,Ltd. It is not the same steel as VG-10....

 stainless steel.

Applications

• VG-10 is used in many machine-made damascus knives such as those manufactured by KAI Shun, [Sumikama Kasumi] or CHROMA
  Chroma
  Chroma, the Greek word for color, may refer to:* Colorfulness or chroma, the perceived intensity of a specific color* Chrominance or chroma, one of the two components of a television signal* Chroma, a measure of color purity in the Munsell color system...
  
   HAIKU Damascus or the Edge of Belgravia Damascus series. And most Hattori- and Hiro brand knives use this steel as well.
• Japanese kitchen cutlery from Spyderco
  Spyderco
  Spyderco is a Golden, Colorado, U.S.A. based cutlery company that produces knives and knife sharpeners. Spyderco introduced many features that are now common on folding knives, including the pocket clip, serrations, and the opening hole...
  
  and KAI/Kershaw/Shun utilize VG-10 in their upscale offerings.