4/1/05 | Tarnish Free Silver?
Because I work with sterling silver wire all the time and am constantly battling the effects of oxidation, I was pretty interested in what’s known as “tarnish-free” silver. I hadn’t heard of it really until now. Apparently I’m way behind the times since this was discovered almost 5 years ago by a college student who figured out a way to introduce impurities into silver in order to make it resistant to tarnish.
Tarnish Resistant Argentium Sterling Silver
Argentium Sterling Silver is the trade name for this tarnish-free silver which was developed by Peter Johns when he was at Middlesex University in the UK. In addition to being resistant to tarnish, it is not susceptible to “firescale” (firescale is a reddish patina that appears on silver alloys when heated in the presence of oxygen) , is more ductile and electrically conductive, and can be heat hardened to be twice as hard as normal silver.
I’ve heard the price for Argentium Sterling silver is necessarily more than normal Sterling because of the processing that needs to be done to achieve its properties. But have non-tarnishing wire to work with would be a huge advantage. I often find myself making pieces that involve silver to sell in the future and then having the metal parts become oxidized even with careful storage. And customers who aren’t used to having. This is definitely worth a second look. In the Ganoksin article I read it said the exclusive North American distributor of Argentium Sterling Silver was called “Stern-Leach Co”.
August 7th, 2005 at 8:43 pm
I’ve been working in Argentium Sterling ™ Silver for a few months now. I’ve found it’s extremely helpful to heat Argentium to help produce the Germanium oxide layer on the surface. It’s the Germanium oxide layer that protects the sterling against tarnishing. Be careful when annealing Argentium. If you quench it when it is too hot, you will get stress fractures.
It is not necessary to protect Argentium Sterling during the heating process as it is with regular sterling. In fact, you want oxygen to get to it.
Heat hardening can be done in a regular kitchen oven set at 550 deg. F. for an hour or so (half hour seems to work pretty good too). I have heard reports that good hardening takes place even when temperatures of only 450 deg. F. can be achieved .
If you simply use Argentium Sterling as you get it from the manufacturer, you may not have good tarnish resistance at all. In fact much of the Argentium Sterling I get is already tarnishing when I get it. After the metal has been treated, I have found it has great tarnish resistance.
I like Argentium Sterling so much, that I am slowly replacing my Sterling Silver inventory with Argentium Sterling Silver. :)
October 16th, 2005 at 12:22 am
Just a quick comment to put something right about Peter Johns and Argentium
Peter Johns is a senior lecturer and reseacher at Middlesex University with many years of experience in the silver and jewellery trades. He has been developing the alloy over the past 15 years and has been awarded about 10 patents. Regarding the alloy, the major benefit of the material is that it is firescale resistant, the slower tarnish rate is a by product of the new alloy, though it is obviously great news.
October 18th, 2005 at 10:32 pm
Marty - belatedly, thanks for the tips on Argentium…
Cherie - thanks for the clarification… I think the information got muddled when I was reading an article about firescale and silver. It said a student came to Johns for help regarding removal of firescale from silver, and that evidentally got the ball rolling in the direction of Johns doing research on his alloy eliminating firescale in sterling silver. I think I got mixed up and wrote that the student WAS Johns though I’m not sure.
January 17th, 2006 at 2:53 am
I have been using argentium silver for about 4 months and love it. After hardening it in the oven, which really works, there is a yellow film on it. Any suggestions as how to remove it. I end up polishing it off although I’ve heard that you can wash the yellow off with soap and water.
May 7th, 2006 at 8:48 pm
Lynda
Soap and water will not remove it the yellow coloration, you may have found by now that pickling will.
June 5th, 2006 at 8:48 pm
Earlier I mentioned that “If you simply use Argentium Sterling as you get it from the manufacturer, you may not have good tarnish resistance at all.” This may not be the case anymore. The manufacturing process appears to have been improved.
March 7th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Where can I buy Tarnish Free Ear wires to make my jewelry for a good price at whole sale prices
Thanks Shan Ellis
August 11th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Where can i purchase argentium jewelry findings? does anyone know?
thanks so much!