Argentium silver

Has anyone used Argentium Silver, and can you comment on its 'advertised' properties (esp. tarnish-resistance)?

Thanks,
Scott

[marym]

When Argentium silver was first presented to us, as a crafter that had been using silver wire for years, I must admit I had some doubts.  Ok, lots of doubts. This stuff had some large promises to deliver on (IMHO).  

But after using it to create several jewelry examples for our Summer supplement- I found that Argentium indeed delivered.  I've left one pair of earrings in open air for three months now with no visible tarnish.  When creating the pieces I used un-coated regular metal tools (to really test this stuff I went against my instint and tried to destroy). Yes Argentium did eventually dent.  However, it took a noticeably large amount of pressure of metal on metal contact and the dents were so slight I didn't need to re-create the project.  Overall, this silver resisted the mass amount of denting and scratching ordinary silver would have received from that kind of abuse.  I was amazed (and sold).

-Mary

[Russ Nobbs]

At http://www.silversmithing.com/1argentium.htm it says
"Good tarnish resistance: A passive layer (transparent germanium oxide) is formed which significantly slows the formation of silver sulphide."

The 2 main resources for argentium information at
http://www.silversmithing.com/1argentium.htm
and
http://www.argentiumsilver.com/

The first one has a sulfide tarnish test showing how little Argentium tarnishes compareed to silver. See http://www.silversmithing.com/1argentium4.htm
We've talked about duplicating that test but have yet to do so...

[daverobertson]

  We've added a blog post about Argentium!

Come on over and enjoy.  (If you leave a comment there, you'll be entered in our monthly Blog Raffle.)

--Dave

[Dana B]

I love this material! I am so glad companies are expanding the selection of items made with the Argentium. My customers are so excited when I tell them about the simple cleaning method and the lack of tarnish they will have to deal with. Good for me too, as a designer, since I have a huge stock of items that I carry sometimes for months before using and I hate to have to clean everything before I use it. A simple wipe down with a clean polishing cloth and it is bright and shiny with no effort! Truly a remarkable product. Plus the heat treatment for hardening is so easy! I love this stuff. 
Dana B
DMB Designs

[KarenfromN.O.]

I've been working with Argentium wire for months now and keep running up against the same problem -- it is way too soft to use for creating findings.  It wraps wonderfully, stays nice and bright, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to harden it so I can use it for earwires, etc.  I read something about putting it in a kiln -- anyone have any ideas?
Karen

[RitaD]

I have not tested it, but the information on heat hardening that I've read is this:

Argentium® Sterling Silver is precipitation hardenable. A doubling in final hardness can be achieved by heating at temperatures obtainable in a domestic oven. The hard alloy can be softened by conventional annealing and then hardened again if required. The alloy's hardness can also be doubled after the piece you're working on has been work hardened: 450°F (232°C) for @2 hours, 570°F (299°C) for @30 minutes. The alloy will not lose its hardness if left in the oven beyond the above times.

Good luck.

[kaycee]

Just like the gold is hardened by adding copper or bronze Argentium Silver is made tarnish free by adding copper to it. Argentium Silver is composition of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. It is better then the pure silver because after adding copper it becomes shinier, stain free a with a superior quality brightness, purity and durability, it also becomes tarnish resistance.

[Polly]

I need to make a correction to kaycee's posting. Kaycee roughly described normal sterling silver, rather than Argentium sterling silver.

Argentium sterling silver does contains the 92.5% fine silver legally required for sterling. The difference between normal sterling and Argentium sterling, is that Argentium replaces about 1% of the normal copper content in sterling with germanium. This alters the alloy's properties. What most crafters will notice is the improved tarnish resistance (although we've heard that in strong salt air, this isn't as noticable for some reason). Jewelers generally like Argentium because it doesn't develop firescale, and it can be hardened through thermal conditioning.

Click into the product details for any of these Argentium jewelry-making supplies, for more info.

[kaycee]

Thanks Polly, for correcting. You mean to say that Argentium is made out of 3 metals that are silver, copper and germanium mixed in the ratio 92.5% 6.5% and 1% respectively.