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Parent Category: Technical Articles from Journal Back Copies

Category: Technical Articles 2004

Non-tarnishing silver is not as good as it seemed

Sandra and Alan Kravitz

Reprinted with permission from the newsletter of Enamel Guild Northeast USA. July 2004

We were excited about reports of non-tarnishing silver that seemed to indicate it would be good for enamelling, combining the strength of sterling with the non-tarnishing characteristic of fine silver.

We found the American manufacturer of these alloys who sent us some casting grains. However after further inquiries we had our doubts and contacted their chief metallurgist and also found technical papers written in England. There were also questions raised by the Society of Dutch Enamellers on the web about experience with enamelling on Argentium Sterling®.

Argentium Sterling® is an alloy of silver that contains no copper; all copper content is replaced with germanium. The resulting alloy appears to be tarnish free. It also is more ductile which allows silversmiths to stretch the metal more than the regular sterling alloys.

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