935 argentium sylver

recently i decide to try argentium sylver they said it wont tarnish have someone use it before how long does it last before you see some changes in color

You will find a lot of discussion in the archives here about argentium. It isn’t completely immune to tarnishing, but most folks said they seldom had to worry about polishing it in a display case. Tarnish is always going to vary depending on the atmosphere you are in, the finish of the piece, etc., so there are no hard and fast rules. Argentium acts about the same as regular sterling except that it can be brittle when hot, heat treats to hardness somewhat better and fuses easily without solder.

There is a good guide to working with argentium here:

Hope this helps,
toyjohn

thanks so if i wear it everyday is going to actually tarnish


Any silver, and even gold is eventually going to tarnish, so yes, pessimistically, argentium silver is going to tarnish. The extent of any tarnish depends on sulfur compounds contacting the piece. There are various ways to retard any tarnish. You can add thiol, an ingredient in some polishes, to the surface. You can heat the argentium to bring more germanium to the surface. Even 100F for an hour will help, the maximum benefit is achieved at 210F for 16 hours, easily done in your kitchen oven, if any set stones will tolerate this temperature, which many will. You could even wax the piece and buff the wax. A little tarnish is going to add to the patina of most textured pieces, so there’s that. Argentium was developed and marketed as a tarnish resistant silver, so realistically, there is going to be precious little tarnish for most people in most environments. If you are going to rub it in egg and set it in the sun, yes, you can get some tarnish. It is likely that in everyday use, typical abrasion is going to wear off most tarnish. If you kept a twenty five cent polishing cloth or even wiped the piece with a damp cloth once a month, I don’t think you’d ever be bothered by tarnish. I think it’s a little unrealistic to think this is an issue.

I just went to my china cabinet and pulled out a silver plated wine goblet that’s been in there for at least five years…it was about 30% tarnished. Not having any silver polish at hand, a took a dry cotton rag to it and polished off most of the tarnish in about a minute. I put some dawn soap on it and washed it with the now wet rag and got rid of the rest of the tarnish in about two minutes and buffed it with another dry rag. QED and quite satisfying. Your main problem with your bracelet will be getting to those little links, but, as I say, tarnish in the crevices creates a nice patina. If you want something that absolutely, positively doesn’t tarnish, I suppose platinum is close, or one of those rare earth metals with the patina-ed surfaces. Unless you are looking at a service for twelve that you haul out once a year, or a case full of silver pieces on display, I think tarnish on silver is a non-issue, but that’s just me. -royjohn

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thanks for the reply roy i gues that next time i will use either gold or platinum in stead of the argentium silver

Well, different strokes for different folks, I guess. If you wear the argentium bracelet, I would be interested to hear whether tarnish is actually an issue after you wear it for a while. I wear some silver rings and don’t even notice the tarnish and polish them up once in a while because of scratches. Some folks’ body chemistry evidently produces more tarnish…-royjohn

Don’t give up just yet on Argentium. I like to use it for ear wires and jump rings. Just saying…

Ellen Lyons

Roy i was reading on your profile that you are a faceter , i am am very interested in learning faceting , which machine do you have , are you familiar with the imahashi handpiece machine

thanks i will wear it to see what happens

Yes, I facet and sometimes have stones for sale (hint, hint)…I use a Gearloose XS3, a mast machine with a digital readout, but, yes, I’m familiar with the handpiece machines like the Imahashi. Since Justin Prim has become rather well know and is giving workshops all over the USA this year on his “faceting history tour,” I think everyone is becoming more familiar with the handpiece machines. I’m helping a young friend put an ohmmeter on her Raytech now (another handpiece machine, I guess you know…). Message me privately if you want to talk about faceting, I’m always up for that. -royjohn

yes i have a few old machines including the raytechshaw i have a modified imahashi machine with 3 c type handpices and an old prismatic machine restore if i find the picts i will send them to you even that i have the machines and the laps i havent started yet faceting i had a small machine shop years ago and had been modifiying and restoring an old imahashi