Hi all
the other day I was told of a jeweller who had problems with
Argentium ear wires being brittle and being broken by the customer.
The jeweller said the iridium made the Argentium brittle. Well that
just shows ignorance. Argentium has no iridium but germanium in the
mix.
I think the jeweller quenched the Argentium too quickly. They had
not read the instructions.
Those who have problems with Argentium have not read and followed
the instructions.
A and E metals have a basic info sheet on their website. Argentium
International have very detailed instructions as does Cynthia Eid. If
you follow the instructions you will have no problems using
Argentium.
I have used Argentium for six months now and have found that
soldering is a little different from sterling.
I keep the heat up to the solder about a second longer than with
sterling, not a big problem is it? Argentium is far superior to
sterling in every respect except for reticulation, I just cannot
reticulate Argentium. So what for reticulation I use sterling.
So if you are going to try Argentium just read and follow the
instructions then you will find it a most wonderful metal to work
with. No firescale is just the start.
I also have had increased sales of plain Argentium jewellery as the
colour, the whitest of all precious metals and the high polish it
attains are just magic.
all the best
Richard