I have a coil of 20 gauge Argentium wire that has tarnished stored next to coils of sterling wire that have not tarnished. They have all been stored in the same way all summer. I buy Argentium for ear wires because it is supposed to be less likely to tarnish than sterling. Anyone with ideas why it tarnished? My shop is dry and cool…Rob
Good question Rob.
I use Argentium and Continuum whenever possible, and use standard sterling when there is no choice.
What surprises me is how standard sterling chains stay perfectly clean and bright.
Rio sells tetrachloroethylene (Tarnish Shield) and one or two other solutions as anti-tarnish treatments so I’m guessing that at least some sterling products (chains, findings) may come with some kind of protective coating.
It is my understanding that Argentium works by developing a germanium oxide coating which serves as a barrier, and that is best done by heating it in the presence of oxygen (torch, kiln…). If the oxide layer isn’t developed on your Argentium wire then perhaps sulfur is getting through to the copper in the alloy.
You might try cleaning a piece of Argentium and then heating it and letting it cool, and see how that compares over time with the rest of your Argentium, and maybe polish a small piece of your sterling to see if that spot tarnishes before the rest.
Otherwise, it is a puzzle.
Argentium typically has less tarnish than standard sterling. However, it can tarnish. There are tarnish-inhibiting coatings that may be applied to prevent tarnish on objects that are not handled much, and might be on your standard sterling. But without detailed information on how each material was handled before and after shipping and on the chemical analysis, there is virtually no way to determine why one item tarnished and another did not.
FWIW, Rio sells two different anti-tarnish coatings. Both are intended for storage but will not resist any kind of customer wear; they will rub right off. One is Rio brand, and one is Legor brand. They are both health hazards, so read the SDS and make sure you are comfortable working with them before buying.
Thanks Neil and James for your great answers. I just used a mild Jeffery Herman approved tarnish remover and it went away. This is not a problem, but I use Argentium for my wires because it isn’t supposed to tarnish as much as sterling. Neil, I still haven’t reliably figured out how to solder Argentium without a problem. I have sterling muscle memory. Thanks…Rob
I don’t use Argentium in any capacity. I found it a little flakey to work with when it was hot. I would crack it if I bent things about while it was still hot. I tend to manipulate the metal too much I suppose.
Sterling Muscle Memory:-)
I never thought of using it for ear wires. Is there an advantage I am missing? When I bend up my sterling wires I toss them in the small tumbler and forget about them. When they come out an hour or three later the end is nicely rounded and easy to use.
Don Meixner
Hello Orchidland,
I’ll weigh in on the Argentium (AS) discussion. Been using it routinely since it came out decades ago. Don, it IS ‘delicate’ when hot - fiddle with it when hot and AS will crack and separate. It’ll slump too. Therefore, standard sterling is best for things that are heavy (belt buckle backs!). For my use, AS doesn’t fire scale. That’s a big asset. I also like that it doesn’t work harden as quickly as sterling. On the other hand, since it stays manipulatable, I’ve made it a practice to precipitation harden hoops and such in my kiln.
I love, love, love the AS solders! They flow at slightly lower temps than standard solders and they stay true to color. No dark lines where a ring shank is joined. I no longer use any other solders but AS solders.
As to the tarnishing, AS does tarnish - but more slowly and cleans up easily. I cannot explain your experience of AS tarnishing next to Sterling, which did not tarnish. Are you sure the wires were properly identified??? Do the hot push test on both to see which wire breaks. OR ask Rio’s tech people.
Judy in Kansas, where it’s been an unusually wet summer. Weather weirding for sure!
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Don…I use argentium for ear wires because they aren’t supposed to tarnish and I don’t do any soldering on them. I cut a 2" piece of 20 gauge argentium wire, ball the ends in the PUK, form the wires, but them onto a SS rotary tumbler for 20 minutes and they are done. They do, generally, not tarnish. I just did 50 wire this afternoon. My only curiosity is why argentium wire might tarnish when sterling wire might not when stored under the same conditions…Rob
Rob…I use pretty much the same process. 2 1/2" 20ga. twisted and tumbled. I turn 2 wires at a time to insure they are the same length, loop them together and tumble. That way they are always pairs as close together on the assembly line as possible.
I guess the next step is to see if you can duplicate the problem. If tumbling is the cure you won’t out anytime really…Don
Rob that makes absolutely no sense, especially if the sterling did not tarnish. I have had argentium tarnish if I hung it over the pickle pot (yes I did that). It will tarnish by itself if you give it enough time. The germanium coating forms when it hits oxygen and normally its good from the get go. The beauty of argentium is the protection when soldering or fusing. I’ve had issues with argentium solder tarnishing, but you are not talking about solder. I am gonna come out of left field with this one, but are you sure its argentium? In the same environment with sterling and it tarnishes and sterling does not … I’m scratching my head. Um, put a piece of it on the end of clamping tweezers and hit it with the torch. We all know how sterling is gonna react, and we all know how argentium will react. I am old and don’t do much metal work anymore. I started using argentium early and have a total love hate relationship with it. I love you can fuse it. I love the ease of soldering. I love you can treat it like gold and get in fast and hot to a join without having to heat the whole piece. I hate that freaking short hot thing. Did I mention I hated that hot short thing? Its not standard sterling. If you approach it like standard sterling … its gonna teach you some lessons quick.
Brent…Thanks for your reply and it all makes sense, however, the wire that tarnished still has the Rio tag on it identifying it as Argentium. I only use Argetium for ear wires that aren’t soldered or heated for any reason, so I leave the tag on to make sure that I don’t use it for anything else. Old school old dog I guess. I have tried to use Argentium, but I still mess it up moving it too soon. Since I have figured out how to deal with firescale, I have little reason to work in Argentium other than for ear wires. The only thing left to consider is that Rio sent me something other than Argentium…Rob
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Judy, first I totally love how we get the weather report in Kansas. You have always provided those for many years and I do love them. I’m late to the conversation and just realized you gave the same advice … give it the poke test … lol. I love you. How you just off hand just throw out I precipitate harden it my kiln! That is one of the very real advantages argentium has over sterling!! You can precipitation harden sterling as well … they try to deal with the fire stain 
It is a big deal as is the ability to fuse and and solder and just hit the spot hard and hot without heating the whole piece. It kinda changes the game if you are trying to do production (which I totally am not anymore). The poke test is not so much fun if you are trying to solder something and poke it Standard sterling is so forgiving of a poke, much like a well mannered collie. Argentium is like a pit bull on steroids. No pokes are forgiven.
Rob, I keep the orange Rio tags on it too. Some human person put those tags on. Judy said it earlier, do the poke test. Thing is, if they were even BOTH sterling, one is not going to tarnish and the other is not. Hell, it may be solder. Been my experience solder does tarnish a bit faster and you have to sand it off bit if it has been a while. I have very little confidence in Rio. Used to be such a wonderful company. Riding on reputation now I think. What you are describing makes little sense for it to be for either argentium or standard sterling. It tarnished, roll of standard sterling did not. So it passes the poke test. Put it and a same size piece of something you absolutely know to be sterling … and if one melts before the other. Something ain’t jiving Rob. I am old and mostly confused most days. Just throwing some things out, trying to think outside the box.
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Hello Brent,
You gave a more complete response on the characteristics of Argentium (AS). It fuses so nicely. It balls well for head pins and French ear wires. Yes - soldering is very like working in gold - not necessary to heat the entire piece for the solder to flow. The brittleness of hot AS is a bummer and requires one to be considerate of that characteristic! Bit of a learning curve.
All the best and label/stamp everything,
Judy in Kansas
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One more note on Argentium. It is especially nice to use for ear wires as it is hypoallergenic. Between 17 and 26% of women in the US are allergic to nickel and have difficulty wearing jewelry, especially earrings with nickel alloys.
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Since when is there nickel in sterling silver? Sterling is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper.
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You would like to think that. But in actuality the US requirements only specify the amount of silver in the alloy called sterling. Yes, copper is the preferred element, but sterling silver from China, India and other regions is likely to contain small amounts of nickel as well. The best way to avoid nickel allergies is to either request nickel free sterling, or to seek out Argentium.
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You are right that the sterling quality mark in the US only specifies that the silver content needs to be 92.5%. That being said, nickel is not added to sterling silver by anyone. First and foremost, nickel and silver don’t mix well, so it is pointless to add it to the alloy. Second, nickel is very expensive compared with the other elements used in making sterling alloys. This idea seems to have come from people using “nickel silver” which has no silver in it to make jewelry items. In the past, some imported items made of nickel silver were marked as sterling, but it is not at all common. No one who is at all interested in making cheap silver will use nickel, as it just makes it more expensive, not less.
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Ok! Thanks for clarifying! I really didn’t realize that. I do use primarily Argentium, although have had to start using more 925, since I can’t always get what I need in Argentium. Which is a big drag. Thanks again for the clarification!
Thanks, James! Clearly a lot more to the issue than I thought.
Good to know. I did not know that. Thank you for clarifying!
I read a story about China and dirty metals and we should be careful about buying from them. I saw where almost all of the costume jewelry was contaminated, with radioactive metals. It’s buyer beware! And it got me to thinking about all the things we buy, like our cooking utensils and the appliances that we use to cook with. Food for thought!
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