A new silver alloy - Argentium!

I know it's been a long time since I've posted on here and hope that I can get more useful information up here soon. In the meantime, I wanted to write a quick update to my article on the various types of silver.

Argentium is a name that is new to me but has been available on the market for the last several years. It's starting to grow in popularity now which is how it came to my attention and why I felt I should share an update since my previous article is incomplete without it.

Argentium is sometimes known as 935 Silver. As you may have learned in my first article, that means the alloy is 93.5% silver. It is being offered as a replacement for the more common and popular form of silver, Sterling, or 925, Silver.

Argentium is a more pure product than 925 Sterling and is able to do so without compromising the qualities that have made Sterling so popular, primarily the hardness and durability. Argentium is just as hard and durable as Sterling but has a higher resistance to tarnish and is supposedly a bit easier to work with in terms of ductility and firescale.

There is another type of Argentium, 960 Silver, which is 96% pure with similar properties but a higher melting point. It seems to be less common among the dealers and craftsmen that we work with than Argentium 935 Silver which is still far less common than Sterling 925 Silver.

Argentium incorporates germanium, a more rare element than was used back in the days when Sterling 925 Silver was developed. Essentially the traditional formula for Sterling was modified to replace some of the copper with germanium resulting in what we now call Argentium. Due to the change in chemical formula it requires all new processes and products to use in the shop, including type of solder, firing plans, and others. We have not incorporated Argentium into any of our products yet but expect that we will as it becomes a bit more common.

Argentium Silver is patented and trademarked by Argentium Silver Company, UK.

As always, please contact us via email with any additional information, feedback, or questions that we can help with.