[Jewelry making - Article 00262] - Re: [Orchid] Argentium Sterling Wire Discrepancy

[nancyhowland]

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Beth,

    I noticed the Argentium silver I purchased from another company was
    much harder than the AS sold by Rio Grande. You may only need to
    anneal the wire. 

    Because you report a copper colored surface, you probably should
    test the silver just to make sure that it is Argentium silver. To do
    this, cut three very small same size snippets of this silver and
    torch them into balls on a charcoal block. If the granules look flat
    white, the silver likely is Argentium. If the granules are copper
    colored, the silver likely is standard sterling. Next, cut some
    similar size snippets of silver that you know is Argentium silver and
    torch them into balls. On a scrap piece of 26 or 24-gauge standard
    Sterling silver (use a small amount of organic glue but no flux),
    place three balls together of the known Argentium silver at one end
    of the scrap and place three balls of the silver you are testing
    some space away at the other end of the scrap. 

    Torch heat all of the granules until the known Argentium silver
    granules begin to melt. Because there is no flux protecting the
    standard Sterling scrap, the sheet metal will oxidize to black.
    Notice that the Argentium granules melt outward in all directions
    and form a white halo extending at least a millimeter past the
    granules over the top of the oxidized sheet metal. Only Argentium
    Sterling forms this white halo. If your test granules melt at the
    same rate and look the same, then you have Argentium silver. If the
    granules are standard sterling, they will remain dark and copper
    colored. I have written an article on this silver testing that has
    been accepted by Art Jewelry for publication in the near future. 

Hope this helps.
Nancy
www.psi-design.com
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