This article would seem to indicate that only the Name is protected:
UK Inventor, Finnish Manufacturer Team Up to Produce Tarnish-Free Silver
- Alloy Took Ten Years of Trial and Error
At long last - tanish-free silver.
Could it be true?
A British silversmith says he has found a way to make tarnish-free
silver, and the largest silver manufacturer in Northern Europe, believes
he is right.
Peter Johns, a trained silversmith and technical tutor at Middle***
University has been working for about 10 years on a problem than has
plagued smiths for centuries. Called firestain or firescale, the dark
coating found on silver occurs when the metal oxidizes at high
temperatures. It is nearly impossible to get rid of and it makes working
the silver very difficult. "It causes problems when you join things
together because if you solder on top of the firestain, you don't get a
proper bond," says Johns.
Silversmiths often deal with firestain by coating the metal with boric
acid or other caustic, sometimes toxic solutions.
Johns found that by adding germanium, a semiconductor used in early
transistors and now employed mainly as a vital part of military
nightscopes, the silver alloy didn't develop firestain. He said he tried
germanium at the suggestion of a French company that was trying to find
new uses for the element after the Cold War ended, military uses were
dimini****ng and most transistors and chips were starting to be made of
silicon.
The tarnish resistant characteristic is what may be of the most interest
to consumers but it is the firestain resistance that is most im****tant to
Johns and other silversmiths. Because firestain is virtually eliminated
in the alloy, it can be welded with a laser, allowing increased
automation of silver manufacturing. "You also need less,grinding," says
Johns. The product has been in limited production since last year, but is
growing almost weekly, according to Tony Jackson, technical development
manager at Kultakeskus OY, an 81- year old privately owned silver
manufacturer about 60 miles north of Helsinki.
The company, which is the largest silver maker in Northern Europe, has
been working with Johns for six years to learn the right amount of
germanium and other metals to produce a silver product that has the best
characteristics of sterling but without the firestain. "Finally, we found
the correct mixture," says Jackson, "but it took us a long time to do it.
We went through every possible usage (silverware, hollowware, Jewelry)
until we found the correct percentage." The alloy is considered sterling
because it is 92.5 percent (sometimes called '.925') pure silver.
Like Johns, the most im****tant aspect to the company is the no-firestain
feature. "Because there's no firestain, it saves production time and we
don't have to use acids or other substances (used to prevent firestain)
that are not environmentally friendly." He adds: "One of the big savings
is that we can weld which saves a lot of time. A lot of people said that
we could never weld silver, but we can - with a laser."
He says that consumers in Scandinavia are asking the company to produce
additional products made of the tarnish-free alloy. "They're asking us
'when can you make such and such' product. We're increasing production
weekly," said Johns who would not give out production figures.
The new alloy is not without drawbacks. Adding germanium raises the price
7 to 10 percent, but Jackson believes that most consumers would gladly
pay a premium if they didn't have to polish their silver pieces to
eliminate tarnish. "To many people, it's drudgery." The other issue is
that of,availability. Germanium is a by-product of lead and zinc
extraction, and is also found in coal. The main source is in Kazikstan,
which is in an unstable political region. "We're always worried about the
price of germanium going up," says Jackson.
Another side effect is that the silver alloy gets some yellow substance
on it. "We're not sure what it is, but it wipes off easily with a damp
cloth," says Jackson.
The bulk of the effort to produce this new alloy has been accomplished by
trial and error. "We trust the alloy," he says. "it does exactly what we
want it to do and consumer demand is high and growing in Scandinavia and
elsewhere."
Johns realizes that skeptics exist, so he invites people to study. "It's
in the public domain. Anyone can see it." He also freely gives
demonstrations to silver makers on how to make the alloy. "They're
surprised that I'm so open about it."
Silver News - February / March 2000
http://www.silverinstitute.org/news/2a00.html
Peter Johns is the creator of Argentium silver. From his closing
statement above, it would seem the formula is not patented or protected
in any way.
--
Saint Séimí mac Liam
Carriagemaker to the court of Queen Maeve
Prophet of The Great Tagger
Canonized December '99
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