Why do I use Argentium silver instead of sterling silver?

Although sterling silver is a time tested staple of the jewellery industry, I feel it leaves something to be desired in areas of tarnish resistance, durability, and colouration. After a year or two of using sterling for all of my products I noticed they tended to tarnish and lose their shine quite quickly, and lack the same bright white colour as pure silver.

I wanted an alloy that was more durable than sterling silver, but with similar colour and shine to pure silver. I began doing my research and found 940 Argentium silver. Originally created in 1991 and patented in 1998, Argentium was created around 700 years after sterling silver, and represents an impressive leap in alloy technology. In comparison to sterling silver, Argentium silver is far more tarnish resistant, scratch resistant, brighter, and ethically sourced.

Argentium silver is created with not only a larger proportion of silver (94.0% instead of 92.5% in sterling), but also with a very thin layer of germanium on the surface. This layer of germanium isolates the copper in the mixture from oxygen in the atmosphere, preventing the formation of copper oxide. Copper oxide is what causes sterling silver to slowly dull and darken, so if this compound isn’t produced, tarnishing doesn’t occur.

Another issue with sterling silver is it’s tendancy to react poorly with salt water. Sometimes even forming a yellow tinge. Because this is an Australian jewellery brand, I really wanted to make my pieces ocean proof if possible, since I know how much my customers love the beach. This is where the germanium layer comes in useful again. It’ll block water just as easily as it’ll block air, so the salty ocean water won’t be able to come into contact with the copper and form weird compounds that we really don’t want on our rings.