Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 11 to 20 of 20

Thread: Argentium tags

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Posts
    11

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by josef1 View Post
    How many do you need maybe worth having them cast if you need a few ?
    About 25 I guess around 6x4mm

    Sent from my GT-I8190 using Tapatalk

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    3,392

    Default

    I have to agree with Wallace that anyone can add a tag but it doesn't actually mean anything and in some cases buyers are duped by unscrupulous sellers. I've never found any of my customers look for tagging but I tend to even have my underweight items hallmarked if I'm sending in a big batch to make up the min quantity price.
    I also found this on marking
    Argentium has its own hallmark and is stamped .925 as it is still a sterling silver, although you can buy it at the higher standard of Britannia silver if preferred and it will be hallmarked as such
    Last edited by CJ57; 21-12-2016 at 02:42 PM.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Romsey
    Posts
    5,255

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mickdunn1975 View Post
    Silver items under 7.76 grams don't need an hallmark, it would cost too much to send a small pair of earrings to the assay office, so quite often here in the UK they will be stamped .925 as an assurance to the customer that they are buying sterling silver.
    ...
    It is not required by law, yet customers expect to see a .925 tag on smaller items in the place of an hallmark from the assay office.
    Which is another area customers need to be educated on - it has absolutely no basis in reality. I could stamp silver items "made entirely of fish" and it still wouldn't make it the case.
    "Assurance" tags give a false sense of security. Customers invariably see a 925 stamp (missing the brass colour poking through the plating on some imports) and declare it to be hallmarked.

    As for short-changing on 930 vs 925, the 925 hallmark denotes the *minimum* fineness - and given the value of the materials, the difference between 925 & 999 is negligible. Market it as tarnish-free, fine - but I don't believe that the 0.5% extra silver content represents a valid USP.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Romsey
    Posts
    5,255

    Default

    Here you go - http://www.argentiumsilver.com/certified-silver-purity
    You can apply to be a licensed user of the winged unicorn mark. It still isn't a hallmark though.

    There's an optional Britannia hallmark that covers 958 too.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Posts
    11

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ps_bond View Post
    Which is another area customers need to be educated on - it has absolutely no basis in reality. I could stamp silver items "made entirely of fish" and it still wouldn't make it the case.
    "Assurance" tags give a false sense of security. Customers invariably see a 925 stamp (missing the brass colour poking through the plating on some imports) and declare it to be hallmarked.

    As for short-changing on 930 vs 925, the 925 hallmark denotes the *minimum* fineness - and given the value of the materials, the difference between 925 & 999 is negligible. Market it as tarnish-free, fine - but I don't believe that the 0.5% extra silver content represents a valid USP.
    It's not .5% more silver, it's a different alloy all together. Sterling uses copper whereas argentium uses germanium.

    Sent from my GT-I8190 using Tapatalk

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Posts
    11

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ps_bond View Post
    Here you go - http://www.argentiumsilver.com/certified-silver-purity
    You can apply to be a licensed user of the winged unicorn mark. It still isn't a hallmark though.

    There's an optional Britannia hallmark that covers 958 too.
    Thank you

    Sent from my GT-I8190 using Tapatalk

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Romsey
    Posts
    5,255

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mickdunn1975 View Post
    It's not .5% more silver, it's a different alloy all together. Sterling uses copper whereas argentium uses germanium.
    Completely incorrect - Argentium uses around 1% germanium *and copper as well*. As it's only the precious metal content that is relevant to hallmarking, you could put any other metal in there to alloy it to make up the remaining 7.5% - cobalt, zinc, lead, nickel... Some of them won't alloy, some of them will give rise to strange intermetallics (usually brittle), some of them are a bad idea for REACH.

    Sterling silver is by definition 925 parts silver per 1000, by weight. The rest is *often* copper, but not necessarily.

    Peter Johns' patent on Argentium which clearly details the makeup of it and several other germanium-bearing alloys: https://www.google.com/patents/EP1888797A1?cl=en

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    South Australia
    Posts
    1,844

    Default

    I would be concerned re your supplier Argentium 930 is no longer produced

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Posts
    11

    Default

    I have enough to be going on with for the next 6 months.


    Sent from my GT-I8190 using Tapatalk

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Posts
    11

    Default

    Argentium uses upto 3% argentium he states. I've read the patent. Slighlty of topic here now lol ive bought a .930 stamp anyway, thanks for all the input.


    Sent from my GT-I8190 using Tapatalk

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •