QuestionQUESTION: I'm about to buy a ring as a gift, however I'd ideally like to have it engraved and have been told it is Japanese silver and not quite of the quality of sterling. they say it wont tarnish but that they don't know how well it would withstand engraving.
any experience with engraving Japanese silver?
basically what I'm worried about now is it turning anyones finger green haha. and engraving it just seems like it might invite that problem even more...
any help will be greatly appreciated
ANSWER: Emily, I am not familiar with a specific metal called "Japanese silver" and suspect it is a reference to possibly a lower silver content metal than sterling.
In any regard, if this metal is silver based and of fairly high silver content (I suspect it is) even if less silver in the mix than sterling which is 92.5% pure silver, the metal should engrave just fine. In fact, being of less silver(if it is) will make the metal harder and wear should be better for the item and for the engraving.
Green comes from copper based metals like brass, not from silver jewelry metals. The tarnish from silver jewelry is a black color. Some people wear silver all the time with no tarnish smudge forming at all, folks like me. Others due to skin chemicals will cause a tarnish quite quickly. Things like chlorine in bleaches and chemicals in pools and hot tubs will sometimes also cause a tarnish on silver items.
If you have contact with the seller of this "Japanese" silver, ask it they can tell you the silver content and why it will not tarnish.
This might be a new sterling alloy called argentium which will tarnish eventually but much less than other sterling and is certainly durable enough for engraving. If the surface is simply plated to prevent tarnish, a deep engraving may lead to slight tarnishing in the letters but that tends to add character and not cause problems.
I do hope this answer will help somewhat. We simply need to know more of what this metal called "Japanese silver" actually is. Many brand names and many local names for metals are out there and all becomes confusing finding what the actual metal truly is.
God Bless and Peace. Thomas.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
ring
QUESTION: haha i had never heard of it before this either
"This is what they use for high-quality accessories. it is not quite the quality of sterling silver, but this will not tarnish."
the argentinium seems like a good explaination.
thankyou very much for your detailed reply it's definately settled my worries about the quality of the piece in terms of reactions and "green fingers" haha
i've attached a picture of the ring
i also asked the seller for more details about the metal and will get back to you about that once i recieve a reply
AnswerFollow up to Emily--------------------------
Emily, thanks for getting back. I should think the seller could provide more of an explanation of the silver. Argentium silver uses the basic copper/silver mix as regular sterling but also uses germanium as part of the metal mix. The stuff is very resistant to tarnish compared to regular sterling silver.
I do appreciate that if you find out more you will let me know. We have so many "made up names" of gemstone and even jewelry metals out there all in the name of marketing. Who is to know what is what in some cases.
Emily, thanks again for the follow up. Wishing you a fine rest of the week.
God Bless and Peace. Thomas.
