finally tracked it down, "times of London "
New silver provides a chore-free shimmer
BY NIGEL HAWKES, SCIENCE EDITOR
A NEW form of silver that never needs a polish can banish a chore few people relish. Even after a year, objects made with the tarnish-resistant silver need no more than a wipe to clean off dust and dirt.
Richard Fox, chairman of the Association of British Design Silversmiths, calls it "the best product for silversmiths in the last thousand years". Objects made by him from the new silver will go on show at the Olympia Spring Fair next month.
The silver owes its tarnish-resistance to germanium, an element best known in the first transistor radios before silicon took over electronics. Peter Johns, a tutor in Applied Arts at Middlesex University, discovered the remarkable results of adding 1 per cent germanium to sterling silver. He wanted to eliminate "firestain" - marks that appear when sterling silver is heated.
The stainless silver is being manufactured by Thessco, a Sheffield company, on licence from Peter Johns, who holds the patent. It has already been successfully introduced in Finland, where silver is much more of an everyday product.
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