The knowledge and the current testing methods regarding silver tarnish phenomena are not guaranteed to provide measureable evaluations of the phenomena itself. Presently, all the formal and suggested tests are unable to demonstrate with any certainty what actually occurs, and they are especially unable to provide objective data. In fact, the tests are always carried out using a parallel reference sample, and so provide only viewable, empirical data. Furthmore, the assumption is that once a minimum change in the test conditions takes place, the results become completely distorted. By following a more scientific method this paper will investigate more deeply into our knowledge of the chemical interactions that provoke the tarnish phenomena. The goal is to provide more trustworthy and repeatable data.

Author(s): Andrea Trentin, Silvano Bortolamei, Mauro Di Siro, Daniele Maggian, Alessandro Zocca