World production is mainly from Mexico, USA, and Canada (approx 30%, 25%, and 15% respectively). Utilisation is predominantly into coin, jewellery/ornaments, and photography (40%, 35%, 15%).

Silver has a density of 10.3, to be compared with lead at 11.3. It has a very good thermal and electrical conductivity, better than that of copper or gold, and great ductility and malleability. Indeed as a pure metal it is too soft for most purposes and is alloyed with other metals, usually copper. The two most common alloys are Britannia at 95.8% silver and Sterling at 92.5% silver.

The quality of precious metals has been closely controlled in the UK since 1300 by hallmarking, implemented by what is now The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in London. Today there are assay offices elsewhere but we utilise the London office whose hallmark, conforming to the general format, comprises -

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1. The Sponsor’s Mark. This used to be the maker although now it can be the client who commissioned the piece, e.g. a retailer. Mike’s mark is shown here.
   
2. The ‘Standard Mark', i.e. quality. This is sterling silver.
   
3. The assay office, here London, a leopards head.
   
4. A letter denoting the year, here 1995.

These marks are subject to change due to European Union standardisation.

All elements of a piece must be submitted to the assay office including for example the wire for rigging of a boat model, and is done before the final finishing stage as the office is entitled to take metal from any part for analysis prior to stamping the hallmark.

The need to finish a piece to a high polish or controlled texture leads to a significant differentiation between modelling in silver and working in other materials. In order to give a surface a high polish it is necessary to be able to access it with the appropriate buffing wheel. This means that from the outset the construction of the model must be designed so that when all parts are made and fitted together it is possible to dismantle it to the degree that all visible surfaces, including nooks and crannies, can be polished.

Silver tarnishes and clearly it is not possible to polish a sailing boat with its sails and rigging without dismantling it. Accordingly we use a proprietary coating which obviates the need for polishing. An example of its efficacy can be seen in the model of the ketch ‘Tagembo’ (Modern Sailing Boats - Ketches) which was made in 1984. Since it was made it has been round the world on show on the liner Queen Elizabeth II and effectively flown round many more times for exhibitions and shows, yet in 2003, the last time we saw it, when standing alone it looked perfect albeit against a newly polished boat it was not quite so white.

Mike describes it from the workbench viewpoint …

‘The first consideration when building a model ship in silver is to decide which parts would look better polished and which textured, a subtle combination of these can bring a model to life, too many reflections in a polished deck for instance can be very distracting.

The first problem therefore is how to assemble these various parts. I envy modellers in wood their ability to glue small parts onto their models. In silver each piece must be soldered, screwed or pinned in place and without leaving the screw heads showing. This can be tricky.

So that I can polish the various parts I have to be able to access the area with a suitable buffing wheel and this may mean screwing two bits together which would be much easier soldered.

Having decided how to assemble the model, I usually start with a wooden half model. From this I can judge the size and shape of silver for the hull. Silversmithing is usually a matter of removing the marks put in the metal by the previous operation, so hammering a sheet of silver into a wooden former will put lumps and bumps all over it. I remove these by planishing - or hammering all over the surface with a polished hammer over a stake of steel. To remove these marks the work is filed smooth and the file marks removed with abrasives. Finally the bright polish is given.

After spending many months working on a model, constantly checking to see if the parts still fit - silver distorts easily during the heat of soldering - I find it exciting to polish each part, wrap them all up and send off for lacquering, then during the final assembly I can see if I have made the right decisions to polish, texture or gild each part.

Assembly can take several weeks for complex rigging and seeing the finished model is always a delight for me. Regrettably more often than not the model is passed to the client within days and we retain only a photograph.'

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