The Manufacture of Jewellery, Gold and Silversmiths' Ware, Buttons, and other Ornamental Objects for Dress, Furniture, and the like, from Sulphide of Silver.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Jan., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 2nd Oct., 1889-Accepted, 23rd Nov., 1859
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
The Manufacture of Jewellery, Gold and Silversmiths' Ware,
Buttons, and other Ornamental Objects for Dress, Furniture,
and the like, from Sulphide of Silver.
I, EUGÈNE ARNÉDÉE BILLAULT of 22 Rue de la Sorbonne, Paris, France, Manu-
facturer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows
Sulphide of silver possesses great advantages as regards its peculiar colour, its
capability of taking a good polish, its relative hardness and its solidity and very novel
effects may be obtained by applying it to jewellery for making jewels and mourning
studs or buttons or other fancy articles; the invention may also be applied to gold-
and silversmith's wares, in making ornaments intended to be applied to objects
composed of any different material whatever, for instance to furniture, bronzes and
the like.
The object of my invention is to manufacture jewellery or other similar articles
entirely of sulphide of silver instead of gold silver and the like. This application is
altogether new, sulphide of silver never having been employed in this manner in the
trade, having only been applied sometimes as a covering in a very thin layer whereby
jewellery of a bad quality was produced, notwithstanding the rather high price, as it
was not known how to make it stick to the object it covered.
I have discovered by experiment that sulphide of silver may undergo the same
operations as the metals usually employed in the jewellery and similar trades, such as
rolling, cutting and the like, by subjecting previously to a degree of heat inferior to
its melting point, so that it ceases to be brittle and becomes malleable. In cooling it
regains its toughness and may then be finished when cold by filing and polishing,
without prejudice to the facility with which an object may be retouched after having
again been softened by means of a hot iron.
Consequently I commence manufacturing jewellery and similar articles by melting
sulphide of silver and letting it run into the form of ingots, which, after reheating,
may be rolled into plates, sheets, strips or bars of various dimensions. When it is
desired to work these plates or bars they ought first to be reheated to a degree which
softens them without making them melt, and when in this state they may undergo
the operations of cutting stamping, bending, turning, perforating and the like, in the
same way as a metal. In short the material then loses its fragility and possesses an
amount of malleability which facilitates certain of these operations to a great extent;
moreover its malleability depends upon the degree of softening to which it has been
brought.
When made and after cooling, the objects may be retouched by the file and polished
by the ordinary means.
Being able to resoften the objects by heat in places determined upon, facilitates
certain operations, such for example as retouching and the application of attachments
either plain or cut out ornamentally or other parts or pieces formed of any metal, or
the setting of precious stones which latter may be set in an open setting on a piece of
jewellery by making a hole in the latter in which the stone is placed the edge of the
hole being turned over the stone, either with or without the aid of softening.
By reason of the facility with which the sulphide of silver oxydises when in a
melted state, its fusion and the running into the ingot moulds must take place without
contact of air, for avoiding the production of metallic silver on the surface. The
same thing applies as regards soldering on sulphide of silver, and it may easily be
effected by the blow pipe on the condition that it is effected in the reducing part of
the flame.

page_text: By employing the means herein described I obtain, after rolling, cutting and the
like, perfectly sound homogeneous and solid objects or pieces of uniform shade of
colour in all parts.
•
In certain casas jewellery and the like might be produced altogether in sulphide of
silver by substituting casting or moulding instead of the process of manufacture
described above, as this material may be cast or moulded just as well. The melting
of the ingots and the running of same into the moulds should then be effected in a
reducing atmosphere in order to avoid the danger above mentioned. Pieces or metal
of any kind plain or ornamented in any desired manner might previously be placed in
the mould so as to be left solidly imbedded in the casting after the operation either to
appear entirely or partially on the surface of same when taken from the mould, or
afterwards when the surface of the sulphide of silver had been filed.
Datal this all of Luna…., 1980
EUGENE ARNÉDÉE BILLAULT.
By Jensen & Son,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.
The
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Manufacture of Jewellery, Gold and Silversmiths' Ware,
Buttons, and other Ornamental Objects for Dress, Furniture,
and the like, from Sulphide of Silver.
I, EUGÈNE ARNÉDÉE BILLAULT of 22 Rue de la Sorbonne, Paris, France, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
Sulphide of silver possesses great advantages as regards its peculiar colour, its
capability of taking a good polish, its relative hardness and its solidity and very novel
effects may be obtained by applying it to jewellery for making jewels and mourning
studs or buttons or other fancy articles; the invention may also be applied to gold
and silversmith's wares, in making ornaments intended to be applied to objects
composed of any different material whatever, for instance to furniture, bronzes and
the like.
The object of my invention is to manufacture jewellery or other similar articles,
entirely of sulphide of silver instead of gold, silver, and the like. This application is
altogether new, sulphide of silver never having been employed in this manner in the
trade, having only been applied sometimes as a covering in a very thin layer,
whereby jewellery of a bad quality was produced, notwithstanding the rather high
price, as it was not known how to make it stick to the object it covered. .
I have discovered by experiment that sulphide of silver may undergo the same
operations as the metals usually employed in the jewellery and similar trades, such as
rolling, cutting, and the like, by subjecting previously to a degree of heat inferior to
its melting point, so that it ceases to be brittle and becomes malleable. In cooling it
regains its toughness and may then be finished when cold by filing and polishing.
without prejudice to the facility with which an object may be retouched after having
again been softened by means of a hot iron.
Consequently. I commence manufacturing jewellery and similar articles by melting
sulphide of silver and letting it run into the form of ingots, which, after reheating
may be rolled into plates, sheets, strips, or bars of various dimensions. When it is
desired to work these plates or bars they ought first to be reheated to a degree which
softens them without making them melt, and when in this state they may undergo the
operations of cutting, stamping, bending, turning, perforating, and the like, in the
same way as a metal. In short the material then loses its fragility and possesses an
amount of malleability which facilitates certain of these operations to a great extent,
moreover its malleability depends upon the degree of softening to which it has been
brought.

page_text: When made and after cooling, the objects may be retouched by the file and polished
by the ordinary means. Being able to resoften the objects by heat in places determined
upon facilitates certain operations, such for example as retouching and the application
of attachments either plain chased or cut out ornamentally, or other parts or pieces
formed of any metal, or the setting of precious stones which latter may be set in an
open setting on a piece of jewellery by making a hole in the latter in which the stone
is placed, the edge of the article round the hole being turned over the stone, either
with or without the aid of softening.
The
By reason of the facility with which tho sulphide of silver oxydises when in a
melted state, its fusion and the running into the ingot moulds must take place without
contact of air, for avoiding the production of metallic silver on the surface.
same thing applies as regards soldering on sulphide of silver, and it may easily be
effected by the blow pipe on the condition that it is effected in the reducing part of
the flame.
By employing the means herein described I obtain after rolling, cutting and the
like perfectly sound, homogeneous and solid objects or pieces of uniform shade of
colour in all parts.
When as above described, I desire to set a piece of another material such as gold,
silver, or the like in the jewel or other object of sulphide of silver, either for ornament
or utility proceed as follows :—
If I wish for instance to imbed or inlay the sulphide of silver object with an
ornament of silver, gold, or the like which shall appear on the surface without
projecting above same, I place this ornament at the bottom of the mould or matrix
and above it I place the planchet or blank of sulphide of silver that has previously
been cut to the desired form, after having been resoftened by heat both as regards
shape and perforations if there are any whereupon the blank is again softened by
directing thereon the reducing flame of the blow pipe; then by means of a punch,
which is pressed into the mould by pressure or blow produced either by hand or
power, stamp the sulphide of silver thus softened into the mould. The ornament
then embeds itself well in the sulphide of silver, which latter at the same time
receives its desired form, corresponding to the form of stamp or plunger part and
the matrix of the mould. The object is then, when cold, retouched with the file and
polished.
[
If the intention is to make an object which is to have some appendages, these may
be fixed by the same operation. For instance if I wish to fix the fixed parts of the
hinges of a brooch behind same I solder the hinge parts on to the metal ornament
preferably before putting the latter in the mould," and make holes in the blank corre-
sponding to these hinge parts. The stamp or plunger part is also provided with the
necessary cavities in order that the hinge parts may not be crushed during the
stamping. The matter being arranged in this manner, the pressure causes the sulphide
of silver to flow round the hinge parts which are thereby held firmly in position. It
is evident that hinge parts or other appendages might also be fixed to pieces of sulphide
of silver not provided with inlaid ornaments.
Instead of inlaying or imbedding jewels or other objects of sulphide of silver with
an ornament intended to remain there permanently and imbedded as described, I may
also temporarily inlay a core engraved or fashioned as desired which is caused to be
eaten away by an acid or other dissolvent, in such manner as to leave the sulphide of
silver in relief. Obviously the engraved core employed to permit the final obtainment
of an ornament or device in relief which is the counterpart thereof, will preferably
never be made of a precious metal; in practice it will generally be made of copper
and nitric acid will be employed to eat it away, I place a piece of copper or other
suitable material on the bottom of the matrix the piece being engraved or otherwise
fashioned in such manner that the hollows or spaces that it leaves represent the
ornament desired in relief on the sulphide of silver; it is then covered with a blank
of sulphide of silver which is softened by means of the blow-pipe the precaution being
taken as already indicated, whereupon the whole is put under considerable pressure
making the sulphide of silver penetrate into all the recesses; after which the article

page_text: is plunged into a bath of nitric acid or other suitable dissolvent, which eats away the
whole of the core, leaving in relief the parts of sulphide of silver which filled the
recesses.
It will be understood that the form and the external dimensions of the copper may
be varied according as it is desired to obtain a relief in the centre only of the article
manufactured in which case the core should fill the whole width of the mould, the
pieces cut out of the inside varying moreover according to the design to be obtained
and of which they have to be the counterpart, or according as it is desired to form a
sort of frame, in which case the copper core should be made smaller than the mould
in order to allow for the site of the frame, with a contour of the desired shape. In
short reliefs may be obtained where required by cutting out or engraving the copper
core, either plain or undercut, because the sulphide of silver fills all the recesses that
the same leaves in the mould.
It is not necessary that the several parts in relief be at the same height, on the
contrary, nothing is more simple than to vary the degree of projection of the different
parts of the ornament; it is sufficient if a surface be given the core which is not
plain, but presenting the curves desired, and to provide the stamp or plunger of the
mould with corresponding curves.
Generally it is desirable that the bottom on which the relief of the sulphide of
silver detaches itself be not plain, but roughened, grained or the like. This may be
obtained by hand by a final operation with a graver, exactly as now obtained in the
jewellery and gold smith trades, or it may be attained by producing the desired
roughings on the copper plate or core, which roughings will therefore be moulded in
the sulphide of silver during the compression. In the first case the bottom has a grey
tint much lighter than the other parts; in the second case it has the same dark tint.
A very simple method of producing the roughings in question on the copper core
before putting it in the mould consists in making it pass through rolls at the same
time as a sheet of emery or glass paper, or to press it in any other manner against this
sheet with rough surface.
For certain cases the objects if made of sulphide of silver with silver and the like
inlaid would be too heavy; I then make the body of a piece of light metal, such as
silver for instance and I make the sulphide of silver, softened by heat, penetrate into
the openings or recesses made in the metal to receive same.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what 1
claim is :-
:-
First The method of manufacture of jewellery and other ornamental articles for
dress, furniture and the like, which consists in casting sulphide of silver into ingots
protected from contact with air in order to avoid oxydation, then to transform these
ingots into sheets or bars by rolling stamping or otherwise, after having re-softened
and made them malleable by heat, then to re-soften these sheets or bars in the same
manner, and to submit them in this condition, to such operations as cutting, stamping,
bending, punching and other operations usually carried out on metals and which may
be used for making jewellery and other ornamental articles; the objects thus produced
being capable of being retouched by re-softening by heat at those places where
necessary; and of being filed and polished if required when cold, substantially as
hereinbefore described.
"
Second: In the manufacture of jewellery and other ornamental articles of sulphide
of silver by the process of stamping upsetting or the like after the re-softening by
heat, the embedding or inlaying of an ornament of a different material in the object
by placing this ornament in the matrix or mould, by then covering it with a blank of
sulphide of silver, re-softening the latter by means of a non-oxydizing flame and
compressing the stamper or plunger part of the mould thereon with sufficient pressure
to cause the sulphide of silver to enter into all the recesses or spaces substantially as
hereinbefore described.
:
Third In the manufacture of jewellery and other ornamental objects of sulphide

page_text: of silver by the process of stamping upsetting or the like after re-softening by means
of heat, the production of ornainents in relief formed by the sulphide of silver itself
by placing a plate fashioned and engraved as desired forming a core and made of
copper or other material susceptible of being eaten away by an acid or other
dissolvent; by covering this core with a blank of sulphide of silver; by re-softening
this blank by means of a reducing flame, by compressing the stamp or plunger part
of the mould thereon with sufficient force to make the sulphide of silver penetrate into
the recesses or spaces that the core leaves in the matrix and then taking the object out
of the mould and plunging it into an acid or other dissolvent bath for the purpose of
destroying the core in such manner as to leave an ornament in relief which is the
exact counterpart of the core of the desired shape and contour substantially as
Jescribed.
Fourth In the manufacture by the process of stamping upsetting or the like after
the re-softening by heat, of jewellery and other ornaments made of sulphide of silver,
having an ornament in relief formed in this material itself, the means of roughening
(graining or the like) the surface where the relief is, which consists in utilizing the
pressure serving to make the sulphide of silver penetrate into the recesses in the core,
and for this purpose to employ a plate which has been previously made rough as
regards its lower side, by compressing said plate against a sheet of sand or emery
paper or by equivalent means substantially as described.
Fifth In the manufacture of jewellery and other ornamental objects of sulphide of
silver by the process of stamping upsetting or the like after re-softening by the
application of heat, the production of the body of the object in silver or other light
metal by making recesses or holes in which the blank of sulphide of silver is made to
penetrate by pressure substantially as described.
Sixth The manufacture of jewellery and other ornaments as described.
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.