Rising star Richard Leyens
What's so special? His company is promising to revolutionise the market with a tarnish-free silver that is also more durable

"We are talking about change in a market that has done the same things the same way possibly for thousands of years," says Richard Leyens, chief executive of Argentium International, a company set up to market a new type of silver.

Silver tarnishes because the copper that is added to make it durable oxidises and comes to the surface. Argentium uses an alloy called germanium, which oxidises before the copper and prevents it from coming to the surface. The result is a purer, harder—although still malleable—metal, that's also brighter and firescale-free.

The search for this replacement alloy had long been filed in the drawer marked "Holy Grail", when Peter Johns, a silversmith at Middlesex University, discovered that germanium did the trick. That was in 1991 and, after attempts to commercialise the discovery failed, Argentium bought the rights in 2005.

Leyens's plans are bold. "We intend to create a premium brand. It will be the first precious-metal endorser brand. With diamonds you have De Beers, but there is no comparison in precious metals."

The additional durability also opens new markets, most obviously in watches, where silver has been avoided due to the softness of the metal. "With the price of gold so high, there is a demand for a noble metal that offers the same strength as gold," says Leyens.

Having started his career in the family jewellery business—and working more recently with major brands—Leyens is well placed to make the product shine.