AGS comes as two parts: a screw-top pot containing one gramme of 24 carat pure gold powder, and a dropper-bottle of non-toxic water-based medium. When mixed, the two parts make a creamy paste.

AGS is applied with a brush or a shaped tool to an already-fired silver piece. After drying, the piece is fired to sinter the gold powder and bond it to the silver.

There's an important difference between sintering and fusing. During sintering, metal powders bond to produce solid metal, but don't melt. During fusing, metals melt and lose their shape. Gold melts at about 1064°C.

One gramme could do twenty small highlights but, of course, coverage really depends on the area and thickness of the gold layer. The first time you use it, make a note of how much you used and the effect you got, to help plan future work.

To mix Accent Gold, add about five drops of medium to the gold powder and mix it to a thick cream. To minimise waste, stir it with a piece of thin wire, such as a paper clip. Don't use a matchstick, as tiny slivers of wood may get stirred in: these will burn away during firing leaving a tiny hole or a fine crack.

It will last a long time at room temperature, with the top on, but you can add a little more medium, one drop at a time, to freshen it up: be careful not to over-dilute it as it will be too thin to use successfully.

Always keep the pot the right way up so that the paint settles in the bottom. And, as there's only one gramme in the pot, it will dry out quite quickly if the top is left off.

AGS is non-toxic, non-irritating, and safe to use. Gold allergies are extremely rare. Gold alloy allergies, still very rare, are usually caused by the added metals, such as nickel, reacting with body perspiration.

If you get a rash or itchiness, stop working and wash your hands. If AGS gets in your eyes, flush them with water and see a doctor to ensure that the gold powder and medium are completely removed.

Before using AGS on Art Clay or PMC, the piece must be fired and allowed to cool. Don't touch the area where you'll apply the paint. And don't polish or burnish it as a little roughness helps the adhesion.

Generally, apply the AGS with a small brush or a shaped tool, such as a clay shaper, in a reasonably smooth, thick, layer. If you get it on unwanted areas, clean up very carefully with a modelling knife, returning any clean bits to the bottle.

It's a good idea to keep a brush just for AGS so that, for example, you don't use a brush with tiny left-over particles of dry Art Clay still in the brush hairs.

Let it dry naturally. If you can see through the paint, it's not thick enough: so apply a second layer. Don't dry the paint too fast, such as with a hair dryer, or it may not adhere well to the silver after firing.

The manufacturer recommends that Accent Gold is fired in a kiln. Preheat the kiln and the shelf to 900°C, put the piece on the shelf, close the door, and let the temperature return to 900°C: no higher. Fire it for seven minutes, remove it, and let it cool naturally. If the paint is thin, longer firing may cause discolouration as the silver diffuses into the gold.

If the gold layer looks thin or incomplete, apply more AGS in the areas where the silver is showing, dry the piece, and fire it again.

All programmable kilns work in the same way: the thermocouple checks the internal temperature regularly and tells the programmer to switch the elements on or off to control the heating or cooling.

When the target temperature is reached, the elements are switched off. However, residual heat in the firing chamber allows the internal temperature to overshoot the target temperature briefly before starting to fall back.

This is more noticeable at low temperatures than at high temperatures. For example: 300°C will probably overshoot to 350°C whereas 800°C will probably only overshoot to 810°C before starting to fall back. Take this into account if you're working with temperature-critical materials or processes.

During the hold-time, with the elements still off, the internal temperature falls. Although the programmer will soon switch the elements back on, the firing chamber will initially absorb some of the new heat before the temperature recovers. The continual switching of the elements on and off causes the internal temperature to cycle around the target temperature.

The actual temperature of your work will be affected, slightly, by its position on the kiln shelf, the vertical spacing of any stacked shelves, and its nearness to the elements, a lid, a door, a bead door, a window, or a peephole.

This overshoot is higher with small kilns, so setting a temperature of 900°C might actually allow silver to deform, or melt, if it even briefly reaches 962°C. By setting a slower ramp rate, the amount of overshoot can be minimised.

If you've fired silver metal clay with a torch, successfully, firing Accent Gold will be similar: you'll just need to maintain the correct temperature.

Lay your piece on a kiln shelf, a ceramic-fibre block, or similar heat-resistant material, and fire it with a butane torch to a medium orange colour, not a bright orange, for three to four minutes. Be careful not to melt the piece, so dim the lights so that you can see and maintain the colour.

Whatever you fire it on will get very very hot and burn your worktop: so lay it on a thick floor tile or some other heat resistant material.

After firing, let the piece cool naturally. It can be polished with a burnishing tool, matted with a wire brush, or lustered by tumbling with stainless steel shot in water.

Although it's unlikely, if the gold layer comes off the silver piece, the firing temperature may have been too low. Add paint to the bare areas and repeat the firing process.

Applying AGS to sterling silver needs a different technique. Heat the piece to a dull red until a dark oxide forms on the surface, use a mild acid to remove the scale, and rinse the piece in water. Repeat this cycle until no more oxide forms: the surface will now be pure silver. AGS can now be applied as with fine silver.

Things that work for your friends, business partners, or teachers, may not work in exactly the same way for you. And, as with any creative process, start by understanding the techniques, then experiment rather than rigidly follow someone else’s rules or suggestions.