[Jewelry making - Article 00419] - Re: [Orchid] Does sterling silver ever rust?

[Peter W . Rowe]

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>            Simply put: does solid sterling .925 ever rust? ..." The
>     design of the bead in question looks like this: each end looks
>     gently crimped, so there are little folds in the silver.... Lo and
>     behold, rust has formed near the crimpy ends. Is your guess that I
>     got ripped off on this strand? 

    Donna, Sterling does not rust.  My guess is that the beads were
    tumble finished by tumbling with steel shot, or with steel pins in a
    magnetic tumbler, and that a bit of the shot or one or two of the
    pins got trapped inside one of the beads. That will rust, sometimes
    even stainless can rust if exposed to acidic conditions (like
    pickle).  The rust forms on the steel, but can get spread around as
    it forms, depositing on the silver and sort of adhering a bit to it.
    It can be annoying.  I've seen this sort of thing happen on gold
    items as well silver beads, when some bit of steel shot got trapped in
    the item somewhere. 

Peter

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