Will Damascus Steel Rings Rust?
Rust can be the kiss of death for a damascus steel ring
Rust on a Damascus Steel ring. The quality of the stainless steel used is the most important factor.
premium Stainless Damascus steel Rings will never have an issue with rust
One of the most frequent questions we get is: “Will Damascus Steel wedding bands rust?” The short answer is many do, some don’t. The corrosion resistance of steel is highly dependent on the ingredient metals in a steel alloy. There are many different pure metals that are added to iron to create types of steel alloys with optimum qualities for a specific purpose. The best metal alloy for Damascus Steel wedding rings is very different from the right steel for the roof on your house or that old hand saw hanging in the garage. Because wedding rings come in contact with a wide variety of common chemicals, from chlorine in swimming pools to bleach in household cleaning products or salt in ocean water, it is important that the steel used in your ring be highly resistant to the many common chemicals that we encounter in our environment every day.
The majority of Damascus steel rings on the market today are made from material that is re-purposed from metal designed for making Damascus steel knives. Knives require that at least one of the alloys used in it be a harden-able tool steel so the knife will have (and keep) a sharp cutting edge. These tools steels are way more prone to rusting and can, and do, corrode over time. Use of these steel alloys in rings also creates another big problem if your ring size ever changes. Because the metal is so hard, it cannot be stretched up or sized down without breaking the bonds between the layers of metal that give these rings their signature look. For more information about this, please check out our blog post "Are Damascus Steel Rings Sizable."
Will your Damascus Steel Ring rust? Know the source, quality, maker and guarantee.
When searching for a Damascus Steel wedding ring that you’ll never have to worry about rusting, look for rings that are sizable, as this is a good indicator that they do not contain tool steel alloys that are susceptible to corrosion. Acid wash finishes are also a sign that the ring contains tool steel layers, since the surface of the tool steel darkens in contact with the acid. The finest Damascus Steel rings are made from 304 and 316 stainless steels. At STEVEN JACOB, we forge all of our Damascus from these two marine alloys to take advantage of their incredible corrosion resistance and optimize each ring with a special heat-treating process to maximize this quality. These two alloys also exceed European Directive standards of nickel release for stainless steel rings, so allergic skin reactions are extremely rare. These are just a few examples of our commitment to designing and hand making rings meant to last a lifetime. You’ll never have to be concerned about your ring rusting, and you’ll get a Damascus Steel ring that’s sizable to boot!
