Sterling silver ear posts and Round White Filigree

[joandelvis]

Hi I am new here and have a few questions to ask at once.  Hopefully it is okay to ask them all in the one spot? 

Firstly do your sterling silver earring posts with a 6mm flat pad Stock#: 32-586 come in larger sizes also?  I am looking for a 10mm or 12mm flat pad.

Secondly, I am looking for a round small filigree, similar to Stock#: 44-154-1 Round White Filigree 25mm but in a smaller size around about 15mm.  I was wanting one is sterling silver.  But searching around the net I am wondering if that is at all possible.

I will explain what I am doing as it may help.  I am wanting to make earrings out of vintage glass buttons.  Once I cut off the shank of the button I are left with a unfinished surface where the shank was that I want to cover up.  The button I am working on at the moment is approx 20mm and has about a 10mm circle in the centre where the shank was.  An earring post won't completely cover that up.  Well it would if I had a 10mm flat pad but so far 8mm is the largest pad I have been able to find online in sterling silver.  In this case I had the idea that I could cover it with a small round filigree and then put the earring post on top.  That would work well if I could find a small round filigree in sterling silver.  But I am not sure anyone makes those.

Third question.  If say I use a a small round filigree that is plated and similar to Stock#: 44-154-1 (but smaller) and then put a sterling silver ear post on top, would that be a strange combination of metals?  I really want to offer sterling silver due to it's quality, but would I be downgrading that quality but using a plated filigree with it?  I am not sure how plating stands up to wearing either ?  Also would someone with nickle allergies still be able to wear the earrings?

Phew!  Hope that isn't too many questions.  Thanks in advance.

Jo

[CindyK]

Hi Joan -
I understand your concern about mixing metals since the back of the earring will come into contact with the wearer's ear. Personally I wouldn't add non-sterling components to sterling posts. Here are a couple of options:

Flatten a sterling silver bead cap like #24-928,#43-547-07 or #43-547-05 to create a 10-13mm round filigree to do exactly what you're asking.

Use a bezel-cup earring post instead of a flat pad post. I would fill the bezel with epoxy and set the button (with shank still attached) into the epoxy.

Use titanium 10mm flat-pad posts (#31-000). The posts themselves are nickel free, but since the pad is stainless steel, I would recommend coating the back of the pad with clear nail polish as extra insurance against metal allergies.

Good luck! I hope they turn out well.

[joandelvis]

Hi Cindy, thanks for your answer.

I agree about not mixing other metals with sterling.

I love the bead cap idea.  I would have never thought of flattening one.  The bead caps you showed me might be a touch too small to cover the area I need it to ( Although I probably can't be certain without trying it out) If I could find slightly bigger ones they would be perfect.

The bezel cup idea I had thought of.  I was going to use it for smaller glass buttons where the shank covers most of the back of the button.