Nigel Nobody wrote:Don't like brass wire, no matter how thick it is, because it looks nasty with corrosion even in dry climates after a time. It also work hardens, but that would take a long time to affect it!
Corrosion, discolouration and work hardening, all take a very long time to happen. However a lot of very up-market picture framers who do hand finished frames still use brass wire because it looks classy. Most these days are using much thicker brass wire than used to be normal, just to be safe.
A big selling point with my business is the classy, traditional approach. My "run of the mill" jobs are all strung with cord, but a lot of my high value jobs are done with brass wire, because the customer wants it. While I recognise the points made about this, stainless steel wire doesn't look as classy.
If one of our suppliers would care to offer a nice chunky looking stainless steel plastic covered wire with suitable colouring in the plastic covering to look like gold, then I'll switch over to that instead.