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| What's Your Jewellery Made Of ? |
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There are many different metals and products available for making jewellery these days. Understanding all the terminology can be a minefield. So here's a little breakdown to help make it a little easier.
Titanium:
Titanium is a very strong, light-weight metal. In fact it is the strongest natural metal in the world and is about three times stronger than steel. It has virtually nickel-free properties and because of it's acceptance by the body has less incidences of skin allergy than any other metal. Two other very valuable properties of titanium are its resistance to corrosion and the fact that when it reacts with oxygen (oxidisation), it produces lots of great colours - perfect for jewellery making. Titanium is suitable for both new or healed piercings.
Steel:
Surgical stainless steel is an alloy of iron, carbon, chromium (12–20%), molybdenum (0.2–3%), and nickel (8–12%). The chromium gives the metal its scratch-resistance and corrosion resistance. The nickel provides a smooth and polished finish and the molybdenum gives greater hardness. The word 'surgical' refers to the fact that these types of steel are well-suited for making surgical instruments: they are easy to clean and sterilize, strong and corrosion-resistant. 316L Surgical Stainless Steel is most commonly used for body jewellery because it is less brittle. The "L" means that the carbon content of the Stainless Steel is below 0.03%, this will reduce the sensitization effect. Steel is not suitable for use in new body piercings.
9ct Gold:
Gold is a dense, soft and shiny precious metal. Due to the softness of gold it is usually alloyed with base metals for use in jewellery, altering its hardness, melting point, color and other properties. The number beside the 'ct' tells you how much actual gold is in the metal. 24ct gold is pure gold and so it is easy to work out from there that 9ct gold has the least amount of gold in it, then 14ct, then 18ct etc. 9ct Yellow Gold is an alloy which contains 37.5% gold and 62.5% other metals. Due to the fact that 9ct Gold has the least amount of actual gold in it, it is not suitable for use in new piercings. The bonus side of it having the least amount of gold in it is that it makes it the most hard-wearing gold. Gold will also oxidise in a body piercing giving it a black, tarnished look (the part of the jewellery that is actually inside the piercing) and therefore the more gold that is in the jewellery, the quicker this will happen. It can usually be polished back to its original colour though.
14ct Gold:
As described under 9ct Gold, gold is a dense, soft and shiny precious metal. Due to the softness of gold it is usually alloyed with base metals for use in jewellery, altering its hardness, melting point, color and other properties. The number beside the 'ct' tells you how much actual gold is in the metal. 24ct gold is pure gold and so it is easy to work out from there that 9ct gold has the least amount of gold in it, then 14ct, then 18ct etc. 14ct Yellow Gold is an alloy which contains 58.5% pure gold and 41.5% other metals. Due to the fact that 14ct Gold is more than half actual gold, it is suitable for use in both new and healed piercings. Gold will also oxidise in a body piercing giving it a black, tarnished look (the part of the jewellery that is actually inside the piercing) and therefore the more gold that is in the jewellery, the quicker this will happen. It can usually be polished back to its original colour though.
White Gold:
White gold is an alloy of gold and at least one white metal, usually nickel or palladium. Like yellow gold, the purity of white gold is given in carats (see 9ct and 14ct Gold above).
Gold PVD:
Gold PVD is a wear resistant coating over titanium. It is compliant with the EU Nickel Directive and is suitable for initial piercing. The surfaces are atomically cleaned at high vacuum by high-energy plasma generated by ionising gas and target material. Adding active gasses with multiple target sources produces the plasma coating. This procedure has been used for decades for medical implants, pace makers and surgical instruments. Gold PVD is suitable for use in both new and healed body piercings.
Black PVD:
Black PVD is a wear resistant coating over titanium. It is compliant with the EU Nickel Directive and is suitable for initial piercing. The surfaces are atomically cleaned at high vacuum by high-energy plasma generated by ionising gas and target material. Adding active gasses with multiple target sources produces the plasma coating. This procedure has been used for decades for medical implants, pace makers and surgical instruments. Black PVD is suitable for use in both new and healed body piercings.
Sterling Silver:
A white and highly reflective precious metal. Sterling Silver is 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper (hence the reason that it is referred to as 925 Sterling Silver). Like gold, silver can be alloyed with other metals to improve its durability as it is a much softer metal than gold, titanium and platinum. Silver is also more prone to oxidisation, sometimes causing the silver to turn black which is why silver is not used for making a body jewellery bar. If a piece of body jewellery states that it is Sterling Silver and Surgical Steel, it is more than likely that the bar is Surgical Steel and the Design (which doesn't go inside the body) is made of Sterling Silver.
PTFE:
PTFE is the abbreviation for Polytetrafluoroethylene and we more commonly know it as Teflon. PTFE body jewellery is flexible, non-stick and a great alternative to metal body jewellery. It is especially useful for people with metal sensitivities and works well for pregnancy jewellery due to its flexibility. It is suitable for use in both new and healed body piercings. |
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