Metals, materials and why they matter!

*** PLEASE NOTE: This blog is written as an educational post. It is not intended to offend or shame anyone who has used/bought/sold lesser quality jewellery, but rather share the knowledge of why certain types are best to be avoided.

I write this having been educated by senior piercers and members of APP / UKAPP, with only good intentions and high standards in mind.***

One of the most commonly asked questions I get is "Where can I buy good jewellery from?"

The answer: me (or other body piercers who stock good quality, internally-threaded or threadless jewellery and who aren't afraid to answer your questions about it).

I only stock implant-grade titanium, niobium, and gold. Almost all of it is jewellery which can be used in new piercings and is suitable for long-term risk-free wear.

Why is it so much better than the jewellery you'll find in high street stores and online?

Manufacturers of good quality body jewellery only sell wholesale to body piercers, not individually to retail buyers.

Why?

Probably to do with the cost effectiveness of sending out hundreds of pieces at a time (totalling hundreds of pounds in money) in one order to a body piercer, than having to send one piece at a time to a buyer in the UK, one to America, one to Asia... We are the middle men, the holders of good jewellery, the distributors on the ground.

The jewellery you will find online or in high street stores will be cheaply made, cheaply sold, and easily broken or damaged. It is very rarely implant grade and therefore NOT ACTUALLY SUITABLE to be implanted inside the body. Let that sink in a minute... People are selling body jewellery, to be worn inside the body, which is not actually recognised as a safe material to BE inside the body.

Sure, buying body jewellery from a good piercer can sometimes cost more (but not always!) but that's because you're buying quality and safety.

I've made a table to explain different types of metals/materials, and the pros/cons of each.

Note how all of them are suitable for healed piercings. Technically, if your piercing is well-healed, you can put just about anything in it, BUT it's all about how long it can stay in there for. That's why it's important to note the 'Suitable for long term wear' column. If it isn't suitable for long term wear, it absolutely should not be worn for days on end, because the integrity, stability, and basic quality of it is lacking, and do you really want that breaking down inside your body?

Below the table is some extra information on the boxes marked with * as I felt these ones needed a little more explanation than a simple yes/no.

To summarise: Implant grade ASTM F-136 titanium, implant grade ASTM F-138 steel, Niobium, 24/18/14ct solid golds are suitable materials for new piercings and long-term wear in healed piercings.

Everything else is only suitable for short-term wear or being thrown in the bloody bin, because your body deserves better than that!

MORE INFO:

GOLD

Gold purity is measured in carats. There are 24 carats in solid gold, any gold with less carats is made up of a varying amount off other metals.

24ct is 100% gold.

18ct is 75% gold, 25% other mixed metals.

14ct is 58.3% gold, 41.7% other mixed metals.

9ct is 37.5% gold, 62.5% other mixed metals.

In the UK the law states that nickel should not be used as one of these other metals, so it's safe to assume any gold produced in the UK is nickel free, however any gold made outside of the UK and imported in may not be free from nickel.

SILVER

As above, the UK law prohibits nickel being used therefore British produced silver should be nickel free (copper is often used instead), however if you can't be sure where the silver was produced it could contain nickel. Silver can oxidise and cause localised argyria, which is a permanent marking of the skin in a purple/black/silver colour. It cannot be reversed, and therefore silver is not suitable for long-term wear.

PVD/PLATED/COATED JEWELLERY

Cheaper metals can be plated/coated with more expensive metals to make them cheap to produce but likely to sell, e.g. steel can be plated in 24ct gold. The unknowing retailer might think the jewellery would be good quality because of the gold, however the plating/coating doesn't last a lifetime and flakes off over time, revealing the cheaper metal underneath. More often than not the metal beneath is steel, which contains nickel, therefore even 24ct gold plated jewellery is not suitable for people with nickel allergies.

It would be very rare to find ASTM F-136 Titanium coated in golds, although you do find lower quality / non-implant grade Titaniums coated in gold or PVD gold; PVD coating is especially worth avoiding. Anything labelled as 'Titanium gold' or 'Gold titanium' (unless it states it has been colour changed by anodisation) is plated / coated.

GLASS

Glass jewellery is rarely suitable for fresh piercings, but can be, depending on placement and size of jewellery. A thin glass nostril screw, for example, would not be suitable as it is likely to snap and cause damage to the wearer. However, a large gauge single flared plug is a great choice for a large gauge ear piercing, due to the thickness causing it to be less fragile, and the shape of the jewellery being less traumatic and allowing for swelling whilst still being autoclavable.

Again, long-term wear all depends on the size and placement of the jewellery, but glass is a good choice for retainers (e.g. having to hide jewellery for work, take it out for an MRI) as opposed to plastic/acrylic/PTFE retainers.

PLASTIC / ACRYLIC / PTFE

Plastic jewellery can rarely be sterilised due to it not being able to withstand the heat involved. If it is sterilised, it can begin to melt, the heat can change the structure of the jewellery and even release chemicals from within the plastic which are unsuitable for the body. They can be suitable for well healed piercings but only for short periods of time, and when glass is a safer option entirely, it begs the question of why plastic is ever considered at all. Unfortunately we know it's because it's cheaper to mass produce and is more readily available, but it's certainly not safer.

Last but not least, a special note on BLACK JEWELLERY

Black jewellery is a popular choice for lovers of dark colours however it should be noted that black metal jewellery can only be produced by a form of PVD coating. There is no such thing as implant-grade PVD coating either, so please don't fall for those lies (which I have witnessed being pushed on the unknowing public, resulting in inflamed and aggravated piercings needing to be saved). Niobium can be darkened through a much safer process, and is suitable for long-term wear in fresh or healed piercings, but will not appear entirely black.

Best to avoid black metal jewellery entirely, sorry!