I’ve got a question regarding piercing jewelry. A customer asked
me to create a piece for her eyebrow piercing, but I’m not sure
about which metals could be used for piercing jewelry. I think
those pieces have to be made of stainless surgical steel due to
allergic reactions. My customer wants something in gold. Is it
recommendable to wear piercings of other metals than surgical
steel and if so which metals or alloys are suitable for this?
SSS is most common, niobium, and yes, gold, but I can’t recall
what grade of gold is used. Get the name and number of her
piercer and ask him or her about it. If she has more than one
pierce or has gone back to her piercer at all for check-ups
(yes, the good ones do have people come in for check-ups during
the healing period) the piercer will know about any history of
bad reactions to metals.
And always, always, sterilize body jewelry in an autoclave. If
you don’t have one tell your customer to take it to their
piercer to be sterilized before they put it in.
Lynn A. Davis
Tephra’s Treasures
Handcrafted Jewelry, Accessories
And Other Fine Treasures
Sabine, Gold is an acceptable metal for body piercing jewelry,
however, you must not use any with nickel in the alloy. The use
of 14kt or 18kt yellow gold, or Palladium white gold is
especially safe after the piercing has begun to heal. We make
body jewelry all the time out of gold and have never had any
problems.
Sterling silver however should NEVER be put in a body piercing.
It reacts badly and can cause horrific infections and piercing
rejection.
Stick with your most non-reactive gold alloys you’ll be just
fine. Also make sure to get a VERY good polish on the metal, as
small grooves, scratches, or rough spots can hold bacteria and
cause a whole barrage of problems themselves.