Solving for black band under gold ring?

Good morning,

A friend has been wearing her gold wedding band (recycled 14k gold) and it’s turning that part of her finger black. I believe it’s from her sweat reacting with the alloys in the gold (please correct me if I’m wrong) but am wondering how to lessen it? Do you think a heavy gold plate of a higher karat would help postpone the reaction? Have you seen another method that works?

I’d much appreciate any thoughts you have, thanks in advance.

Sara

Try coating the inside of the ring with some kind of clear protecting layer. Try clear nail polish, museum wax, protecta-clear. I am sure that there are others. This layer will have to be redone on a regular basis. Make sure that the surface is well polished and clean first…Rob

Turning the finger black, without swelling, irritation, or signs that the skin itself is reacting can often be traced to cosmetics. Many of the cosmetics with pigments in them like rouge, zinc oxide, or others, can do to a finger coated with that pigment, the same thing that a polishing compound does to a buff. The buff turns black, even with white or yellow compounds. The black consists of very fine metal particles, removed from the jewelry by the compound, and now coloring the buff. If the cosmetic material is able to do this (remove metal just as polishing compounds do) then the result will be that same black color on the finger, as happens to a buff. This is not to be confused with something turning the finger green, or the ring itself becoming stained or oxidized, or instead of the finger turning just black, a finger showing signs if inflammation, redness, etc. For the cosmetic produced problem, the client should remove her rings while she is applying makeup, and then wash her hands before putting the rings on again. Rings made of softer alloys may do this more than rings made of harder metal, just as some alloys are quicker and easier to polish.
Hope that is useful.
Peter

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Has she had Yg rings before ?
Sounds like yell doesn’t agree
Does wg agree with her ?

Yep. This is pretty much the answer you want. It is called “Black dermagraphism” or literally, “black writing on the skin”.
The funny part is that any particles that get embedded in the skin are so small, that the eye can not see them, but as a group, the eye interprets the color as black. Most likely cosmetics, but every once in a while I will see someone who started a medication and it causes it.
My skin runs a bit acidic which can cause this as well, so I get this with silver jewelry. a bit with lower kts of gold. So I tend to wear 18k or higher.

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