Do you have a nickel allergy or do you want to avoid nickel for another reason? Then fortunately you still have a huge selection of piercing jewelry with us! More and more piercing jewelry is being made from nickel-free material, which only makes the choice greater. In addition to the fact that gold can of course be seen as a nickel-free material, titanium is often also used. In recent years, however, some more materials have been added. For example, you can now also buy jewelry made from cobalt chromium or titanium niobium.
Which nickel-free jewelry is now suitable for you? And how did this nickel-free piercing jewelry come about? In order to make a better choice, we think it would be useful if you also know more about the materials themselves. That is why we have set out the technical details and history of our nickel-free metals for you below, with useful links to the nickel-free piercings.
A bit of piercing history...
The piercing industry has a long and dynamic history. This goes back much further than we started wearing high-quality jewelry (and that is certainly an interesting chapter!), but for this topic we will focus on the development since the 1990s. At that time, piercings were mainly done with jewelry made of surgical steel. There was not that much choice yet and not much was known about the use of other materials. In general, a material was chosen that appeared to be as safe as possible. Surgical steel had been used in the medical industry for a long time and therefore seemed the most logical option. However, some people appeared to be sensitive to jewelry made of 316L surgical steel, which increased the demand for nickel-free steel.
The entire course of material choices by manufacturers over the years initially originated in the search for a good price-quality ratio. In the past, piercings were not allowed to cost that much. Biocompatibility also began to play an increasingly important role, which is why nickel-free steel types have slowly but surely made their entrance into the piercing world. In addition, we have increasingly come to see piercings as luxury jewelry or even jewels, which has made the visual aspect of the material used increasingly important. In addition to spending more money and attention on choosing a skilled piercer, we have also come to find it more important how the final piercing jewelry will look. Think of the richly decorated ear party or curated ear, but other combinations of piercings and jewelry are also very popular.
The piercing industry has developed a lot further in the past 20 years that we at All Over Piercings have been involved. There are many more styles and designs available, and the quality of the jewelry has only increased. Piercing jewelry is now much more than a metal bar. They are real jewels that can be seen.
About nickel in jewelry and piercing jewelry
Thanks to our European nickel legislation, piercing jewelry must meet strict requirements. Even if it contains a percentage of nickel, such as 316L surgical steel. If you buy your jewelry from a good piercing shop, you can be sure that the jewelry complies with the specifics of this legislation.
In short, this legislation means that jewelry that comes into prolonged contact with healed skin may contain a percentage of nickel, but may not release this nickel. Piercing jewelry that is used as jewelry in a new piercing (and therefore an open wound) may not contain nickel. As a result, new piercings in the European piercing industry are only set with nickel-free metal, such as titanium.
However, surgical steel is cheaper in price than titanium jewelry. The color is also slightly brighter. For these reasons, surgical steel is still incredibly popular, and of course a perfect choice as a second piece of jewelry, when your piercing has healed.
Cobalt Chromium CoCrNF - Nickel-free Steel
Cobalt chromium, or cobalt chrome, is a metal alloy that has been used for a long time in dentistry as medical implants. You can also find this type of material under the abbreviation CoCrNF. For the piercing industry, this is a relatively new, nickel-free type of steel that lends itself very well to making beautiful piercing jewelry. Cobalt chrome is a beautiful material, with a bright shine (also called a high reflection index) and a beautiful, white color that is reminiscent of the look of white gold or rhodium. Cobalt chrome is also very hard and resistant to scratches. It has an incredibly high corrosion resistance and is very strong. This makes it a perfect material for piercing jewelry with smaller parts. Cobalt chromium or CoCrNF is therefore an ideal material for click rings or navel clickers, for example.
Shop piercing jewelry made of CoCrNF nickel-free steel here
Titanium Niobium (Ti-6Al-7Nb) ASTM F1295
Niobium has been added to this titanium alloy, which gives the material an even higher corrosion resistance and biocompatibility than the usual titanium alloys used for jewelry. Titanium-niobium is also already used in the medical and dental industry, but is also a fine and durable material for making piercing jewelry. The addition of niobium gives the jewelry a beautiful shine and a beautiful, bright color that is slightly lighter than Titanium 6AL-4V.
Shop piercing jewelry made of titanium-niobium here
Titanium 6AL-4V-ELI ASTM 136
Titanium is a trusted and proven material for making medical implants and dental components. Piercing jewelry made of titanium has therefore been the main choice for piercing jewelry for quite some time, especially when setting a new piercing. Our titanium piercing jewelry is all completely nickel-free, so it is also a great choice if you are sensitive to nickel. Titanium is a strong material that forms a perfect base for all kinds of different jewelry, such as titanium labrets, click rings and various titanium piercing accessories.
Shop titanium piercing jewelry here
