Gold Body Jewelry - Is It Really Gold?
There are several important factors to consider when buying gold body jewelry, especially gold belly button rings. Gold is always the most popular choice for body jewelry, as gold is the most recognizable jewelry component and has a timeless appeal.
Primarily, you’ll want and need to know that your body jewelry being advertised as gold is really gold. There are specific ways to know for sure, so let’s examine what to look for.
With body jewelry, you should look for 18 karat gold. The reason 18 karat is recommended for new piercings is there’s a higher chance the jewelry will be accepted by the body. When body jewelry isn’t true gold or the karat level advertised, allergies may result and you’ll need to remove the body jewelry.
Usually this occurs because the gold used for body jewelry is an alloy that contains other metals in addition to gold. Often, gold body jewelry is only plated with gold; such jewelry should never be used in piercings even if the piercing is healed.
If your gold body jewelry is only gold plated, it’s best to look for another option. Most gold plated body jewelry contains a high percentage of nickel, which gives you a higher risk for allergic as we’ve discussed.
Since gold in its natural state is quite soft, it’s very common for body jewelry manufacturers to use other metals along with gold to formulate a piece of body jewelry. For example, 14 karat gold belly button rings are just over half gold, with other metals comprising the remainder.
To avoid potential body jewelry allergic reaction, always choose 18 karat gold body jewelry. Most body jewelry you’ll see on the market is 14 karat gold, but 18k gold is also readily available. The less gold content, the less expensive. The downside, of course, is the high chance you’ll have to return or even discard the body jewelry.
Here are a few tips for buying gold body jewelry:
1. Buy jewelry from a store with a quality assurance and testing program. These stores test their own jewelry for purity.
2. If your jewelry has a trademark, for example a sports team, it must have a license stamped on the back. If it doesn’t, there are serious quality issues. Stay away.
3. Have your body jewelry tested for purity at an independent lab or dealer if the quality is in question.
4. Under a jewelers scope, take a good look at the craftmanship. Are there rough edges? Frays? Imperfections?
Finally, make sure you understand gold terminology. 24 karat gold body jewelry is pure gold, and the highest quality. Other karat content are less than pure gold. 10k gold is less than 50% gold and is the lowest karat content that can legally be labeled as gold.
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