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What is
the difference between "High Polish" and "Brushed/Satin"
finish?
It is basically like it sounds. "High Polish" is a very
shiny, high metallic look. It is polished and very smooth
allowing the steel in the piece to really shine. It is the
more classic look of the two. "Brushed" is just the
opposite. The matt finish look gives more dimensions to the
piece and a more industrial feel. You will find many of our
designs combine both finishes.
I have an allergic reaction to most of my jewelry, including
gold. Can I wear stainless steel?
Absolutely! Stainless steel is the most biocompatible
(hypoallergenic) element known to man and will not irritate
even the most sensitive skin. This is a blessing for pierced
products. Unlike other jewelry materials, stainless steel
does not need other alloys to harden the material. Many
alloys create negative reactions with our body chemistry.
Stainless steel can be safely and comfortably worn by
everybody.
What is Stainless Steel?
Stainless steel contains chromium, and other alloying
elements that keep them bright and rust resistant in spite
of moisture or the action of corrosive acids and gases.
Because of their shining surfaces, architects often use them
for decorative purposes. Stainless steels are used for the
pipes and tanks of petroleum refineries and chemical plants,
for jet planes, and for space capsules. Surgical instruments
and equipment are made from these steels, and they are also
used to patch or replace broken bones because the steels can
withstand the action of body fluids. In kitchens and in
plants where food is prepared, handling equipment is often
made of stainless steel because it does not taint the food
and can be easily cleaned.
Nickel Exposure
Nickel is often mixed with other metals to produce an alloy.
Gold jewelry of 14 karats or less may contain enough nickel
to provoke a reaction. Even though pure sterling silver
contains no nickel, it is often coated with it. White gold
alloy often contains nickel.
Stainless steel contains nickel but its structure is such
that the nickel is unable to escape or to be leached out by
perspiration or moisture.
The word hypoallergenic may be misleading on some jewelry.
The posts may not contain nickel but the jewelry might.
Besides jewelry, nickel may be found in belts, clothing
hooks, eyeglasses, hairpins, metal buttons, watches, and
zippers. Also consider cigarette lighters, cupboard handles,
doorknobs, handbag catches, keys, key rings, kitchen
utensils, lipstick holders, needles, paper clips, pins,
pens, pocket knives, powder compacts, razors, scissors,
silverware, thimbles, toaster, tools, and vacuum cleaners as
potential sources of nickel.
Does It Contain Nickel?
There are kits available to test items for nickel content.
The kit consists of two small bottles of clear fluid; one
contains dimethylglyoxime and the other ammonium hydroxide.
When mixed together in the presence of nickel, a pink color
results. Ask your doctor or pharmacist where you can
purchase one of these kits.
Contributing Factors
Factors that contribute to nickel contact dermatitis may
include sweat, humidity, temperature, the general condition
of the skin, and occlusion (e.g. by gloves).
Should Foods Containing Nickel Be Avoided?
There is disagreement within the medical community, whether
a nickel-sensitive person should avoid dietary nickel. A
nickel-restricted diet may be prescribed for highly nickel
sensitive people for a few months to see if there is any
improvement in symptoms.
In this instance, the foods to avoid include acid foods
cooked in stainless steel utensils, baking powder, beans,
buckwheat, canned fruits, canned vegetables, cacao &
chocolate, dried fruit, figs, green beans, kale, leeks,
legumes, lentils, lettuce, licorice, linseed, millet, nuts,
oats, onions, oysters, peas, pineapple, prunes, raspberries,
salmon, shellfish, soy powder, spinach, rhubarb, sprouts,
sunflower seeds, tea, tomatoes, wheat bran products, and
multigrain breads.
Treatment
There is no way to desensitize a person with nickel allergy
with shots, pills, or any other method. Avoiding use of
nickel containing products is the key in treatment. Often
times a rash can be stopped by applying a cortisone cream or
lotion.
For more information on nickel allergy, please refer to the
collected Internet links.
Nickel salts may cause a primary irritant reaction of the
skin, but the main effect of dermal exposure to nickel is
allergic contact dermatitis. Contact dermatitis is the most
common of the health effects associated with exposure to
nickel, and it has been seen in both non-occupationally and
occupationally exposed individuals.
Contact allergy is never inborn, although there may be some
genetic factors that play a role in the development of the
allergy (Menné and Nieboer, 1989). An individual must first
become sensitized. Sensitization and subsequent allergic
reactions to nickel require direct and prolonged contact
with nickel-containing solutions or items that are
non-resistant to sweat corrosion. Nickel-containing alloys
and materials that do not react to sweat will not cause
contact dermatitis. There are many such alloys, the most
important of which are various forms of stainless steels.
Although it is possible for certain high-sulfur grades of
stainless steel to undergo corrosion in sweat under adverse
conditions, such circumstances are uncommon and most
stainless steels are not of these grades (NiDI, 1992).
Other factors related to nickel sensitivity include
humidity, temperature, occlusion (e.g. by gloves), and the
general condition of the skin (i.e. the susceptibility of
the skin to permeation by irritants and/or sensitizers).
Dermatitis may first appear as a papular erythema of the
areas that have prolonged contact with nickel; lesions
become eczematous in the chronic stage (Sunderman et al.,
1986). The underlying immunological mechanism is one in
which the nickel ion penetrates the skin and combines with a
high molecular weight protein giving rise to an antigen. The
antigen is transmitted through Langerhans cells to T-cells
that then migrate to regional lymph nodes where they
proliferate and differentiate into memory and effector cells
that circulate to all tissues. Future recognition and
response to the nickel antigen is thereby guaranteed (Menné
and Nieboer, 1989).
Nickel dermatitis may occur in sensitized individuals
following contact with nickel-containing items such as
jewelry (particularly pierced earrings), zippers, buttons,
and other objects; by nickel leaching from implants and
prostheses; and following occupational exposures.
Hypersensitivity to nickel is more prevalent in women than
in men. This prevalence is probably due, in large part, to
the continuous exposure that women receive upon first
piercing their ears and inserting sweat-corrosive,
nickel-containing posts into the open wound. It is estimated
that 8 to 15 percent of the female population is nickel
sensitized; estimates for men range from 0.2 to 2 percent
(Sunderman et al., 1986; Menné and Nieboer, 1989).
Although most nickel sensitization results from
non-occupational exposures, nickel dermatitis has been
observed in the workplace. Historically, in workplaces where
continuous contact with soluble nickel was high, risks for
nickel dermatitis were likewise high. For example, nickel
dermatitis was common in the past among nickel platers. Due
to improved industrial and personal hygiene practices,
however, reports over the past several decades of nickel
sensitivity in workplaces, such as the electroplating
industry, have been sparse (Fischer, 1989). Further,
evidence suggests that dry, clean operations with moderate
or even intense contact with nickel objects will seldom,
alone, provoke dermatitis (Fischer, 1989).
While reports of nickel dermatitis are now rare in most
workplaces, there are occupations for which hand eczema has
been reported in higher proportion than the general
populace. These include cleaning (where wet work is
involved), hairdressing, and hospital wet work (Fischer,
1989). In such circumstances, the eczema may be aggravated
by contact with nickel. Wet working, particularly
hairdressing or where detergents are used, may cause
deterioration of the skin, allowing penetration by irritants
or sensitizers, including nickel.
Experimental challenge via oral exposure to nickel has been
shown to trigger dermatitic flares in nickel sensitized
individuals. However, the clinical significance of this is
somewhat controversial (Veien et al., 1990). Review of the
literature on this topic reveals that a single dose of < 1.0
mg soluble nickel sulfate produces few flares of dermatitis,
whereas 2.5 mg causes reactions in 50 percent of the
patients tested and 5.0 mg nickel causes reactions in 75
percent of those tested. Some investigators have also seen
reactivation of nickel patch test sites following oral
challenges with doses of 2.5 to 5.0 mg nickel. As these
doses are considerably higher than the average daily intake
of nickel from food (0.15 mg) and have been administered as
single doses of nickel salt, the significance of these
findings for nickel sensitive individuals is questionable.
Other studies have found no reaction in nickel-allergic
patients exposed to doses ranging from 2.5 to 4.0 mg nickel
(Burrows et al., 1981; Gawkrodger et al., 1986).
The difficulty in evaluating the role of oral challenge in
nickel sensitive individuals is due to the confounding
factors that can influence the amount of nickel that
actually reaches the target cells, including the type and
amount of food present in the gut at the time of nickel
ingestion, the patient's degree of nickel sensitivity, and
the bioavailability of the nickel compound. Thus, within the
medical community, there is disagreement as to the value of
restricting dietary nickel intake in nickel-sensitive
persons.
Q: Why am I allergic to some gold jewellery?
Every year we get a few customers who believe that they
cannot wear gold jewellery because they get an allergic
reaction to it. Some believe that they are allergic to gold.
We have never yet known anybody who was allergic to pure
gold.
The most common cause of allergic reactions to jewellery is
nickel contained in the alloy. Nickel is, or was, frequently
used in white gold alloys because it is inexpensive, hard,
and has a strong whitening effect. Better quality white gold
alloys use palladium, which has excellent properties but is
more expensive.
An EC directive is due to come into force soon which will
regulate the use of nickel in any articles including
jewellery, and restrict its use to very low proportions.
The directive has two components:-
Content
To be considered nickel-directive compliant, an article must
contain no more than 500 parts per million of nickel. This
applies to articles which may be in contact with broken
skin, such as ear-rings.
Release
This applies to all articles which may be in close and
prolonged contact with skin. The release rate calculation is
not simple, but items must not exceed 0.5 micrograms nickel
per square centimetre of surface per week. The rate applies
to all new articles, and they must remain compliant for at
least two years in testing.
Commonest Causes
The next commonest cause of allergies for jewellery wearers
appears to be detergent or other chemicals which lodge
between the jewellery, usually rings, and the skin.
Hairdressers are often affected. Rinsing well can help, but
it is probably best to remove rings before using any
troublesome chemicals, and use a barrier cream.
Other Causes
A few jewellery wearers still seem to be slightly allergic
to yellow golds, nickel cannot be the cause because it is
not used in yellow gold alloys. In most cases sufferers only
experience problems with low gold content alloys such as
nine carat, so upgrading to a better alloy such as eighteen
carat usually solves all problems.
Higher Carat Gold
The other common components of nine carat gold alloys are
copper, silver and zinc. Zinc is usually very well
tolerated, it is used in many medical preparations. Silver
and copper do not usually cause allergic reactions, but both
will form compounds with atmospheric pollutants which may be
the cause of some reported problems. When copper and silver
are present in high carat alloy such as eighteen or twenty
two carat, they are more resistant to attack by chemicals,
because they are bound more closely with the gold content,
and this will explain why high carat alloys cause fewer
problems.
That itchy rash you get when you wear earrings might not be
because you bought them from the sales rack; and the redness
on your finger when you wear your wedding ring is not a
"sign" that your marriage is in trouble. You may be one of
the million of individuals who have allergic contact
dermatitis. Look around you and at what you’re wearing. You
may find the cause of your discomfort: you may have a metal
allergy.
Speaking at the American Academy of Dermatology’s 2003
Annual Meeting in San Francisco, dermatologist Joseph F.
Fowler, Jr., MD, spoke about allergic contact dermatitis and
the various metals that can trigger it.
"Allergic contact dermatitis accounts for a significant
number of visits to a dermatologist's office and is usually
caused by substances that come into contact with the skin,"
said Dr. Fowler. "Metal is one of the most common culprits
of allergic contact dermatitis especially due to the popular
trend of body piercing which can lead to irritation and
rashes in not only the earlobes, but upper portions of the
ears, lips, nose, tongue, navel, breasts and genitalia as
well."
After poison ivy, metal allergy is the most common form of
allergic contact dermatitis. In the past, women have been
more susceptible to metal allergy than men due to the amount
of jewelry worn, but the numbers of males wearing jewelry is
increasing and so is the incidence of metal allergy in this
population.
Symptoms of metal allergy usually occur between six to 24
hours following exposure and will dissipate if exposure to
the allergen is eliminated. The affected skin may become
red, swollen, and blisters often appear, which may break,
leaving crusts and scales. Later the skin may darken and
become leathery and cracked. The rash is generally confined
to the site of contact, although severe cases may extend
outside the contact area, especially if the allergen is on
your fingers and then transmitted to the face, eyelids or
genitals.
"It’s important to note that allergic contact dermatitis,
such as metal allergy, can be difficult to distinguish from
other rashes," stated Dr. Fowler. "However, dermatologists
can determine clues about the nature of a rash based on its
location on the body and the patient's lifestyle and work
habits."
Another way dermatologists can discover the source of an
allergy is through patch testing. During patch testing,
small amounts of possible allergens are applied to the skin
on strips of tape and then removed after two days. An
allergy shows up as a small red spot at the site of the
patch and a dermatologist notes what the patient is most
sensitive to.
Nickel
The most common of all metal allergens is nickel, which is
found in costume jewelry, clothing ornamentation, such as
zippers, buttons and snaps, and virtually all common metal
objects. Approximately 16 percent of all individuals who are
patch tested for allergies turn out to be allergic to
nickel. Because sweat allows the metal ions to be better
absorbed into the skin, areas on the body where nickel is
present and where sweating may occur can see an increase in
the severity of the dermatitis.
The most common location of nickel dermatitis is on the
earlobes from earrings containing the metal. This reaction
may start with the needle used to pierce the ears and
continue as individuals begin to change their earrings
daily. Dermatologists suggest that individuals with an
allergy to nickel wear only nickel-free or plastic earrings.
Trace amounts of metal are found in food and people with
sensitivity to metal can experience dermatitis.
In particular, beans, lettuce and whole-grain foods are high
in nickel, but most people do not ingest enough of them to
develop a serious rash.
"While nickel dermatitis is associated most often with
costume jewelry or watchbands, which have a high
concentration of nickel, it can occur with finer jewelry
which is usually worn for prolonged periods, for example a
wedding ring," said Dr. Fowler. "If sentimental reasons
prevent you from not wearing an item on a daily basis, the
best way to prevent the reaction is to have it plated in a
non-allergic metal, such as platinum."
Cobalt
Cobalt is also a common allergen that is found in many of
the same items that contain nickel, thereby making this
allergen difficult to pinpoint. It is also found naturally
in soil, dust and seawater. In the home, it is most often
found in the blue pigments in porcelain, glass, pottery or
ceramics, as well as blue and green water color paints and
crayons. In the workplace, cobalt is found in cement, bricks
and mortars.
"Combined allergic reactions are not uncommon and represent
simultaneous specific sensations to each individual metals
as opposed to being reactions to the combination," stated
Dr. Fowler. "Whenever possible, patients are encouraged to
avoid the allergen, use plastic or wooden items, such as
kitchen utensils or scissors, and wear protective clothing
and a face mask at their workplace."
Chromate
Chromate is another dermatitis-causing metal, which is also
found in cement, but more commonly used as a leather tanning
agent. "Shoe dermatitis" may result from leather containing
chromates and patients should change their shoes and socks
throughout the day especially if they are allergic or if
there is excess perspiration.
In addition, some matches contain chromates and touching
unlit matches can contaminate fingers. The fumes from a lit
match and the charred match head also contain small amounts
of chromate.
"When a metal allergy is suspected, it's important for
people to seek the medical advice of a dermatologist
especially since nickel, cobalt and chromate can all be
found in some common metal objects that people may touch
every day," said Dr. Fowler. "If avoidance of an item isn't
possible, your dermatologist can recommend some other
treatment options and lifestyle changes that can help
patients live and work without the itchy rash of allergic
contact dermatitis."
Titanium
is a natural element which has a silver-greyish-white
colour. Titanium is the hardest natural metal in the world.
It is very strong, three times the strength of steel and
much stronger than gold silver and platinum and yet is very
light weight. Pure titanium is also 100% hypoallergenic
which means that it if safe for anyone to wear as it will
not react to your skin.
Pure titanium is 100% hypoallergenic and allergy free and
will not produce skin irritation or discoloration.
Pure titanium does not react to sunlight, salt water or
anything that the body emits. This is why we only offer pure
titanium to our clients. We do not use other metal alloys
with our titanium to ensure only the purest and safest
titanium is used in our rings. We use pure titanium with
confidence knowing that everyone can wear it without the
concern of an adverse reaction to your body.
Titanium is the fourth most abundant structural metal in the
earth's crust and is the ninth industrial metal. No other
engineering metal has risen so swiftly to pre-eminence in
critical and demanding applications.
Availability in all forms
- Comparable cost to other high performance materials
- Ready weldability and machinability
- Weight saving - as strong as steel, but half the weight
- Fire and shock resistant
- Favourable cryogenic properties
- Bio-compatibility and non-toxicity
Cleaning titanium
Simply use a soft cloth and warm soapy water to clean your
titanium rings. Do not use strong detergent or chemicals and
never use toothpaste to clean your jewelry. For polished
natural colour titanium rings, we suggest that you have your
titanium ring polished about one or twice a year. This will
help to keep the ring looking great.
Titanium is absolutely immune to environmental attack,
regardless of pollutants. Where other architectural metals
exhibit limited lifespan, titanium endures. It withstands
urban pollution, marine environments, the sulfur compounds
of industrial areas and is failure-proof in even more
aggressive environments. Because it is the most noble metal,
the coupling of titanium with dissimilar metals does not
accelerate galvanic corrosion of the titanium.
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