Is it just me, or do more and more people seem to have many more allergies that we used to? Perhaps it’s an allergy to food (how many people do you know are gluten free or even dairy free now??) or pollen or even nickel in their jewelry. I would assume that these allergies have existed for years and years but it seems many more people are discussing their allergies now and how to handle them. As an allergy sufferer, I always want to know how to combat any allergies I may have. Today I’m going to discuss metal allergies in fine jewelry.
An allergy that we commonly run into is an allergy to nickel. Pretty much all white gold contains nickel. This is because when you buy 14kt white gold, it’s actually 58.5% YELLOW gold. The rest of the material contains nickel and other white metal alloys to make the material more white. When you buy 18kt white gold, yellow gold makes up 75% of the material. Please keep in mind that all white gold is rhodium plated. This is an electroplating process and it is typically the final step in the process of manufacturing the white gold piece of jewelry. This is how white gold gets so white!
For customers who have known allergies to nickel, there are plenty of metal options available to you for your fine jewelry! Platinum, palladium, titanium and even sometimes yellow gold can be perfect alternatives to white gold. Everyone is different and I have seen customers who are allergic to 14kt white gold but not 18kt white gold. I can only imagine that this is because 18kt white gold is a more pure gold so it contains fewer alloys. I have also seen customers who have gone years and years wearing 14kt white gold and then all of a sudden one day, they begin to form an allergy to their white gold. Crazy, huh? You just never know! I read somewhere that our bodies go through new cycles about every seven years or so… who knows but I guess this could make sense why some allergies can seem to come and go.
Be sure to check out our metal information guide below! Here you can read up on the specifics of each metal. This information is a great guide to help you in selecting the perfect metal for whichever piece of jewelry you wish to purchase!
