Statement even true? When I started designing jewelry over a year ago I decided to find out
. I wanted to design Stainless steel jewelry for women for my mom that she could wear without fear of a breakout. Now I am going to let you in on what I have discovered.
My mother, like many people, develops contact dermatitis when her skin comes in contact with some types of Stainless steel jewelry for women. The dermatitis is a result of an allergic reaction to the nickel found in many types of jewelry. Nickel allergies are very common. One out of every seven people is likely to suffer from a nickel allergy. More women tend to suffer from nickel allergies than men. However this may be attributed to the fact that women tend to wear more jewelry than men and are therefore more likely to be exposed to skin contact with nickel.
Now that I knew what was causing my mother's breakout, I had to find out what types of jewelry metals did not contain nickel.
First I looked at gold Stainless steel jewelry for women. Generally speaking, yellow gold (above 14 karat) will not cause an allergic reaction. However white gold may. White gold alloys contain nickel and other "white" metals to produce its silver coloring. One out of every nine people will react to the nickel in white gold.
Another for of gold Stainless steel jewelry for women is gold filled or "GF" jewelry. Gold filled jewelry metal is created when a base metal is coated with a layer of gold. Gold filled differs from gold plated by the amount of gold applied. The layer used in gold filled jewelry is typically 50 to 100 time thicker that the layer used to coat gold plated products.
Next I looked at silver Stainless steel jewelry for women. For those who are nickel sensitive, fine silver and sterling silver are great choices for "white" metals.
Fine silver is by definition 99.9% pure silver. Jewelry is generally not made of fine silver because the metal is extremely soft and does not withstand normal wear and tear well.