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What kinds of jewelry is nickel free?

Funny you asked that question today! I'm in the middle of researching an article about the use of nickel in jewelry and nickel allergies

What I have learned is that nickel is common in gold and silver plated jewelry. The piece of metal that is plated usually starts out as a base metal, such as brass. A nickel flash is applied to the surface to help the silver or gold plating adhere to the brass.

For the time being, I can tell you that 12k yellow gold and higher is nickel free. White gold usually contains some nickel, so I would stay away from that and plated jewelry for now. I will keep researching and publish the article soon.

Silver and Gold are not necessarily nickel-free, in 9 carat gold there isn't actually that much gold! The gold in jewelry is alloyed with other metals - and it is crucial to find out what those other metals are.

Thanks for your input Mike. I did say that 12k gold and higher is free of nickel.

Do you have any information about what higher carat gold is alloyed with? I have read that yellow gold can be alloyed with silver and copper, sometimes zinc and cobalt but not nickel.

Sterling Silver is typically alloyed with copper.

Hello Ann Marie, The nickel coating that is used on base metal fashion jewelry is actually used to brighten the gold or silver finish, not make the gold or silver adhere to the base metal. Typically, the base metal pieces are put through a cleaning process that involves soap, water, and a vibratory tumbling. After this process, the item is then copper plated to help make the nickel and precious metal adhere to the base metal. The copper plating also helps seal any porosity in the metal if the item is casted rather than struck. In the absence of nickel, many platers use palladium as a substitute brightener.

Very interesting about the nickel coating used as a brightener. I would not think that nickel would help to brighten a metal as bright as silver or gold.

Is it possible that different plating facilities use nickel in different ways during the plating process? That may lead to some of the confusion with nickel in jewelry.

Yes, Glass Jewelry is totally nickel free

Yes,I simply agree With you I am very impressed by the unique designs and variety of jewelry at Glass of Venice

I am very impressed by the unique designs and variety of jewelry aBellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!