Clean Earring Swaps for Women with Metal Allergies

I can't even count how many times I've heard this when showing Buckaroo Bling earrings at in-person events:

"I don't wear earrings because I have metal allergies."

Metal allergy sufferers, don't despair. There are metals out there that may be safe for you, even safe enough to wear them in the form or earrings, and today, I'll tell you about a few.

The most common metal allergy is the nickel allergy. Sufferers from this form should not wear base metal earrings. If that's you, although pure copper and pure brass wouldn't bother you, these two metals are not suitable for earrings because they oxidize easily and would discolor your skin. In some milder cases, sterling silver could be worn, but sterling silver is an alloy which contains a very small amount of nickel, so if your allergy is of a more severe kind, stay away from that too.

Some jewelers would tell you that you could wear silver jewelry that's been rhodium plated. However, you need to be vigilant as rhodium plating (like any plating) could rub off after a time, so you would have to have your earrings re-plated often. Another option is to wear gold jewelry, and if you decide to go this route, make sure you're wearing high carat gold (a minimum of 18k, but preferably 24k). Keep in mind that 18k gold is still an alloy of gold including other metals - small amounts of nickel too, but as the gold content is 75%, that amount would be rather tiny. 24k gold on the other hand is pure gold.

If you can't even wear high carat gold, all is not lost... yet. Surgical steel is an option for your earrings, but again, you have to make sure that your earrings are absolutely nickel-free as some types of surgical steel have a certain amount of nickel in the alloy. To be on the safe side, I recommend two other metals: titanium and niobium. Titanium is frequently used to produce medical devices, so even if its grade of purity is below 11 (the highest grade), the amount of other metals alloyed with titanium would be insignificant. On the other hand, niobium is one of the most inert metals, making it equally ideal for medical devices and for allergy-friendly jewelry.

Here at Buckaroo Bling, we offer several earring styles with titanium ear wires, and a couple others with niobium. If you're shopping with us and aren't sure what to choose, we're only an email or a phone call away.