What defines Quality Jewelry?

It is very important that the initial piercing be performed with quality jewelry, as described below. Once the piercing is completely healed, many people want to wear more elaborate jewelry. The elaborate jewelry you usually find is a novelty grade jewelry. This is fine, however if your piercing becomes irritated or starts to migrate, switch back to the quality jewelry. A better plan would be to only wear the novelty jewelry occasionally, and not wear it for long periods of time.

Material

It is important that the metals being used to pierce with are biocompatible. At Piercology we only use the 4 following metals:
Implant-grade stainless steel: 316L or 316LVM (ASTM F-138)
Implant-grade titanium: 6AI4V ELI (ASTM F-136)
Niobium
14k or 18k solid gold

Polish

Body jewelry should be polished to a mirror like finish. This will usually look very shiny in steel, but not as much in niobium and titanium, which would look more smooth. It’s also important that the surface of the metal have no nicks, scratches or pitting, as this can not only tear at the tissue, but also can harbor bacteria.

Threading

Internally threaded jewelry has the threading attached to the ball, with a hole in the shaft of the barbell. Externally threaded jewelry has a hole in the ball and the threads exposed on the shaft of the barbell.

The difference is that when the threads are exposed, as on externally threaded jewelry, those sharp threads can cause tears to the inside of a piercing. This can lead to pain, irritation, bleeding, scarring and prolonged healing, The quality of externally threaded jewelry is generally inferior, specifically the finish is duller, the steel is usually a lesser grade, and in the case of curved barbells, is not shaped correctly.

When inserting internally threaded jewelry, the threads are inside the shaft, and therefore the transition from needle to jewelry is painless, with no harm done to the piercing. This means faster healing time, less chance of excessive scar tissue and happier clients.  Piercology uses only internally threaded jewelry for initial piercings.

So why does externally threaded body jewelry exist?  Because it’s cheap to make and some companies see that as a chance to make more profit, but at the expense of the clients comfort.

Shape

It is important the shape of the jewelry be smooth. Rings or circular barbells should be a circle with no flat or wavy spots. Curved barbells should have a well rounded curve as if part of a circle. They should not look like a barbell that was made straight and then bent.

Craftsmanship

This refers to the small things you wouldn’t notice unless you were looking for them. The ends of body jewelry should be smooth, whether it be a captive bead ring or a threaded piece. Threaded jewelry should fit together snugly with no gaps, and no exposed threading.  Any gem setting should be held in place by the setting, not set with glue.

Sizing, Fitting and Other Thoughts

Another point that needs mentioning here is sizing. It is very important that body jewelry be the correct gauge (thickness) and length/diameter for that body part. If the jewelry is too thin, it can tear tissue, if it is too thick it can weigh the skin down, possibly causing migration. If a piece of jewelry is too large in length or diameter it can get caught more easily or move around too much which can cause complications. If too small, can cause bunching of the skin, extra scar tissue, tearing, migrating or even causing the skin to swell over the jewelry. And most importantly, the wrong size jewelry just doesn’t look flattering.

All too often we see other studios clients coming to us because their piercing will not heal. What we are noticing are two factors; the jewelry not being the appropriate size, the piercing being performed too shallow or too deep in order to fit the jewelry. The latter should NEVER happen. The jewelry should be sized to the body part, not the other way around. The old adage, “you get what you pay for” totally holds true when choosing body jewelry. With body piercing becoming more common, smaller jewelry companies, or studios themselves are making an inferior grade jewelry in an effort to cut cost.

Remember, this is your body. You only get one. Being pierced with inferior quality jewelry can result in damage to your body, and many times this can be irreparable in the case of heavy scarring.