Implantation Standards vs. "Surgical" Steel
The most common jewelry material for body piercing is a steel alloy. You may be familiar with phrases like "surgical steel" or even possibly "316L" or "316LVM", none of these catchy little phrases mean the jewelry is safe for your body. Surgical steel in fact is not even a technical classification. The steel used for surgical implements and implants varies greatly and covers many different "recipes" for the steel alloy. The alloy we use in the body jewelry industry is 316LVM (the LVM means the mixture has a low carbon content and has been vacuum melted to form a consistent molecular grain pattern). The important thing to know as a consumer is that the recipe for 316 steel does not mean the alloy itself is safe for your body. In order to make sure the metal mixture is safe for piercing needs, we look for a scientific basis to compare it to for consistency and safety. Enter the American Society for Testing and Materials (astm.org). The ASTM is a volunteer organization that establishes standards and practices for all types of products. If you have a child safety seat or a bucket of house paint, they will more than likely have a tag somewhere that reads "Conforms to ASTM...", this is also true for metal alloys used for surgical implantation. We of course are not trying to suggest body piercing is on the same level as a surgical implant, but we want to use material that meet similar bio-compatibility standards to ensure their safety in the human body. The ASTM standard for implantation grade steel is F-138. If body jewelry conforms to the implantation standard, the manufacturer will be able to gladly provide a mill certificate that states on it ASTM F-138. Implantation grade steel may still be 316LVM, but the standard F-138 will be more specific as to the amount of each ingredient in the alloy. Similarly, Implant Grade Titanium has an ASTM standard it conforms to. Titanium's implantation standard is F-136 for the alloy (which contains low levels of aluminum and vanadium), and F-67 for commercially pure titanium (which is over 99% solely titanium). Many shops prefer titanium jewelry because it is strong and light, it does not contain any nickel and it has the ability to represent colored metal via a process known as anodizing. ANOMALY primarily stocks Titanium over Steel whenever possible, at no additional cost to the client despite the higher wholesale cost of the material, all of these materials meet implantation standards and we have the mill certificates to prove it.
The Importance of a Pretty Polish
Another important thing to look for as a jewelry consumer besides an implantation standard on a mill certificate is a mirror finish on the actual jewelry you plan to purchase. The mirror finish will be a good indicator that the jewelry has a sufficient oxide layer (Chromium Oxide for Steel and Titanium Oxide for Titanium) to help protect you from any possible impurities within the jewelry. A very simple test is to compare a cheap piece of jewelry purchased at a mall kiosk or beach boardwalk shop (not to suggest all of these places carry inferior jewelry, but most of them do) to a finely polished piece from a respected shop in your area. The quality jewelry should be significantly more shiny and reflective, while the cheaper piece will be a dull gray color. The dull gray is a significant indicator that the jewelry should not be worn in a fresh piercing. It means the oxide layer may be lacking or depleted and your body will be exposed to any impurities within the jewelry's metal composition. Gray dull finishes also often suggest inconsistent grain patterns on a molecular level, the boundaries where two different grain patterns meet are often the site of corrosion and impurities within the alloy. ANOMALY only carries jewelry by the finest companies on the market who use the best manufacturing and polishing practices to create the most consistently great jewelry on the planet.
Precious Metals
Gold and Platinum are both materials that have a long history of use as body jewelry. Gold also has bio-compatibility requirements. While we don't necessarily have ASTM standards to follow for these materials there are other bio-compatibility related precedents. Gold must be 14 to 18 karat solid yellow gold or white gold based in palladium (rather than nickel). Gold higher in karat is usually too soft to be used as body jewelry, and lower in karat it has too many other ingredients in the alloy. Gold plating is never appropriate for initial jewelry as it can wear or chip off easily. Platinum is extremely inert, but is rarely used due to its high cost and difficulty to work with. ANOMALY carries an excellent selection of appropriate white and yellow gold jewelry, we also offer the option to custom order specific pieces and platinum as you desire. We highly recommend making the investment in gold or platinum and commit to helping you find the perfect piece of jewelry for your piercing.
Glass
Although it has been used for generations as jewelry in indigenous peoples, glass has only more recently been accepted as initial piercing jewelry by the body piercing community. Soda Lime and Borosilicate Glasses are excellent for jewelry due to their ability to be autoclave sterilized and due to the fact that they are nonporous. Clear glasses make excellent retainers to keep your piercings from being a distraction during work or school, and colored glasses can be used to manufacture unique patterns of beauty within the jewelry. It is important to purchase glass from reputable manufacturers and to make sure the jewelry is made with consistency as a test of the manufacturer's understanding of the material and commitment to quality. Glass is handmade and may vary slightly from piece to piece, but typically the quality is pretty self-evident. Glass plugs are also an affordable alternative to stretching with substandard jewelry like plastics or natural materials. ANOMALY carries glass jewelry from the finest manufacturers the world over and we have the ability to custom order many exciting and different pieces as well.
Plastics
Many plastics are not suitable for initial jewelry use. Some of them start to deteriorate at temperatures lower than the body's own normal temperature, potentially leaching toxins into the body. They are also often unable to be sterilized in an autoclave. For these reasons it is suggested to avoid plastics as initial jewelry unless they meet some form of bio-compatibility testing. A prime example would be PTFE, a white bio-compatible polymer that meets the ASTM implantation standard F-754. While ANOMALY rarely uses these materials, PTFE can be effective for use as a somewhat flexible navel retainer during pregnancy, or for those who seem to display extreme sensitivities to other more traditional bio-compatible materials.
Niobium
The final material we would like to discuss is Niobium. Niobium is a reactive metal that can be anodized, similar to Titanium. Niobium does not have an implantation standard but it does have a long track record of being used in the body. One advantage Niobium has over Titanium is the ability to be anodized black (more like a dark charcoal color than true black). Titanium and Niobium both may lose their coloring depending on body chemistry and amount of friction in the area the jewelry is worn, but this is not harmful to the wearer and often can be remedied by re-anodizing every so often. ANOMALY carries a large selection of Titanium and Niobium for your jewelry needs, and we offer anodizing services for a mild fee.
Design Considerations
It is also important to recognize that appropriate materials are not enough, the design of the jewelry must also be appropriate so as to not hinder proper healing. Threaded barbells should be internally threaded having the male end of the screw protruding from the ball and the female end tapped into the actual shaft of the barbell post. This internal design helps to eliminate possible trauma to the healing tissue during insertion and removal of jewelry. Other benefits of properly made internally threaded jewelry include the ability to easily find replacement ends across the country, and it also helps the customer identify the possibility of quality jewelry as most externally threaded pieces are not manufactured or polished properly. A newer design in body jewelry is the threadless barbell, using a press fit design to eliminate the need for the barbell pieces to be screwed together. They literally attached like a push-pin. This also creates the possibility for much smaller gauge barbells and opens multiple possibilities for ear lobes, nostrils, cartilage and other piercings that typically benefit from small gauge sizes. Rings or hoops should be annealed, a heat process during manufacturing that keeps the metal pliable. Properly annealed rings are often opened or closed by a trained piercer without the use of pliers, thus limiting the potential damage sometimes caused by these tools. All gemstones should be set into the metal in a traditional method like a prong or bezel setting. Gemstones should not require the use of adhesives to keep them in place.
We hope this information is useful to you as a consumer, should you have questions feel free to email us at anomalyart@gmail.com or stop by and visit us in person.
-ANOMALY-
