Body jewellery: what is worth putting in a piercing

Body jewellery sits in a healing piercing for months, then against healed skin for years. So the question is not only whether you like how a piece looks. It is what the metal is, how the piece is made, and whether it fits the piercing it goes in.

I'm Tom. Kat and I pierce at 389 Parnell Road in Auckland, and for a fresh piercing we hold two things: implant-grade titanium, and solid gold made by BVLA in Los Angeles. Here is why, what the other words on labels usually mean, and what to check when buying for a healed piercing.

The short answer

For a fresh piercing: implant-grade titanium made to ASTM F136, or solid 14k gold or higher, with an end that is held on properly and a post fitted to you. Nothing plated, nothing filled, and nothing whose metal you can't name. A healed piercing gives you more room, but the same questions apply.

Implant-grade titanium

ASTM F136 is a published standard for the titanium alloy used in surgical implants. A piece that names it is telling you exactly what it is made of, and that it was made to a standard written for metal that stays inside a body. A known material, not a description. If you are looking for implant-grade titanium earrings in NZ, ask for the standard by name: "titanium" on its own doesn't tell you which titanium.

It is light, plain, and what we would pick for our own child. A piercing in titanium is $150, with the jewellery in it.

Solid gold

Solid means the same gold alloy all the way through, with no coating to wear through. 14k means 14 parts in 24 are pure gold, which is 58.5%. Ours is BVLA, stocked in 14k yellow and white, and it is pierced fresh: you choose the piece first, the spot is found for it, and it goes in at the piercing, not months later. A piercing in gold is from $350, with the piece in it. If you are choosing between the two for a new piercing, here is how to decide.

Words that sound safe and usually aren't

"Surgical steel"

There is an implant-grade steel, made to ASTM F138, and it contains some nickel. But "surgical steel" on its own is a description, not a standard, and much of what is sold under that name is not implant grade. If a label says surgical steel and nothing else, treat the metal as unknown.

Plated and filled

Plated is a thin layer of gold over a base metal. Filled is a thicker layer bonded over a base metal. Both look like gold when new. In a piercing, the part that matters is the part you can't see: the post, sitting in the channel day after day. Once the surface wears, the metal underneath is what touches you. Neither belongs in a fresh piercing.

"Hypoallergenic"

A label, not a standard. It doesn't refer to any particular test or specification, so it can't tell you what a piece is made of. The questions that do: what metal, made to what standard, and is it solid.

Threaded and threadless ends

Fine body jewellery comes in two parts: the post that goes through you, and the end you see.

• Threadless (push-pin). The end has a thin pin, bent slightly, that presses into a hollow post and is held by the tension of the bend. Nothing rough passes through the piercing.
• Internally threaded. The end screws into a thread inside the post, so the outside of the post stays smooth.
• Externally threaded. The thread is on the outside of the bar and drags through the piercing every time it goes in or out. Not for a fresh piercing.

We use both threadless and threaded ends, chosen for the piece and the spot, each on a post made for it. Either way, an end should not wobble or come off on its own. If yours keeps coming off, that is a fit problem worth a look, not something to live with.

Flat backs, not butterflies

Most of what we put in an ear is a labret: a post with a flat disc on the back that sits flush against the skin. Nothing catches on hair or a pillowcase, and the post is chosen in a length that suits you.

A butterfly is the pinch-on back of an ordinary earring. It grips a thin post of standard length, leaves the point behind the ear, and its curls hold onto crust. Fine in a lobe that healed years ago. Not in a new piercing.

Gauge and length: the fit nobody sees

Gauge is the thickness of the post; length is how far it runs from front to back. Both have to match the piercing. Most of what we pierce starts at 1.2mm (16g), and the gauge guide has the chart spot by spot.

A new piercing gets a deliberately long post, because it swells. Too short, and the swelling has nowhere to go: the ends press into the skin and the back can start to sink in. Too long once the swelling has gone, and the bar rocks every time you sleep on it or catch it, which is a common reason a piercing gets irritated (more in the guide to irritation bumps). That is why the four-week checkup is included for everyone we pierce: if it is ready, the post is shortened then.

Buying online for a healed piercing

There is good jewellery to be found online for a healed piercing. Before you buy, check:

• The metal, named properly. ASTM F136 titanium, or solid gold with the karat stated. "Surgical steel", "gold tone" or "hypoallergenic" and nothing more: move on.
• The gauge and length, in millimetres. A thinner post sits loose and moves. A thicker one won't go in without forcing it, and forcing it is how piercings get hurt.
• How the end attaches. Threadless or internally threaded. Don't assume an end from one maker fits another maker's post.
• Whether it has really healed. That means the full heal time for the spot, not the day it stops being tender. A lobe takes three to six months, a helix about nine.

Not sure? Bring the piece in before it goes in, and we'll tell you plainly whether it suits the piercing.

Why we hold only titanium and BVLA gold

Because I want to know what is in every piece that goes into someone, and be able to say it out loud. Implant-grade titanium has a standard behind it. BVLA has made precious body jewellery, and only that, since 1996: every piece drawn, made, set and polished by hand in workshops BVLA owns, guaranteed against a fault in the making for as long as you own it.

Holding only two things means there is nothing on the tray I would steer you away from. Titanium is always there, at $150 all in, for anyone not ready for gold, and any BVLA design can be made to order in another stone or gold in about six weeks (BVLA Bespoke). It is how we give you the right spot, a piece you love, and all the time it takes.

See it before you choose

A photo doesn't tell you much. A stone reads differently against your skin, and four millimetres is smaller than it sounds. Every piece in the room is on the case, priced pierced. To hold them, book a Gold Viewing: thirty minutes at the case with Tom or Kat, no needle, nothing to buy, no charge.

Bought a piece somewhere else, or not sure your jewellery suits your piercing? A look is twenty minutes and $30 if we didn't pierce you, and it comes off a piercing or a piece fitted the same day. Healed but wrong for the piece you want is a second look; sore, swollen or an end that won't stay on is something's not right. If we pierced it, a look costs nothing. If anything worries you, call us on 09 949 0940, or book.