Forty-five minutes, and one client in the room

The needle takes a moment. The appointment takes forty-five minutes. People are sometimes surprised by that when they book, so this is where the time goes, and why there is one client in the room while it does.

The short answer

A piercing at Platinum Point is booked for forty-five minutes with one piercer, Tom or Kat. Two piercings in the same visit are booked for an hour. The needle itself is over in moments. The rest of the time decides whether you still like the piercing in a year: where it sits, what goes in it, and whether you walk out knowing how to look after it.

The price doesn't change with the time. A piercing is $150 in implant-grade titanium, or from $350 in solid 14k gold, with the jewellery in the price either way. There's nothing to pay when you book. You pay at the end.

Where the time goes

Here is an appointment from the door to the checkup, in the order it happens.

We look first

You sit at the low table with a mirror in your hand. Before anything is marked, we look at your ear or your nose: the shape of it, where the cartilage folds, the piercings you already have and any old scarring. That decides where a mark can go. It's also when you hear the honest version, including when the spot in the photo you saved won't sit the same way on you.

You choose the piece

Titanium or gold, a stud or a ring, a plain end or a stone. If you'd like gold, you choose the piece first and hold it up to your ear. Every piece in the case is in the room, so you see it on you, not on a screen. Then we find the spot that suits it, and it goes in at the piercing, not months later. Some people know exactly what they want. Some take twenty minutes. Both are fine, and both fit.

The mark, and the mirror

The spot is marked and you check it in the mirror. If it isn't quite right, we wipe it off and mark it again. Then again, if that's what it takes. This is the part I would never hurry, because the mark is the piercing. Everything after follows that dot. Nothing goes further until you say yes.

Everything opened in front of you

Sterile gloves for every piercing. Every tool and every piece of jewellery is sterilised here, during your appointment. The needle is single-use and sterile, and it is opened in front of you. A needle, never a gun. How the room is run, and how I learnt to run it, is on the clean page.

The needle and the piece

You take a slow breath in, and the needle goes through on the way out. The piece goes in at the same moment. People ask what it feels like more than anything else, and this is what I tell them:

Honestly, a quick sharp pinch. The marking takes longer than the needle does.

The post goes in a little long, to leave room for swelling.

Aftercare, in plain words

Before you leave, we go through the aftercare. It is short on purpose. Warm running water over it once a day in the shower, pat it dry with a paper towel, and nothing else on it: no tea tree, no Savlon, no antiseptic. Don't turn the jewellery. That's the whole routine, and it's all on the aftercare page so you don't have to remember it.

Then there's time for your questions. Sleeping on it, earbuds, the gym, a helmet, work. Ask them in the room, while the person who pierced you is sitting across the table.

The checkup goes in the book

Your checkup at four weeks is booked before you leave, and it is included for everyone we pierce. If the swelling has settled, the long post is shortened then, so it sits close and stops catching. If you went with titanium and want a gold end later, it can go in at that checkup, priced on the piece alone.

One client in the room

For those forty-five minutes the room is yours. There is one client in the room at a time, so nobody is waiting behind you and nobody walks in halfway through. When either of us has a booking, that time is closed for the whole practice. On a Sunday, when Tom and Kat are both in, it still holds.

That changes how an appointment feels. You can ask the question you thought was silly. You can take a minute before the needle. You can look at the mark for as long as you like. And if you'd like someone with you, bring them: mention it when you book.

One review puts it better than I can:

He made sure to take his time to fully explain everything he was doing in detail which reassured me.

Jess, a septum re-pierced with Tom, on Google

Who the time is for

Nervous first-timers

Being nervous is normal, and it's a good reason to have time. Nerves mostly come from not knowing what happens next, so we tell you before each step. You see the needle opened. You know when it's coming. Eat a proper meal a couple of hours before and drink some water, because an empty stomach makes feeling faint more likely. Bring photo ID. The first piercing guide covers the rest, from choosing a spot to the checkup.

Children, and the parent beside them

We pierce lobes from age five, with a parent in the room, and never with a gun. Your child meets their piercer and picks their earrings first. Both lobes are marked, and you both check them in the mirror. Nothing happens until your child says yes. If they want to stop, we stop, and you pay for what was done. Under 14, we pierce Wednesday to Sunday. It's all on the children's ear piercing page.

Anyone who wants to change their mind

You can change your mind at any point before the needle: about the spot, about the piece, or about doing it today at all. I won't pierce on a maybe. I'd rather you went home and came back sure than sat in the chair unsure. Forty-five minutes leaves room for that, and nobody is waiting for the chair.

Why we book the time

A piercing heals for months and stays with you for years. A mark a millimetre off is still a millimetre off once it's healed. A piece chosen in a hurry is still the piece in your ear at the checkup. So we book enough time to get those right, and we don't fill it with anyone else. That's the whole idea: the right spot, a piece you love, and all the time it takes.

If you're comparing piercers, this is what I'd check anywhere, us included: how to choose a piercer in Auckland.

Booking

We're at 389 Parnell Road, Parnell, by appointment, open seven days. Tom pierces Wednesday to Sunday and Kat Sunday to Tuesday. Book a piercing for forty-five minutes, or two in one visit for an hour. Questions first? Call 09 949 0940.