The instrument used to pierce you is not a minor detail. It decides how the skin is parted, what the piercing starts out like, and what jewellery can go in. In New Zealand, people often come in having been pierced with a cartridge system, sometimes without knowing it was a different method at all. This is the difference, plainly.
The two methods explained
The needle is a single-use, sterile, hollow needle with a sharp bevelled tip. It makes a clean, narrow channel, and the jewellery follows straight through behind it. The needle is thrown away straight after.
The cartridge system (or piercing gun) works by pressure. A spring-loaded mechanism pushes blunt jewellery through the skin by force. Nothing sharp goes through first: the skin is pushed aside by the jewellery itself, which comes pre-loaded in the cartridge.
Why we use a needle
- A clean start: a sharp needle parts the skin cleanly instead of forcing it apart.
- A known size: the needle's diameter is exact, so the piercer knows exactly what size of jewellery the piercing will take.
- Your choice of jewellery: the needle and the jewellery are separate, so the jewellery can be whatever suits you and the spot.
- Single use: every needle is opened from sealed sterile packaging in front of you and thrown away straight after. Nothing is reused.
Thomas Manning, head piercer at Platinum Point, has a background as a Clinical Trials Aseptic Pharmacy Technician in hospital settings. That background shapes how the room runs: a clean field, careful handling of every instrument, and the same order of steps every time.
How cartridge systems work, and what they do differently
A gun or cartridge forces jewellery through by spring or mechanical pressure. Because the tip of the jewellery is blunt, the skin doesn't part cleanly. It is pressed and pushed until the jewellery forces its way through.
The jewellery is also decided for you. It is whatever the cartridge supplier has loaded, and you can't choose the material, size or style beyond what the system offers.
What that means for healing
A piercing that starts rougher tends to be more swollen and sore early on, and it has less room for the everyday things that make healing harder: touching it, products, sleeping on it, snagging.
Can cartridge piercings heal well?
Yes, in earlobes they often do. Plenty of adults had their lobes done with a gun as children and never had a problem.
Cartilage is different. It has very little blood supply of its own and heals slowly. Forcing blunt jewellery through it is a rough start for tissue that is already slow to heal. We would never pierce cartilage with a gun or cartridge system, and we'd suggest you don't let anyone else do it either.
What jewellery comes with each method
With a needle, the jewellery is chosen separately and goes in straight behind the needle. At Platinum Point that means ASTM F136 implant-grade titanium or solid 14k BVLA gold. Gold is pierced fresh: you choose the piece first, we find the spot, and it goes straight in.
With a cartridge system, the jewellery comes pre-loaded. It is often described as "surgical steel" or "hypoallergenic", words that don't mean any particular standard. That matters, because jewellery that isn't implant grade sits in a healing piercing for months.
What to ask any piercer in NZ
- Is the needle single-use, and will I see it opened? A good piercer opens it from sealed packaging in front of you.
- How do you sterilise, and how often is the autoclave tested? Ours is tested weekly.
- What is the jewellery, exactly? ASTM F136 titanium, solid 14k or 18k gold, or 950 platinum. The standard should be stated, not implied.
At Platinum Point every piercing is done with a needle, never a gun, in a 45 minute appointment with one piercer, with the spot marked with you in the mirror first. See ear piercing in Auckland and prices, or book a piercing.
Frequently asked questions
Is a piercing gun the same as a cartridge system?
Largely, yes. Traditional spring-loaded piercing guns and newer cartridge systems work the same way: blunt jewellery is pushed through the skin by force. The cartridge is a newer version of the gun. Neither uses a sharp needle to make the channel first.
Can cartridge piercings go wrong more easily?
A cartridge piercing starts rougher than a needle piercing. In earlobes it often heals well. Cartilage heals slowly and has very little blood supply of its own, so a forced, blunt start is a poor idea there. Platinum Point never pierces cartilage, or anything else, with a gun or cartridge system.
Does needle piercing hurt more than cartridge piercing?
Everyone feels it a little differently. A sharp needle is quick. As Tom puts it: "Honestly, a quick sharp pinch. The marking takes longer than the needle does." A gun pushes blunt jewellery through by force, which is a different kind of feeling.