Gold Earrings for Women

Gold itself doesn't cause reactions. What does is nickel in the alloy underneath, and thin plating that wears through to reach it. Ours is gold over solid sterling silver — no nickel-heavy base — at 3.0 microns against an industry standard of 0.2. If you react to most earrings, that base metal is the thing to check, not the colour.

Not these, and this is worth being clear about. A fresh piercing is an open wound and needs implant-grade titanium or solid 14k gold — not plated anything, however thick. Wait until it's fully healed, which is six weeks for a lobe and considerably longer for cartilage, then wear whatever you like.

Water is fine. Chlorine is the real enemy of any gold plating, and salt water is nearly as bad. Showering in them is survivable if you dry them; swimming in them shortens their life measurably. Take them off for the pool.

Solid gold is, usually — 14k, 585, 750 and so on. Plated and vermeil pieces often aren't, because the stamp refers to the base metal rather than the coating, and there's no space on a small stud anyway. An unstamped earring isn't automatically fake; ask what's underneath instead of looking for a mark.

Bent posts and broken hinges are routine solder jobs at any bench. What doesn't repair economically is plating worn through at a friction point — replating costs more than the earring. That's the argument for thicker vermeil over standard plating if you wear a pair constantly.

Slowly, at 3 microns. Perfume, hairspray and hand cream dull them faster than air does — put earrings on last and take them off first. A dry cloth restores the shine; warm water and a soft brush for anything worse.