Jewelry Blog
Little Black Earrings
• Sat, 02/06/2010 - 23:09 • EvaYou are smiling confidently in the hall of a theater. Under the night lights, the black crystals move freely in your ears. It wasn't even an hour ago that you showered, dried your hair, and stood in front of your wardrobe uncertain of what to wear.
As always, the solution came in the form of the little black dress, and with them, little black earrings. These little black earrings are suitable to wear not just at night, but during the daytime as well. They're a universal, variable accessory of graceful elegance. You can have them in three sizes, but of course, they’re all made with hypoallergenic earwires.
Little Black Medium
Berries
• Mon, 09/28/2009 - 09:50 • EvaFor me, berries have always served as an inspiration for making jewelry. Their glittering surface and sumptuous appearance make them an ideal model for jewelry design. The variety of their forms and arrangements has also inspired me to create earrings that reflect the diversity of the berries themselves. The simple style of Little Red is like a lone berry, while Blackberries represents a cluster of berries growing together on a wild shrub.
Blackberries
The colors of the earrings are also influenced by berries. Sometimes, I take the colors directly from the berries themselves: like red, maroon and purple. Other times, I use a more surreal palette, while still maintaining a berrylike effect.
While looking at Blackberries or Princess of Berries you can feel the atmosphere of the forest; Chocopink and Little Red evoke a more urban setting.
These berry-inspired earrings are not only elegant and feminine, but they are also naturally made with hypoallergenic earwires for your safety. As berries adorn the shrubs, you can adorn yourself with these very decorative earrings.
Really Hypoallergenic?
• Thu, 07/02/2009 - 10:11 • EvaI have already written in my previous post about metals being advertised as hypoallergenic, while still containing nickel under their plating. Now, I'm writing about metals that we might not even suspect contain nickel, which can lead to unexpected allergic reactions.
Gold
Gold is one of the most commonly used metals in jewelry, especially in fine jewelry. Lower carat gold usually contains nickel, and since the gold is a very soft kind of metal, the nickel is weakly embedded. That's why wearing golden earrings can cause inflammation in the earlobes. Gold above 18 carat is usually safe, however it may also contain a little nickel, leading to allergic reactions.
Silver
Nickel is also often used in silver alloys because of its durability. Silver jewelry is usually plated with other metal alloys to ensure a shiny surface, and to prevent jewelry from scratching and tarnishing. The most important element of plating alloys is nickel, with rhodium also very commonly used. Rhodium has properties that make it a quite good replacement for nickel, as it doesn't react with the skin. However, when the rhodium plating wears away in time, nickel can come to surface from the layers under the plating, reacting with the sensitive skin.
Surgical Steel
This metal is one of the most versatile metal alloys, and there is a huge variety in its content. That said, it always contains carbon and other metals besides iron. Some kinds of surgical steel contain nickel, but if it contains nickel, it's often said that the nickel is very strongly embedded, and so can't be solved out easily. There are reports; however, saying these metals can cause severe allergic reactions.
Titanium
Titanium is a metal that said to be almost completely hypoallergenic as used for implanting. Titanium is an alloy containing titan, aluminum, and occasionally nickel and other elements. As the nickel is strongly embedded, meaning it can’t be solved out, titanium is one of the most hypoallergenic metal.
Niobium
Niobium is a wonder metal of the modern world offering outstanding attributes: it's completely non-reactive with human tissue. It's a shiny, grey metal containing no nickel as being a pure element, not an alloy. As a result, it's especially hypoallergenic and highly safe. While other metals are colored with plating, niobium is colored by anodizing. The anodized niobium jewelry does't contain nickel either. It's recommended to wear even for those who have the most sensitive skin. Thus niobium is commonly used in professional body-piercing industry as one of the most hypoallergenic metals.
Nickel-free earwires
Our earwires are made of 100 % pure niobium for your safety.
Really nickel free?
• Tue, 03/24/2009 - 20:59 • EvaNowadays, a lot of jewelry can rightfully claim to be nickel free, but that doesn’t ensure that there won’t be problems down the line. How is that possible?
In many cases, only the plating alloys of “nickel free jewelry” are actually nickel free (i.e. jewelry plated with rhodium-alloys); meaning the metal below the plating can still contain nickel. This can be a potential hazard because even the tiniest scratch in the plating can allow nickel to come in contact with the skin, thereby causing an allergic reaction. We also have to be aware of the phenomenon of ion flow, a process where nickel can come to the surface as a result of the movement of atoms. For these reasons, a lot of jewelry advertised as being nickel free and hypoallergenic can, in fact, still cause allergic reactions and inflammation in the same way as non-hypoallergenic jewelry.
Our earwires are made of pure Niobium; there is no plating on their surface, which ensures that they're absolutely nickel-free. For your safety, they're also 100% hypoallergenic.
About Nickel
• Wed, 03/04/2009 - 14:34 • EvaNickel, one of the most universally used metals, has an important role in the jewelry business. Unfortunately, nickel is also one of the most allergenic metals, which can lead to a variety of problems.
Where can you find nickel?
You can find nickel in almost every aspect of your life; from money, to mobile phones, watches, jewelry, and even in clothes and common household appliances.
How can nickel cause allergic reactions?
Nickel in alloys are often weakly embedded, so they can be easily solved out. Free nickel atoms can react with the perspiration on the skin, forming nickel-salts. These nickel-salts penetrate the skin, getting into the bloodstream causing allergies and inflammation. This process is extremely rapid in cases where the surface of the skin is irritated or thin, as is common around injuries or pierced skin. So if you have symptoms such as skin redness after wearing jeans, facial inflammation after using a telephone, or inflamed earlobes when wearing earrings, you probably have a nickel allergy.
Why avoid nickel?
Each time we come in contact with nickel, free nickel atoms can penetrate our skin and enter our bloodstream. If there is too much nickel in the body, nickel sensitization can appear. Therefore, even if you are not yet allergic to nickel, it's advisable to avoid coming in contact with it because a nickel allergy can occur at any age, and there is no universal cure. While the allergy may eventually disappear if nickel is avoided for several years, for many people it’s a life-long infliction.
Nickel can penetrate the body most easily while wearing earrings, due to the fact that the metal is exposed to pierced skin for a relatively prolonged period of time. That's why nickel sensitization occurs more commonly with earrings usage than with any other form of contact. Consequently, although you currently might not have problems with nickel, it's worth wearing nickel-free earwires.
Nickel-free earwires
Our earwires are made of 100 % nickel-free metal, called niobium. They're absolutely safe, and recommended for all those who are interested in maintaining healthy earlobes.
- 1
- 2
