Are your ears itchy despite wearing a pair of golden earrings? A jewellery lover's worst nightmare is realising that their favourite earrings always make their ears red and sore. If you fall into this category, shopping for a cute pair of earrings that match your outfit can be daunting. Knowing what to look for on a piece of gold jewellery can be half the battle. Here is a buying guide of what to look for when shopping for a golden pair of earrings:
24 Karat Gold
This is pure gold, with 99.9% gold content. The 24K gold is excellent for sensitive ears as it has the least amount of nickel (the common culprit for skin allergies). And as expected, it would come with a high price tag on it. Unfortunately, it is not used to make jewellery these days because it is too soft, hence susceptible to scratches. Due to its softness, it needs alloying with other metals such as copper, silver, zinc, and nickel. These metals not only add colouring and more durability but also make the alloyed gold suitable for jewellery.
Since this option may not be suitable, your next choice to protect your ears is 14K to 18K solid gold. Expect to part with several bucks for these too.
18 Karat Gold
The gold content in 18K is 75%. It contains 18 parts of pure gold mixed with other six metals. It is the best choice of earrings if you have sensitive ears. Since it has been mixed with other metal material, it means that the 18K gold is durable and fit for jewellery. With these, you will have gotten yourself a piece of expensive jewellery that is lean and soft to your ears.
While shopping for golden earrings you may see terms such as gold overlay, gold plated, or gold-filled. These are cheaper options but are NOT recommended for sensitive ears. All these involve coating a base metal with a layer of gold. Over time the soft gold surface can wear out, leaving your piercing exposed to the reactive metal underneath. If gold is exposed to prolonged moisture, the some of the reactive metals may even seep through the gold causing irritation to your skin.
14 Karat Gold
We can appreciate that the level of sensitivity is widely different for everyone. While 18K gold is recommended for the most sensitive of skins to be on the safe side, some people with moderate sensitivity can accommodate to 14K gold. Since gold is a neutral metal, only a few people are allergic or sensitive to it. 14K gold earrings consist of 14 parts of pure gold (58.3%) mixed with other ten parts metals. These different metals vary based on the golden colour. The difference in purity can affect you if you are allergic to nickel-metal. If it is present and you are irritated by it, you should consider going for higher gold content.
Wrap up
To get the full benefits of your money, you should aim for something around 18K or above gold earrings if you have reactive ears. These are the recommended gold earrings for sensitive ears. 24K gold jewellery is sometimes too soft for jewellery, hence very rare to find.
If you like the look of a gold earrings, Blomdahl has a wide selection of earrings made of pure titanium (the safest grade of the safest metal) on every part that touches the skin. The gold coating is only applied to the parts of the earrings or nose jewellery that don’t come into close contact with your skin.
To see our wide range of gold titanium earrings, click here
