Nickel allergy and WG for earrings

[Rock Candy]

I am looking at purchasing earrings and have the choice of platinum or WG. WG contains nickel - I do have problems wearing nickel earrings for any length of time. Will WG earrings act the same way as nickel?

 

[Hest88]

Yes. I wouldn''t risk it. Go for the platinum.

 

[snlee]

If you want to go with WG, make sure you get WG with palladium alloy. I wouldn''t risk getting WG with nickel.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

A good friend of mine is allergic to nickel, so her wg jewelry is made with palladium. She''s never had a problem with a jeweller making the wg with palladium instead of nickel.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

I have a nickel sensitivity myself, and I find that some WG earrings bother me, and some don''t. It is the same with sterling silver

. While I am sure that it has something to do with the alloy, I have never had a pair of earrings custom made, just B&M purchases.

 

[Rock Candy]

Thanks girls!

I will most likely choose platinum so there will be no issues. Will platinum weigh significantly more than WG and make diamond studs droop?

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 9/1/2007 8:26:01 AM
Author: Rock Candy
Thanks girls!

I will most likely choose platinum so there will be no issues. Will platinum weigh significantly more than WG and make diamond studs droop?

I have diamond studs in platinum martini settings. These are so small that any extra weight of the platinum is a non-issue. Martini style pretty much eliminates the droop anyway. I suggest heavy pushbacks as well, rather than screwbacks, for comfort and durability.

 

[Rock Candy]

Date: 9/1/2007 9:32:44 AM
Author: Fly Girl

Date: 9/1/2007 8:26:01 AM

Author: Rock Candy

Thanks girls!


I will most likely choose platinum so there will be no issues. Will platinum weigh significantly more than WG and make diamond studs droop?

I have diamond studs in platinum martini settings. These are so small that any extra weight of the platinum is a non-issue. Martini style pretty much eliminates the droop anyway. I suggest heavy pushbacks as well, rather than screwbacks, for comfort and durability.

Fly Girl: Where did you purchase your earring? Were they handmade or catalog earring settings? I am debating between the 3 prong and 8 prong martini setting. From what I understand, the 8 prong setting is actually lighter than the 3 prong catalog setting as the 8 prongs are thinner. Any thoughts?

 

[Hest88]

Will platinum weigh significantly more than WG and make diamond studs droop?

No, there''s not enough metal. Although, I once saw someone with studs that were 4 carats EACH and those definitely drooped!

 

[CrookedRock]

I too have a bad reaction to Nickel. I wear white gold diamond studs day in and day out, and they don''t bother me at all. I also wear a white gold diamond tennis bracelet everyday and have no problems with that either. I also just had a diamond pendant necklace custom made, and I know that they used palladium. Maybe that''s what the rest of my jewlery is too. If price is an issue I would look into going this route instead of the platinum. Good Luck, can''t wait to see them!

 

[lisaC]

link

Hey Rock Candy,
Don''t know what size studs you''re considering but did you see this thread? Alas kristy_lyn never posted pics of her .3''s.
There are a bunch of us with the 3 prong martinis- mine are the platinum handmade ones. Honestly even though they feel substantial in my hand I cannot feel them in my ears.

 

[Rock Candy]

Date: 9/1/2007 3:21:00 PM
Author: lisaC
link


Hey Rock Candy,

Don''t know what size studs you''re considering but did you see this thread? Alas kristy_lyn never posted pics of her .3''s.

There are a bunch of us with the 3 prong martinis- mine are the platinum handmade ones. Honestly even though they feel substantial in my hand I cannot feel them in my ears.

Thanks Lisa - I was actually trying to find that thread to see the size of the diamonds in the 8 prong setting. Mine will be .72 each and not sure if they will be large enough for that setting. Did you purchase your platinum handmade ones from WF?

 

[lisaC]

link

Mara posted .75 in an 8 prong setting and they looked lovely!
And yes mine are from WF.

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 9/1/2007 10:27:49 AM
Author: Rock Candy

Date: 9/1/2007 9:32:44 AM
Author: Fly Girl

Date: 9/1/2007 8:26:01 AM

Author: Rock Candy

Thanks girls!


I will most likely choose platinum so there will be no issues. Will platinum weigh significantly more than WG and make diamond studs droop?

I have diamond studs in platinum martini settings. These are so small that any extra weight of the platinum is a non-issue. Martini style pretty much eliminates the droop anyway. I suggest heavy pushbacks as well, rather than screwbacks, for comfort and durability.

Fly Girl: Where did you purchase your earring? Were they handmade or catalog earring settings? I am debating between the 3 prong and 8 prong martini setting. From what I understand, the 8 prong setting is actually lighter than the 3 prong catalog setting as the 8 prongs are thinner. Any thoughts?

Rock Candy - The story and pictures of my diamond studs are here. Link They are 0.85 ctw J SI1 from Blue Nile. The settings are platinum 3 prong martini from Stuller and were set locally. I was going for a great sparkly look on a budget. With the help of all I learned here at PS, I feel that I succeeded.

My studs are so small that weight is not an issue. Regular pushbacks would be fine. I went with medium heavy just for extra security, but it is mostly mental.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

A simple thing to do with wg earrings that irritate you is have the posts replaced with palldaium based white gold or platinum.

Sometimes the problem is the butterflys which almost always have nickel in them to give the metal more spring. Experiment with using yellow gold butterflys etc (YG never has any nickel)

 

[monarch64]

Date: 9/1/2007 11:15:23 PM
Author: Garry H (Cut Nut)
A simple thing to do with wg earrings that irritate you is have the posts replaced with palldaium based white gold or platinum.

Sometimes the problem is the butterflys which almost always have nickel in them to give the metal more spring. Experiment with using yellow gold butterflys etc (YG never has any nickel)

Great idea! I, too, suffer from a nickel allergy (when I got my ears pierced in 2nd grade I was almost diagnosed with Hodgkins'' Disease because the lymph nodes in my neck swelled up so badly), but have found that regular old WG works for me. 14k YG is fine as well...honestly I can''t afford platinum earrings and also worry that they will be too heavy as I have larger lobes and I don''t need any additional "droopage." Someone else also suggested using the "monster" backs instead of screwbacks, and that will help with the "droop" factor. Good luck!

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Date: 9/2/2007 12:35:40 AM
Author: monarch64

Date: 9/1/2007 11:15:23 PM
Author: Garry H (Cut Nut)
A simple thing to do with wg earrings that irritate you is have the posts replaced with palldaium based white gold or platinum.

Sometimes the problem is the butterflys which almost always have nickel in them to give the metal more spring. Experiment with using yellow gold butterflys etc (YG never has any nickel)

Great idea! I, too, suffer from a nickel allergy (when I got my ears pierced in 2nd grade I was almost diagnosed with Hodgkins'' Disease because the lymph nodes in my neck swelled up so badly), but have found that regular old WG works for me. 14k YG is fine as well...honestly I can''t afford platinum earrings and also worry that they will be too heavy as I have larger lobes and I don''t need any additional ''droopage.'' Someone else also suggested using the ''monster'' backs instead of screwbacks, and that will help with the ''droop'' factor. Good luck!

Yes - but monster backs let more gungy moisture build up which allow the ions that cause the chemical bio reaction.

in my experiance a lot of earrings have the butterfly''s pushed up way too tight.
Many people feel the tighter they push them on the safer they will be. This is untrue. The safest way to wear earrings is with the butterfly sitting in the little groove that should be near the end of the post.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction#Types_of_friction The coefficient of kinetic friction is typically denoted as ìk, and is usually less than the coefficient of static friction.
That means once the butterfly starts to slide (eg caught by a brush etc) it just keeps sliding right past the groove and you loose it.

If the groove is too far back ask a jewler to cut an additional one a bit further in.

 

[Rock Candy]

Thanks Lisa & Fly Girl!!!

 

[Rock Candy]

Date: 9/2/2007 1:22:27 AM
Author: Garry H (Cut Nut)

Date: 9/2/2007 12:35:40 AM

Author: monarch64

Date: 9/1/2007 11:15:23 PM

Author: Garry H (Cut Nut)

A simple thing to do with wg earrings that irritate you is have the posts replaced with palldaium based white gold or platinum.


Sometimes the problem is the butterflys which almost always have nickel in them to give the metal more spring. Experiment with using yellow gold butterflys etc (YG never has any nickel)

Great idea! I, too, suffer from a nickel allergy (when I got my ears pierced in 2nd grade I was almost diagnosed with Hodgkins'' Disease because the lymph nodes in my neck swelled up so badly), but have found that regular old WG works for me. 14k YG is fine as well...honestly I can''t afford platinum earrings and also worry that they will be too heavy as I have larger lobes and I don''t need any additional ''droopage.'' Someone else also suggested using the ''monster'' backs instead of screwbacks, and that will help with the ''droop'' factor. Good luck!

Yes - but monster backs let more gungy moisture build up which allow the ions that cause the chemical bio reaction.


in my experiance a lot of earrings have the butterfly''s pushed up way too tight.

Many people feel the tighter they push them on the safer they will be. This is untrue. The safest way to wear earrings is with the butterfly sitting in the little groove that should be near the end of the post.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction#Types_of_friction The coefficient of kinetic friction is typically denoted as ìk, and is usually less than the coefficient of static friction.

That means once the butterfly starts to slide (eg caught by a brush etc) it just keeps sliding right past the groove and you loose it.


If the groove is too far back ask a jewler to cut an additional one a bit further in.

That''s great info Garry, thanks!!! You brought up an interesting fact - I know I''m guilty of pushing the butterfly up close, not just for security, but this also helps the dreaded "droop". If I place the butterfly in the end notch, the post feels so loose and it does droop on me. Never even gave it a thought to have the jeweler cut another groove closer to the front - duh!