14k Gold Body Jewelry

Gold all the way through: solid 14k, yellow, white and rose, in the gauges piercings actually take. Nose hoops and diamond nose studs, belly rings, tension captives, seamless rings, hinged clickers and straight barbells, most of them made to order in our own gold department in Buffalo, New York. Not gold-tone, not plated, not filled. Since 1999.

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14k Gold Body Jewelry Guide: Karat, Color & Care

What 14k means: 58.5 percent pure gold, alloyed for strength, and the karat piercers recommend for jewelry you wear every day. Pure gold is soft; the higher the karat, the sooner a thin post bends or a bead works loose. 14k is precious enough to be the forever piece and hard enough to hold its shape. Every title on this page says 14k; gold-tone, plated and gold-filled pieces live on their own pages. A small 18k and platinum line lives with the gold nose rings.

Yellow, white or rose: all three are 14k, and the alloy sets the color. Yellow is nickel-free and the classic against skin. Rose takes its blush from copper. White reads like platinum and makes a diamond or CZ the star, but white-gold alloys vary by piece, so if you are nickel-sensitive, choose yellow or ask about the specific piece first.

Fit follows the piercing, not the metal: 20G and 18G for the nostril, 16G for cartilage, septum, lip and eyebrow, 14G for belly, nipple and tongue. Read the numbers off the piece you wear now; this is not the price point for guessing. Care is simple because gold is soft: ease a captive or seamless ring open just enough to seat it and never twist it, thread ends on by hand, and a soft cloth brings the shine back. Buy-one-get-two promotions do not apply to 14k gold; the price is the price.

14k gold by piercing:

FAQ

Yes. Everything on this page is solid 14k gold, the same alloy all the way through, and the product title says so. Gold-tone PVD, gold-plated and gold-filled pieces are honest products too, but they live on their own pages and are never mixed in here. If a title does not say 14k, it is not on this page.

All three are 14k, meaning 58.5 percent pure gold; the other metals in the alloy set the color. Yellow is the classic and is nickel-free. Rose gets its blush from copper. White reads like platinum and makes a stone the star, but white-gold alloys vary by piece, so if you are nickel-sensitive, choose yellow or ask us about a specific piece before you buy.

Hardness. Pure gold is soft; the higher the karat, the more easily a thin post bends or a captive bead works loose. 14k is the sweet spot piercers recommend: enough gold to be truly precious, enough alloy to hold its shape in a piercing you wear every day. We do carry a small line of 18k and platinum nose rings; you will find them on the gold nose ring page.

Solid, nickel-free 14k gold is on the short list of metals the piercing industry accepts for initial jewelry, alongside implant-grade titanium and steel. That said, the starter your piercer placed stays in until you are cleared to swap; healing times run from a few months for a nostril to 6 to 9 months or more for a navel or nipple. Once you are cleared, gold is the piece you never take out again.

Gold is softer than steel and titanium, so treat it gently: ease a captive or seamless ring open just enough to seat it and never twist it; repeated bending works gold brittle. Thread barbell ends on by hand, not with pliers. Solid gold does not tarnish, so a rinse and a soft polishing cloth bring the shine back; take it out for heavy chlorine or sulfur hot springs, which can dull some alloys over time.

You are paying for the metal by weight, for stones hand-set in gold rather than glued, and for pieces that are mostly made to order, many in our own gold department in Buffalo, New York, which is why some ship a little slower than steel. Gold is priced as gold: our buy-one-get-two promotions do not apply to 14k, and the price you see is the price.