Some stainless steel sticks to a magnet and some doesn't. It depends on the family of steel. The grades used most in jewelry, including S316L Surgical Steel, are normally non-magnetic, so stainless steel jewelry that doesn't stick to a magnet is behaving as expected. A magnet tells you which family of steel you're holding. It doesn't tell you whether an earring is safe for her ears. Our materials page names what ours are made of.
Why some stainless steel is magnetic and some isn't
"Stainless steel" isn't one metal. It's a large group of iron alloys that all contain at least 10.5 percent chromium, which forms a thin protective layer on the surface and is what stops them rusting. Within that group, the way the atoms are arranged decides whether a magnet pulls.
Austenitic steels, the 300 series, include 304 and 316. They contain nickel, which holds the iron in a structure that a magnet barely notices. In their normal, annealed state they're non-magnetic.
Ferritic and martensitic steels, the 400 series, contain little or no nickel. Their structure is strongly magnetic. A fridge magnet will grab them.
Duplex steels are a mix of the two and are strongly magnetic. They're used in industry rather than jewelry.
So two pieces of jewelry can both be honestly described as stainless steel, and one sticks to a magnet while the other doesn't.
Does stainless steel jewelry stick to a magnet?
If it's made from an austenitic grade such as 316L, it usually doesn't, or it pulls only very slightly. If it's made from a 400 series grade, it does.
There's one complication. When austenitic steel is bent, drawn or pressed, part of its structure can change into a magnetic form. That's called cold working. A post that's been drawn into a thin wire, or a butterfly back that's been bent into shape, can pull faintly toward a strong magnet even though it's 316L. That doesn't change the grade, and it doesn't mean anything is wrong with it.
The Australian Stainless Steel Development Association makes the same point: magnetism reflects the steel's structure, not its quality or its resistance to corrosion.
How to test jewelry with a magnet
A fridge magnet is fine. A stronger magnet, such as the small round kind used on whiteboards, shows slight pulls more clearly.
- Hold the magnet against the front of the earring, then against the post and the back.
- Watch for movement. A strong snap means a magnetic metal. A faint drag on a thin part can be cold working.
- Test the post and the back separately. They're often made from a different metal from the front.
That's the whole test. What you make of it is where people go wrong.
How to tell if jewelry is real with a magnet
A magnet can rule some things out. It can't rule anything in.
Gold, silver, platinum, copper, brass, aluminum and titanium aren't magnetic. If a "gold" earring snaps to a magnet, there's a magnetic metal in it, usually iron or a magnetic steel, under a thin gold-colored layer.
Not sticking proves very little. Brass, zinc alloy and copper don't stick either, and they're the most common base metals under plated fashion jewelry. A cheap plated earring on a brass base will pass a magnet test as cleanly as a platinum one.
So a magnet catches one kind of fake. It misses most of the others.
Are gold earrings magnetic?
Gold itself isn't magnetic. A gold earring, or a gold-plated earring over a non-magnetic core, won't move toward a magnet.
A plated earring that does stick is telling you about its core. That's useful to know, but it still doesn't tell you what's in the plating, whether there's a nickel layer under the finish, or how much nickel the earring releases against her skin. Only a lab test, such as EN 1811, answers those.
What metal doesn't react to a magnet?
Among common jewelry metals: gold, silver, platinum, titanium, niobium, copper, brass, zinc alloy, and austenitic stainless steels such as 304 and 316L. Iron, nickel, cobalt and most 400 series steels do react.
Notice what that list includes. Nickel is magnetic, but nickel held inside 316L doesn't make the steel stick, and a nickel layer under plating is usually too thin to feel. That's why a magnet isn't a nickel test. A dimethylglyoxime spot test or an EN 1811 lab result is.
What a magnet can't tell you
A magnet test answers one question: which family of metal is this? For her ears, the questions that matter are different.
- What's the exact grade? 316L and 304 behave the same with a magnet but aren't the same steel.
- How much nickel does it release? That needs a test such as EN 1811.
- Is the post and back the same material as the front?
- Has it been independently tested?
There's a reason I care about those questions more than about the magnet. An earring isn't a medical device. But she'll wear it in her body for decades, and that's closer to an implant than to anything else she puts on. The grade matters more here than it does on a bracelet. If you'd like the difference between grades set out, Surgical steel vs stainless steel: what's the difference? and What does "surgical steel" actually mean? both cover it.
What we do
When I hold a fridge magnet to a pair of ours, steel or gold, they don't move. That's what you'd expect from S316L Surgical Steel, which is an austenitic steel and normally non-magnetic. It tells you the family of steel. It's the testing that tells you about her ears.
S316L Surgical Steel, the same grade used in medical instruments and implants, used on its own throughout the Polished Surgical Steel range, with nothing plated over it.
24K Pure Gold, which is pure 24 karat gold applied onto a S316L Surgical Steel core with Aunix™ 24K, our engineered gold finish. It's a gold-plating process, and the steel core runs through the setting, the post and the butterfly back.
Independently tested by SGS to ASTM F2923, CPSIA and BSEN 71-3, with nickel release not detected under EN 1811. Report BTO 341803/1.
A plain place to try the magnet yourself is the 4mm Flawless Crystal Stud Earrings in S316L Surgical Steel. The full range is on the Polished Surgical Steel collection, and the pillar on what children's earrings are actually made of sets out the wider picture.
Questions parents ask next
Is magnetic stainless steel bad for earrings? Not by itself. Some magnetic grades are used in jewelry. What matters is the exact grade and how much nickel it releases, which a magnet can't tell you.
Why does her earring post stick a little but the front doesn't? Probably cold working. Drawing steel into a thin post can make 316L pull faintly. It doesn't change what the metal is.
Can she shower with magnetic earrings on? Magnetic clip earrings use small, strong magnets that are often plated, and water wears plating. Take them off. Keep them away from younger children too, because small strong magnets are a serious hazard if swallowed.
Will a magnet damage her earrings? No. A magnet won't change the metal or the finish.
Is stainless steel jewelry good quality? It depends on the grade and the finish. We've covered that in Is stainless steel jewelry good quality?
Related reading
- Surgical steel vs stainless steel: what's the difference?
- What does "surgical steel" actually mean?
- Is stainless steel jewelry good quality?
About the author. Matt Westmore is the founder of purepixxi. He came to children's jewelry from manufacturing and sourcing rather than marketing, which means he has walked the factory floors and knows what is actually inside a product rather than what a label says about it. purepixxi uses two materials only, names them exactly, and has them independently tested.
