What is nickel plated silver?

Nickel silver contains no silver, and nickel plated silver is a different thing again. Here is what each term means and why both matter for young ears.

It's a base metal with a thin nickel layer plated onto it, often with a silver colored finish over the top, and it's one of the least suitable things a child can wear in a pierced ear. The name causes confusion because it sits next to another term, nickel silver, which contains no silver at all. Both are copper based, both carry nickel, and neither is what a parent means when they say silver. Our materials page names what we use instead.

Three similar names, three different things

Nickel plated means a layer of nickel has been electroplated onto something else. In jewelry it's usually a barrier layer, applied to a base metal so that a decorative finish sits on something smooth and adheres properly. It's a manufacturing step rather than a material anyone chooses for skin contact.

Nickel silver is an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc. It contains no silver whatsoever. The name comes from its color, which is a slightly grayish white. You'll also see it sold as German silver or alpaca. It's typically around 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc.

Sterling silver is the real one, 92.5% silver with the remainder usually copper. That's what most people mean when they say silver.

The first two turn up in inexpensive jewelry constantly, and the naming does a lot of work in making them sound like the third.

Why nickel plating is a problem in an earring

It puts nickel at the surface, deliberately. A plated nickel layer is nickel with nothing between it and skin except whatever decorative coat sits on top. When that top coat wears, the nickel layer is what's in contact.

Wear starts where you can't see it. The post inside the piercing channel and the butterfly back take the most friction. The front of the earring can look perfect for years while the post has gone through its finish.

The contact is prolonged. A ring comes off. Earrings in a healed ear often stay in for weeks. Nickel release is measured over a week of contact for exactly that reason, and the legal limit for a post in a pierced ear is stricter than the general one, 0.2 micrograms per square centimeter per week against 0.5.

Copper underneath brings its own signature. Nickel plated jewelry is usually plated onto brass or another copper alloy. When it wears through, you get the green staining that copper produces alongside whatever the nickel does.

Why nickel silver is a problem too

The alloy carries its nickel throughout rather than in a layer, so there's no coating to wear through and no moment when the answer changes. It's the same answer from day one.

At roughly 20% nickel in a copper base, it corrodes more readily than a stainless steel does, and corrosion is the mechanism that moves nickel onto skin. It also tarnishes, which is the surface reacting with air and sweat.

It has legitimate uses. Cutlery, musical instruments, coins. A pierced ear worn daily by a child isn't one of them.

How to spot either one

Read past the word silver. Nickel silver, German silver and alpaca all mean the copper nickel alloy. If a listing says silver plated or silver tone, that's a finish, not a material.

Look for a grade instead. Sterling is marked 925. Steel should be given as 316L. Titanium should carry a specification, ASTM F136 or F67. An item with no designation anywhere is telling you something.

Check the price against the claim. Sterling silver has a metal cost. A pair of silver earrings priced like costume jewelry is describing a color rather than a metal.

Look at the post and the back. Cheap construction shows there first, and so does wear. A post that's a different shade from the front is a plated item that's already going.

Swab it if you want certainty. A dimethylglyoxime spot test costs a few dollars, takes a minute, and turns pink when nickel is coming off the surface. Test the post and the back rather than the front.

What we do

purepixxi doesn't plate nickel onto anything, doesn't use nickel silver, and doesn't use brass.

We use two materials. S316L Surgical Steel, used throughout the Polished Surgical Steel range as one alloy, front, post and butterfly back, with nothing plated over it. It does contain nickel in the alloy, as almost all stainless steels do, and its corrosion resistance is what keeps that nickel where it is.

And 24K Pure Gold, which is pure 24 karat gold applied onto a solid S316L Surgical Steel core with Aunix™ 24K, our engineered gold finish. There's no nickel barrier layer in between, which is the usual place it hides in plated jewelry. At 24 karat there's no alloy in the gold either, so no copper and no nickel in the surface. It's a gold-plating process and we say so.

Independently tested by SGS. Nickel release under EN 1811: not detected. Tested to ASTM F2923, CPSIA and BSEN 71-3, with lead below a tenth of the United States legal limit. Report BTO 341803/1, and you can write and ask me for it.

You can see the range on the Polished Surgical Steel collection.

If you want the gold version with the same core underneath, the 4mm Ball Stud Earrings in 24K Pure Gold are finished in pure 24 karat gold over a S316L Surgical Steel core, tested to the same standards.

Questions parents ask next

Is nickel silver the same as sterling silver? No, and they have nothing in common except color. Nickel silver is copper, nickel and zinc with no silver content. Sterling is 92.5% silver.

Is silver plated jewelry safe for her ears? It depends entirely on what's underneath, and silver plated tells you nothing about that. Very often there's a nickel layer under the silver.

Why would anyone plate nickel onto jewelry at all? It's cheap, it's hard, it takes a decorative finish well and it improves adhesion. Those are manufacturing advantages, not wearer advantages.

Does nickel plating wear off quickly? It varies with thickness and use. On a post in daily wear, months rather than years is common.

She has worn nickel silver with no reaction. Is that fine? Not everyone is sensitized, so no reaction is a real result. Sensitization can develop with repeated exposure though, so it isn't a guarantee about next year.