Does 14k Gold Contain Nickel?
Often, yes. Here is the honest answer, from a bench that has been in the family since 1992.
14k gold is 58.5% pure gold. The other 41.5% is a mix of other metals, added because pure gold is too soft to hold a stone or survive daily wear. That remaining 41.5% is what people react to, and what it contains depends entirely on the color of the gold.
White gold is usually the culprit
To make yellow gold look white, it is alloyed with a pale metal, and for a long time the standard choice has been nickel. The piece is then plated with rhodium, which is bright, hard and completely inert.
This is why a ring can feel fine for a year and then start to itch. The rhodium has worn through, and skin is meeting the alloy underneath for the first time.
If a piece of jewelry "turned on you" months after you bought it, that is almost always what happened. It is also why replating solves it, for a while.
Yellow gold is usually easier
14k yellow gold is generally alloyed with copper, silver and zinc rather than nickel. Most people who react to nickel wear it without trouble. Generally is doing real work in that sentence: alloys vary between manufacturers, and there is no law requiring anyone to tell you.
Higher karat means less to react to
| Metal | Gold content | What that means for sensitive skin |
|---|---|---|
| 10k | 41.7% | The most alloy, so the most to react to. |
| 14k | 58.5% | The usual compromise between wear and comfort. |
| 18k | 75% | Only a quarter alloy. Noticeably kinder to reactive skin. |
| Platinum | usually 95% pure | Almost never causes a reaction. |
| Titanium | not gold | Used for surgical implants for a reason. |
What we can actually promise you
We will not call anything hypoallergenic. It sounds medical, it is not regulated, and we cannot know how your skin will behave.
What we can tell you is what our manufacturer states. Quality Gold, who make most of what we sell, mark certain pieces nickel free in their own product data. We pass that through exactly as they state it, and we keep it in step with their data rather than freezing it at whatever was true the day we listed the piece.
- 344 pieces currently carry that mark, and almost all of them are earrings.
- They are solid gold and sterling silver, starting around $42.
- Everything else in our catalogue makes no such claim, and we will not imply one.
Sterling Silver Rhodium-plated Polished Twisted Oval$92.16
Sterling Silver Rhod-plated Textured Hollow Oval Hoo$69.90
14k Yellow & Rose Gold Madi K Children's Heart Post $110.75
14K White Gold Oval Hoop Earrings, 19 x 3mm$528.77
See all 344 nickel free pieces
Still not sure?
Call the shop on (718) 405-1687 and ask for Derrick. If you know what you react to, we can tell you what we would and would not put on you, including telling you to buy nothing at all.
This is what a jeweler knows about metal, not medical advice. A persistent skin reaction is worth taking to a doctor, who can patch test you and tell you exactly what you are sensitive to.