hmp..I have a 'dress-up'8 ga. PA ring which is 18k. As you probably understand gold is the one noble metal that is reactive to most things on earth. Yes, strong...no, very strong acids can dissolve gold, like Aqua Regia. Howeve that substance would dissolve flesh also. That said, 14 k gold is only 58% pure gold...which is 24k. 22k gold is 92% pure. fRom what I undrstand, for piercings any SOLID...that isthe key here 14k gold that isn't alloyed with nickle or copper should be non-allergenic. Stay away from trade names like rose gold, Dakota Gold etc. These are gold forms that contain large percentages of copper...not good for piercings. Also stay away from silver alloyed gold. Actual white gold is alloyed with platinum, and as such is much more expensive. However in today's precious metals market the price of gold and platinum is historically close...within a hundred or so dollars. As a rule of thumb platinum has always been twice the amount of gold/oz. With gold values dropping daily from a high of $900.00/oz. a person needs to be careful of what they pay per piece of jewelry. Most of the gold purchased for these rings/bars was purchased at &800.00 or more /oz.Add onto that the markups each time the item changes ownership..the price/value doubles. That means you will be paying probably 15 to 20 times the actual value of what that 2-3 grams of gold cost. When gold (24k) was $900.00 an oz. one gram was worth $25.45 as 14k is only 58.0% pure gold, that gram value suddenly becomes $14.76 per gram. I would be hard pressed to think a 14 ga cbr ring of 14k gold would weigh more that 2 or 3 grams...add it up AND remember those values (above) are at $900.00 gold. I think today gold is in the range of $450.00. Now cut those above gram values in half....that totals $7.38 gram of 14k gold. My advice???Save some money by going to a jeweler that will fashion a 14k or better ring and style it the way you want for a much larger savings. Why and how? Lower initial cost for the gold based on today's gold market...and less mark-up. Hope I didn't confuse anyone. When it comes to gold be cautious and understand the karat values. It can save you alot of $$$ or get very expensive real quick. Also know what the alloy's are when purchasing gold for jewelry. prinzalbert

Believe it or not this website's prices are comparable to what's out there. I decided to order from here because of the trust that has begun to develop. For the most part Drew has answered my questions right away. I will pay a little extra for good customer service and quick responses.

I was told not to go with 18K because of it's softness, that's why I went 14K.

Rose gold is just a color gold, not a trademark name. The difference between yellow, white, rose, and green gold are simply the metals that are allowed with the gold. White gold is generally more nickel, and then plated with Rhodium to give it that really white look (white gold still looks sort of yellow on its own)

I wear 14k yellow gold in all my piercings. I have 16 ear piercings, and 2 navel rings. Please keep in mind, that depending on your body chemistry, the gold may change colors, and look "tarnished" It can also be caused by certain medications, like blood pressure meds. I have had no problems with wearing gold for 5 years so far, other than a bit of discoloration for a few of my piercings (certain ones discolor the gold, others don't. weirdness) The discoloration can be polished off, but if it happens once, it will happen again.

In good quality body jewelry, white gold is NOT alloyed with silver nor coated in anything. It's alloyed with Palladium...perfectly safe.

Due to something called, "work hardening," 18k is actually just as hard as 14k gold. The process of making the jewelry hardens the metal. Alloys are strange things sometimes.

But at any rate, even soft 18k wouldn't be too soft for most piercings. I've used well-annealed steel that was far softer than any alloyed gold I've ever seen.

Some people have seen 14k body jewelry "tarnish" when exposed to chlorine (swimming pools) and sulfur (eggs). But I've never heard of that with 18k gold.

My mistake. I work in a jewelry store, and rings and the like are plated with rhodium to make them look whiter. I didn't realize it would be different with body jewelry. Thanks for correcting me

I have noticed the advertisement here of threadless barbells. This appears to be a realy nice improvement. Anyone have any experience with them? Thanks, prinzalbert