What is anodizing?

 Good is expensive. But it looks so pretty! I’m a gold girlie myself and I know I’d have way more jewelry if I could afford it. So what if there was a way? What if you could get jewelry to look like gold but not peel like plated and be safe for your body mods? What if you could have jewelry any color of the rainbow or even rainbow colored that wasn’t going to peel or irritate your piercings? 

This is why we anodize. 

Coated and plated pieces are often poor quality which can ruin your piercings and hurt your skin. Anodizing on the other hand is safe and as long as the studio using proper implant grade titanium or niobium (we do) then you can have jewelry any color you want, often made in studio while you wait!



What is anodizing?

Anodizing is an electrochemical process that creates an oxidized layer on the outside of the jewelry. The oxidation affects the wavelength of light that touches the jewelry and how thick that layer is determines what color is reflected. The process uses a machine called a rectifier (and you can watch us do yours while you wait!). It uses a low amperage DC current with a variable voltage that goes up to about 120 volts. The current is passed through a solution of trispodium phosphate (tsp) that is mixed with water which conducts the electricity. 

The jewelry is submerged into the solution and then a metal conductor wand is touched to the jewelry and held in place while the color changes. Each time the jewelry touches the rod the electrical circuit completes and causes the chemical oxidation reaction. The thicker the layer produced the more the color changes. 

This oxidation layer is called passive titanium and actually helps prevent the jewelry being corroded by the environment (your skin). Rather like painting your deck to protect the wood. Many studios actually do a layer of passive titanium that isn’t colored over their jewelry to make it less prone to scratches. 

While this all sounds scientific it’s more of an art. We can use brushes and different surfaces to create prints and patterns on the jewelry, the voltage varies slightly which can adjust color. Every piercer that anodizes produces a different art even with the same style of jewelry. Some colors are more difficult than others and others need to be polished and autoclaved before the true color shows. 



Is it permanent?

Nope. The coolest thing about anodizing is that it can be gently polished off and you can change the color if you don’t like it! Sometimes they will dull or become patchy but they can be redone and made new. It’s a quick process so as long as the jewelry isn’t damaged you can keep doing it or change the color. 

This can also happen if you use inappropriate aftercare. Hydrogen peroxide, for example, damages the surface of titanium as will bleach and some whitening toothpastes (they contain peroxide). Sometimes this damage isn’t fixable though and you’ll need to purchase a whole new piece of jewelry.  

What are the limitations?

Not all colors are possible. Red, for example, isn’t a color that can be anodized. Deep green is also difficult. Black can only be achieved through niobium but it uses a quenching method where the jewelry is super heated and rapidly cooled (we can do that in studio too!). 

Anodizing is fun and it’s safe for your piercings unlike other methods. It’s even protective for your jewelry so it’s a win-win! All our pieces and threadless ends are titanium so if you’re a broke gold girly like me (newsflash I wear both 14k and anodized and you totally can’t tell which is which), or you want something rad and colorful come in and let us know what we can do for you. 



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