We’re all familiar with stainless steel, how strong, tough, and useful it is – especially in construction, our appliances, and most importantly, our kitchen utensils. But do you know that besides their usual tough and all that things about them, they’re also used for jewelr? Bracelets, necklaces, anklets, and rings that is.
Wait, stainless steel?
To give you an idea how stainless steel is used for fashion, let’s first take up a little background lesson on stainless steel. Industry stainless steel is different from jewelry stainless steel in a number of ways, and the most basic of that is that industry grade stainless steel is super strong, as they have the highest percentage of nickel in them than any other stainless steel variant. They’re called ‘302L stainless steel.’ You can’t wear them for jewelry, as they’re really rough on skin, plus you’ll probably get rashes and allergies.
The next variant is the 304L stainless steel – the commercial grade. You have them in pans, appliances, and any stainless steel that aren’t used for buildings. They’re a lot smoother, so you could probably wear them but they’re heavy and will still probably inflict allergies for those with sensitive skin, as they still do have a lot of nickel on them but not too much.
Then comes the jewelry grade stainless steel, the 316L, or commonly referred to as the “surgical” stainless steel. As the name implies, it is used in scalpels and other surgical tools. This variant has the minimal amount of nickel to cause an allergic reaction, but still enough to make it tough. As this type is the most skin friendly, it’s the one used for your jewelry.
So What’s Special In Stainless Steel?
Now compared to other precious metals used for accessories, stainless steel has quite a few advantages. For one, it is cheap, and this is where manufacturers and designers capitalize. Being readily available, they can experiment more on the designs and variation such that they create a lucrative market of designs – from the simple carvings to the most complex scripts and even dragon designs. Go check out some products from the brand KONOV and you’ll get surprised how beautiful and unique they make their stainless steel jewelry designs.
Moreover, since they’re cheap, you can definitely afford buying someone a beautiful jewelry gift. I mean, their price range is from about a few bucks to around a few hundred, and those offered at the highest price has in it something that makes it pricey, like diamonds or gemstones.
Aside from being affordable, they’re really tough but they’re still smooth. They come in many different shapes and sizes, and above all that, they have that unique metallic shine and character that grabs attention.
So the next time you’re buying jewelry, why not give stainless steel a try?
