About Stainless Steel Permanent Jewelry

The 304 grade stainless steel used in your AsaFox permanent jewelry has many advantages, and we’d like to answer any questions and address any concerns you may have about the materials we choose to offer. Whether you’ve worn stainless steel jewelry before, or are new to it and considering an alternative to solid gold, gold filled, or sterling silver, we’ve got you covered.

Don’t just take our word for it, though. We’ve included a reference list of peer reviewed and respected industry sources (not just an echo chamber of other jewelry websites) to back up the information provided below. Knowledge is power!

Durability

The most common options offered for permanent jewelry are gold-filled, sterling silver, and–less commonly–solid gold. While solid gold and sterling silver are precious metals, gold-filled jewelry is often layered over a base metal of brass with a ratio by weight of 5% gold to 95% brass. Brass has a yield strength of  250–500 MPa and a Brinell Hardness (BH) rating of 55-73. 304 Stainless steel is demonstrably stronger and resistant to stretching over time, with a yield strength of 505-1500 MPa and a BH rating of 146-595, making stainless the stronger option for permanent jewelry applications.

304 stainless steel jewelry is also much more resistant to tarnishing, meaning the oxidation and discoloration that you may experience with other metals. The superhero of stainless steel’s anti-tarnish property is its Chromium content of at least 10.5%. There’s also no need to worry about possible rusting, as 304 stainless steel is specially formulated to resist that as well!

But what if you’re a gold fan? Ion plating (IP) to the rescue! All of the gold tone and rose gold tone items offered by AsaFox are made to look as lustrous as the real thing via the vacuum-assisted modern method of ion plating, which atomizes and adheres the color to the base metal of 304 stainless steel on a molecular level. The IP method results in a scratch and tarnish-resistant finish that’s much more durable than traditional plating methods used for gold plated and filled items, and makes ion plated 304 stainless steel perfect for permanent jewelry applications.

Price Point

As of the publish date of this article, the price of gold is at $3379.03/oz, and sterling silver is at $34.48/oz. For the same timeframe, 304 stainless steel only costs $0.05-0.06/oz! There’s no disputing the panache and luxury connotation of precious metals, but the cost savings between them and stainless steel can definitely make permanent jewelry a more affordable experience for everyone to enjoy.

Skin Safety

Many are concerned with the inclusion of Nickel (Ni) in 304 stainless steel. While this may be of concern with other metals, 304 grade stainless steel is EXTREMELY skin safe for a vast majority of the population. Due to its composition, the Nickel content in 304 stainless steel is prone to staying within the metal itself, making contact dermatitis (the red, itchy, painful rash you may have experienced from jewelry made of other metals) a non-issue.

Scientific studies have proven that the rate of release of the Ni content in 304 stainless steel is negligible. The EU mandated a maximum Nickel release rate of 0.5μg/cm²/week for any items in prolonged contact with the skin as of April 2013, and studies done since then have shown Ni release rates from 304 stainless steel clearly below the limit of 0.5 µg/cm2/week. This indicates that even people with a known allergy to Nickel can wear 304 stainless steel jewelry without issue, and 304 stainless steel jewelry pieces are not likely to sensitize those without a known Nickel allergy to Nickel itself.

Expand below to read excerpts from peer-reviewed, scholarly articles for more information on the Nickel issue:

From “Review on Toxicity of Stainless Steel” (Santonen et al., 2009)

“Study reports on nickel release from different grades of stainless steels clearly show that even in the worst cases, the Ni release from stainless steels is usually clearly below the limit of 0.5 µg/cm2/week. Only studies with one grade (AISI 303, high sulphur content) have shown release rates above the limit. One current study indicates that from unfinished or unpolished stainless steels twice as much nickel may be released into urine and blood plasma as compared with artificial sweat. Chromium is released from stainless steel as non‐sensitizing trivalent chromium. Chromium(VI) (which is a known sensitizer) has not been detected in release tests.

A clear decrease in frequency of nickel allergy was observed when comparing groups of young women before and after the Ni release restriction came into force. The same results were also obtained when comparing groups who had their ears pierced before/after the restriction was implemented. These studies strongly support the assumption that the limit 0.5 µg/cm2/week can protect consumers from Ni sensitization.

The potential of stainless steel to elicit reactions in nickel‐sensitized persons has been tested in a number of studies. The results clearly show that no allergic reactions occur, and based on this, stainless steels can be regarded as safe even in persons with nickel allergy.

[…]

Based on the low release rates of nickel, sensitization caused by stainless steel can be regarded as unlikely. Also its widespread use and the low number of confirmed cases of nickel allergy, even in persons previously sensitized to nickel, support the conclusion that stainless steel is not a potential sensitizer.”

From “Nickel release from stainless steels” (Haudrechy et al., 1997)

“It was shown that low-sulfur stainless steel grades like AISI 304, 316L or 430 (S < or = 0.007%) release less than 0.03 microgram/cm2/week of nickel in acid artificial sweat and elicit no reactions in patients already sensitized to nickel.“

“The main conclusion was that low-sulfur stainless steels like AISI 304, 316L or 430, even when containing Ni, should not elicit nickel contact dermatitis, while metals having a mean corrosion resistance like a high-sulfur stainless steel (AISI 303) or nickel-plated steel should be avoided.”

Referfences

  1. Brass vs stainless steel: Comprehensive comparison. PartMFG. (2025, January 2). https://www.partmfg.com/brass-vs-stainless-steel-comprehensive-comparison-properties-and-applications/
  2. Does Stainless Steel Tarnish? Exploring the Durability of Stainless Steel. Stainless Europe. (n.d.). https://en.stainlesseurope.com/en_US/n/109#:~:text=from%20tarnishing%20easily.-,Does%20Stainless%20Steel%20Tarnish?,that%20can%20tarnish%20other%20metals.
  3. Haudrechy, P., Mantout, B., Frappaz, A., Rousseau, D., Chabeau, G., Faure, M., & Claudy, A. (1997). Nickel release from stainless steels. Contact dermatitis, 37(3), 113–117. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0536.1997.tb00314.x
  4. Mideas Metal Prices Month. MiningiDEAS. (n.d.). https://www.miningideas.com/index-price_en.html#%20
  5. Santonen, T., Stockmann‐Juvala, H., & Zitting, A. (2009, December 31). Review on Toxicity of Stainless Steel. Finnish Institute of Public Health.
  6. Stainless steel (304) price trend and forecast. Stainless Steel (304) Price Trend and Forecast. (n.d.). https://www.procurementresource.com/resource-center/stainless-steel-304-price-trends
  7. Vorobyova, M., Biffoli, F., Giurlani, W., Martinuzzi, S. M., Linser, M., Caneschi, A., & Innocenti, M. (2023). PVD for Decorative Applications: A Review. Materials, 16(14), 4919. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16144919
  8. Tech Team. (2025, February). Gold PVD vs. gold-filled coatings: Which is better for your application?. Kintek Solution. https://kindle-tech.com/faqs/is-gold-pvd-better-than-gold-filled?srsltid=AfmBOopG8w4PB2Y7vlfHhXJmLz9vo3a6_oYOXQWaUaXOmLrDYTXSKEs7