Skin reactions often occur in relation to jewelry item for a number of reasons. These include, but are not limited to allergic reactions to various alloyed metals as well as foreign material between the jewelry item and your skin.

Gold, as it is used in jewelry, usually is found in either 14 or 18 karat purity. 14 K gold is 58.3% gold and 18 K gold is 75% gold with the remainder being other metals used to increase the strength, change the color from golden to white or both. The most common of these "contaminants" are palladium, nickel, zinc, copper and silver. These other metals are normally the culprits in causing allergic reactions to fine jewelry. Nickel is usually the worst offender. If you choose gold as your jewelry metal, try to find gold that has a smaller amount of Nickel alloyed into it.

Silver is also a popular base metal for jewelry applications. Once again pure silver is far too soft and easily deformed to be of use in the jewelry industry. So the obvious solution to this problem is to rely on the proven methods of using other metals to alloy with the silver to achieve the desired levels of hardness and color. Sterling Silver is usually alloyed with copper and/or nickel, none the less it is nearly impossible to find either gold or silver with no nickel content. We all have some silver items in our homes and it is well known that in order to keep them in proper good looking order we must polish them on a regular basis. This operation will of necessity remove a small amount of the silver itself each time it is performed.

Platinum is one of the most hypoallergenic metals used in fine jewelry. This is due in part, to the level of purity of the metal, the natural hypoallergenic nature of the metal itself and the fact that nickel is never used in making of jewelry metal. It is also the heaviest as well as the most valuable. Most platinum jewelry is either 90% or 95% pure platinum. Gold in it's pure form, 24 karat, is very soft. Silver tarnishes badly if it is not cleaned frequently.

Platinum Jewelry, while not as popular, is a great choice for your fine jewelry. All jewelry metals will scratch, but with platinum the metal is simply displaced on the surface of the jewelry item. If it is a serious scratch and you desire to have it polished by your jeweler it is likely that he can do it with nearly no loss of the metal itself.

Platinum, as used in the U.S. For jewelry applications, will be found as 90% or 95% pure. Platinum is alloyed usually with cobalt or ruthenium to change its hardness. Although there is some nickel naturally occurring in the metal it is tightly bound so that allergic reactions seldom occur. The small amount of less expensive alloyed metals not only generate fewer allergic reactions, but allow jewelry pieces to weigh more. Some like this feel and some do not, that will, of course, be a personal choice.

What is not immediately obvious is the increase in value of your platinum collection. While your gold items will follow the price of gold you will need to discount them by the percentage of other metals mixed in the gold. Platinum items, on the other hand, being 90-95% pure will follow the price of the metal much more closely. There is also the fact that platinum is far less plentiful than either gold or silver. There is only 1 platinum mine for every 10 gold mines in operation as of this writing. Add to this the fact that each refinery must process 10 tons of ore to reclaim 1 oz. [ 31.1 grams] of the pure metal. Gold on the other hand only requires 5 tons of ore to produce the same 1 oz. of pure metal. During the average year 88 tons of platinum is turned into various jewelry products while over 2700 tons of gold are used for the same purposes. Platinum thus becomes very desirable for the most discriminating jewelry purchasers as well as those who need to shy away from the less pure metals to avoid allergic reactions.

Another possibility for sensitivity to your jewelry, applies to all metals, is foreign material between the jewelry piece and your skin. This is most notable with rings where the metal is in direct contact with the skin for longer periods of time. Soap can be a particularly offensive culprit here if it is not rinsed away thoroughly after each washing.

So whether you choose silver, gold or platinum as your jewelry metal you should consider the possibility of nickel or another alloyed metal or foreign material as the potential cause of your adverse skin reactions. These can be mitigated by the wise choice of metals and making sure that you clean the area under the jewelry item carefully.