Materials

This polymer is better known as acrylic, is being increasingly used in medical situations, and its suitability for body jewellery is widely acknowledged. Anecdotal and imperical evidence indicates that the human body tolerates acrylics exceptionally well.

PMMA was one of the first plastics to be developed in the second and third decades of the twentieth century. It was successfully employed as a substitute for glass in windscreens for motor vehicles and aeroplanes. PMMA became subsequently the material of choice for contact lenses, cosmetic surgery and spinal fixation devices. Considered biologically inert, PMMA is better known under its various trade names, Lucite, Plexiglas, Perspex.

Acrylic jewellery should be frequently cleaned. In extremly rare cases of sensitisation, remove and replace the jewellery. PMMA products are threaded into the product itself providing a more solid product.

A luxurious, colour fast golden coloured PVD coating on G23 surgical titanium body jewellery. The PVD formula is proven biocompatable and permanent. Zirconium nitride has been tested by an independant biological testing laboratory and is certified biocompatable for external and internal medical devices that come into contact with bone, skin, tissue and blood. Zircon Gold is ultra safe, colourfast and scratch proof. All Zircon Gold is comprised of a PVD coating on a G23Ti substrate. It can be autoclaved without detrimental effect and possesses an extremly low coefficient of friction. No gold or palladium is added to the formula.

Bioplast is an extremly flexible, biocompatible material that can be cut to any required length and threaded using a standard metal ball. It causes less swelling and infection and has a faster healing time than many other materials, partly due to the fact that zero nickel means no allergic eractions. It can be steralised in a standard autoclave and combined with 316L, Titanium, silver, gold or acrylic.

Polytetrafluoroethylene is an astonishing implantable thermoplastic polymer with amazing inertness and excellent biocompatability characteristics. Due to the tendancy of PTFE to repel other molecules, the material exhibits phenomenal 'non-stick' properties. The coefficient of friction for PTFE is less than that of ice. It is unaffected by most chemical environments and it is very difficult for any material to bond to it. PTFE is often used for small volume implants in facial reconstruction, middle ear surgery and large diameter blood vessel replacements. A new surgical dimension has been a liquidised version of PTFE being used as a blood substitute. Due to its super light weight, PTFE body jewellery is being strongly favoured by piercers because of dramatically fast healing times and by piercing fans who experience reaction to certain metals or alloys. PTFE is also flexible.

Surgical stainless steels (316L) are used for bone fixation screws, body pins, bone plates, total joint prosthetics, bone nails, wires, wires, mandibular wire mesh, staples and intercranial drainage valves, among many other applications. Body jewellery listed here is manufactured from equivalent or higher standard material.

14ct gold is the most appropriate standard for threaded piercing jewellery, the metal being strong enough to maintain threaded features even after repeated usage. 18ct gold is inappropriate for thread usage as the siftness of the metal means the thread wears down after repeated removals. No nickel is added as a stabilising agent in any of the gold pieces we sell.

9ct gold is only 37.5% gold and 62.5% impure alloying metal. Evidence indicates biological rejection of this low grade of material.

Blackline is a PVD coating as a surface enhancement on medical grade titanium jewellery. Physical Vapour Disposition (PVD) has become widely used to deposit wear resistant, thin film coatings onto medical devices (including pacemakers, surgical instruments and orthopaedic implants). The main value in PVD technology rests in the ability to modify the surface properties of the device without changing the underlying materials properties and biomechanical functionality.

This surface coating is tremedously adhesive to the underlying material, is conformal and pin hole free, is an excellent permeation barrier and is sterile on preperation.

Extensive trials, involving millions of people, have taken place over a ten year period without any reported biocompatabilty problems. All Blackline body jewellery involves the PVD coating applied to a G23 medical titanium substrate. As there is no lattice mismatch between the plasma and the substrate, the adhesion is tremendous.

IMPORTANT: Rogue manufacturers are passing off black coated jewellery as 'Blackline'. Many of these products can be seriously dangerous.

Implantium has been developed as an alternative to titanium in the search for a low-nickel alloy containing less than 0.05% nickel by mass, to meet the new criteria for implantable body jewellery.

Buffalo jewellery is hand crafted from water buffalo horn. No animal life is taken to aquire this material and no suffering is involved in the acquisition of these by-products. Horn should not be exposed to any extreme temperature. Do not autoclave or heat sterilise any of these products. Horn should not be worn in new or unhealed piercings.