Product FAQ

Are your ear hooks hypoallergenic?

  We use stainless steel ear hooks as a default choice. There are over 150 different blends of stainless and we generally use type 304 or 316. Hypoallergenic means “below normal” or “slightly” allergenic. The term was coined by the cosmetics industry in the 1950’s, and became a popular marketing term for jewelry soon afterwards. Roughly 6-12% of the population is allergic to nickel, it is the most common metal people negatively react to when talking about earring hooks. So although it’s legally acceptable to put a “hypoallergenic” label on all stainless steel as most people can wear it without issue, it doesn’t seem quite fair to those who might actually be looking for nickel-free jewelry. Many people believe that stainless steel is nickel free, but most stainless steel alloys (even surgical stainless steel) contain on average 8-12% nickel.

  As hypoallergenic does not mean nickel-free, nor does it have a legal or medical definition for use in jewelry we prefer to not use that term. The majority of people will wear stainless steel findings without issue. It's why they are widely used by most companies. Of course allergies can develop at any time and each individuals sensitivity will shape each person’s allergic response to the specific elements within it if any. Therefore, it’s best to find alternate materials for your jewelry that are less likely to cause issues if you've experienced a reaction before. Thankfully you have several options you can look at even if you don't know the exact metal sensitivity you may be suffering from.

If I've had a reaction before what options do I have?

  We offer titanium hooks which we can swap out at no additional cost. Titanium is a very strong metal with very low rates of sensitivity which is why it's frequently used in medical implants and surgeries. Studies show the allergy rates to be around 0.6% or less. That is less than 1% of the population or about 1 in 160 people. We use a grade 1 titanium, which is an unalloyed commercially pure titanium. This also meets the EU nickel directive and are sourced from a US supplier.

  In addition we also offer solid 925 Sterling Silver hooks. These are not silver plated. Sterling is an alloy containing at least 92.5% silver. The alloy we use is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper with no nickel. Most people can safely wear good quality sterling silver, but there are a few that can be allergic to silver or copper. These are also US sourced.

  Finally we have gold filled findings we can replace the hooks with. Gold fill (also called gold overlay) is made by using heat and pressure to apply a layer of karat gold to a base of less costly metal. This produces a surface with karat gold that is considerably thicker than plating. This translates to 50 to 100,000 times thicker than regular gold plating. That means it can last many years longer before wearing through the layer of gold. Ours use a 14k layer of gold weighing at 5% of the overall weight on top of a bronze base layer. As before these are US sourced hooks.

Do you hand make the charm earrings?

  We do not. We source the individual pieces and then assemble them. We believe in being honest and straight forward and want our customers to know what they are buying. While in the future we would like to be able to offer custom designs the pricing and minimum order amounts from US suppliers make that idea cost prohibitive for our small business at this time. These however are our aesthetic and we think you'll enjoy them as well. These pieces allow us to be able to offer something fun and inexpensive no matter the venue we may find ourselves at when doing in-person events.

What about the other items?

  Everything else is majority handmade. For the glass enamel we punch and shape the metal, apply powdered glass and fire them down over repeated layers before doing the final sanding and finishing work. We string the gemstone beads by hand for our bracelets using a thick double strand elastic. For other items we will always strive to make it known if the piece has been completely handmade by us or if we are using designs we have made and then sent out to be hand cast by companies specializing in reproducing supplied designs. Cast pieces still require a person to cast and we still have to do the finish work, set any stones and polish. What cast pieces allow us to do is save labor and thus be able to offer a better price to our customers. When we shop we prefer to know what and who our money is going to support and feel many others share that sentiment. To that end we aim to be as transparent as possible.