Everything You Need to Know about Zircon Gold Piercings

Zirconium gold resembles pure gold but also looks like ordinary gold-plated surgical steel. So what is it?

Zircon gold is the name for jewelry made of G23 surgical titanium with a golden-colored PVD coating.

Why should I wear zircon gold?

One of the biggest advantages of zircon gold is the incredible wear resistance of the coating. Unlike ordinary gold-plated piercing jewelry, it’s almost impossible for zircon gold to decay. You can even find zirconium nitride coatings in the medical industry, for example.

Can I wear zircon gold or pure gold in a new piercing?

Pure gold, even if it's 14 or 18 carats, contains traces of nickel. You need to go as high as +18k before pure gold jewelry is recommended in a newly made piercing.

What about 24k gold? Besides the fact that gold is very expensive, pure gold also gets softer and softer the higher the karat it is. For instance, a ring in 24k wouldn't hold because the material is too weak.

Unlike pure gold, zircon gold has a low cost, contains no nickel, and the material is incredibly strong. Therefore, you can wear zircon gold in a newly made piercing.

What’s the difference between zircon gold and blackline?

Zircon gold piercing jewelry is made from three parts:

1. a piece of pure titanium,
2. a layer of zirconium nitride, which gives it the golden color, and
3. a PVD coating.

With blackline, the only difference is step 2, where the zirconium nitride is replaced with a black titanium coating.

Therefore, if you have good experiences with blackline, you can safely use zircon gold as well.