Why We Use Stainless Steel

Most fashion jewelry is built on brass. We chose differently, and there's a reason.

If you've ever bought an inexpensive piece of jewelry and noticed your skin turning green where it touched, or watched a ring slowly bend out of shape after a few months of wear, you've experienced the limits of brass firsthand.

Brass is the standard base metal for most fashion jewelry. It's cheap, easy to source, and easy to work with. That's why it dominates the category. But brass has real limitations that affect how the jewelry wears, how it lasts, and how it interacts with your skin.

This page explains why Varencia uses 316L surgical-grade stainless steel as the base for our gold-finished pieces, what makes it different from brass, and why we made that choice even though it costs more.

The Problem With Brass

Brass is an alloy made primarily of copper and zinc. The copper content is what causes problems for jewelry worn against skin.

When copper contacts moisture, sweat, or the natural oils on your skin, it oxidizes. That oxidation is the green color you sometimes see on skin or on the jewelry itself. The reaction is harmless, but the green marks are real and they're caused by the metal, not by anything you've done wrong.

Brass has structural limitations too. Compared to stainless steel, brass is significantly softer. Rings bend out of round. Bracelet links stretch. Earring posts loosen over time. Daily wear, which premium jewelry should be designed to handle, is harder on brass than on harder alloys.

Most brands work around these issues by adding a thin protective coating, often nickel or another plating material. That coating wears off over time. Once it does, the brass underneath is exposed and the green skin reactions begin.

What 316L Surgical-Grade Stainless Steel Is

316L is a specific grade of stainless steel with a low carbon content and added molybdenum. It's the same alloy used in surgical implants, medical equipment, marine hardware, and high-end mechanical watches. It was originally developed for environments where the metal must resist corrosion, hold its strength under stress, and not react with biological tissue.

Three properties make 316L well-suited for jewelry that's meant to be worn every day:

It's inert. 316L doesn't oxidize against skin, sweat, or water under normal conditions. There's no copper to react. No green marks, no skin discoloration, no allergic reactions for people with common metal sensitivities.

It's hard. 316L is significantly harder than brass. It resists bending, denting, and warping under daily wear. A 316L ring holds its round shape over years. A 316L chain doesn't stretch or deform under regular use.

It's stable over time. 316L doesn't tarnish, doesn't corrode, and doesn't degrade when exposed to water, sweat, lotions, or the everyday chemicals jewelry encounters. It's the same reason it's used in medical implants meant to last decades inside the human body.

Why Most Brands Don't Use It

Cost. 316L stainless steel is more expensive to source than brass, harder to work with in jewelry manufacturing, and requires specialized tools and techniques to shape, polish, and finish properly.

Brass is cheaper at every step of the process. The raw material is cheaper. The tooling is cheaper. The labor is cheaper because brass is easier to manipulate. For brands optimizing for margin, brass is the obvious choice.

That's not a criticism of those brands. It's an honest description of the trade-off. Cheaper materials enable lower prices, and there's a real customer for that.

But for jewelry that's meant to be worn every day, in showers and oceans and gyms, that needs to hold up over years rather than months, the trade-off goes the other way.

How We Use Stainless Steel

Our gold and rose gold pieces start with a 316L surgical-grade stainless steel base. We then apply 18k gold using PVD bonding, a process that fuses the gold to the steel at the molecular level. The result is a finish approximately 10 times thicker than traditional plating, designed to resist fading, peeling, and chipping under normal wear.

The combination matters. The stainless steel base gives the piece structural integrity that lasts. The PVD-bonded gold finish gives it the look and feel of fine jewelry. Together, they create a piece that wears like the premium jewelry it is, not the costume jewelry it isn't.

Our solid sterling silver pieces don't need a stainless steel base. 925 sterling silver is itself a hard, durable alloy with no copper-skin reactions. Those pieces are made from solid sterling throughout.

The Honest Bottom Line

We chose 316L surgical-grade stainless steel because it's better for the people wearing it. It costs us more, but it means our customers don't deal with green skin, bent rings, stretched chains, or jewelry that fails after a season of wear.

Brass-based jewelry has its place. It's cheaper, more accessible, and fine for occasional wear. But Varencia is built for jewelry you put on and don't take off — for showers, swims, workouts, and everyday life. That's not a use case brass can survive.

So we made a different choice. And we wanted to be clear with you about why.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Does stainless steel turn your skin green?

No. The green skin reaction associated with cheap jewelry is caused by copper oxidation. 316L stainless steel contains no copper and is fully inert against skin, sweat, and water under normal conditions.

Is stainless steel jewelry hypoallergenic?

316L surgical-grade stainless steel is hypoallergenic for the vast majority of people. It's the same alloy used in medical implants and surgical instruments specifically because it doesn't react with human tissue. People with severe nickel allergies should always test new jewelry, but 316L is one of the safest options available for sensitive skin.

Why is 316L stainless steel better than regular stainless steel?

The "L" stands for low carbon, which improves corrosion resistance. The 316 grade also contains molybdenum, which adds further resistance to chlorides (think pool water and ocean water) and acids. It's a more refined alloy than basic stainless steel grades and is the standard for medical and marine applications where reliability matters.

Does Varencia jewelry contain brass?

No. Varencia pieces are made from 316L surgical-grade stainless steel or solid 925 sterling silver. Our gold and rose gold finishes are 18k gold PVD-bonded to the stainless steel base. We do not use brass, nickel, or other base metals associated with skin reactions.

Will stainless steel jewelry tarnish?

316L stainless steel does not tarnish under normal wear. It's stable in water, sweat, and most everyday chemicals. The PVD-bonded gold finish on our gold pieces is designed to resist fading, peeling, and chipping under normal use, backed by our Lifetime Plating Integrity Guarantee.

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