Hello, I have had some ideas regarding jewelry fabrication and have had a quick look into what seem to be the most widely available sheet metals for home use/craft and stuff along those lines but cant find much information regarding contact with skin, im sure some are alright with contact but as i have some prior experience with how Piercing jewelry metals can cause diffirent reactions in people and that these sheet metals aren‘t within as much a close contact as earrings etc are i was just wary.The jewelry i will be making will be within contact with the skin similar to a necklace pendant that has a metal backing such as a silver locket etc, so im just wondering about reactions, tarnishing, any severly negative and minor negatives to certain sheet metal types, the guage of the metal i will be using will be at maximum probably 4mm thick so will be plyable.Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.
stainless steel (not easy to work with) is definitely safe. Bronze or brass is safe but can discolor, more so with copper. Silver is safe, but can have some nickel in it, so people with a nickel allergy might not be OK. gold is safe mild steel can rust, but generally doesn't discolor. contact with skin oils actually helps preventing rust. Depending where it is, if it continuously rubs - even slightly, any coating will eventually rub off. Except true enamel (glass fused to e.g. copper). A lot of pendants are worn on top of clothes, so no skin contact (obviously depends on chain length. Edit: if you want straps, the obvious would be to use a leather backing. It sounds inspired by armor. Generally a jewelry teacher recommended to create pieces with the most expensive metal. He said it is just as much work making something from silver than from gold, but the latter commands a much higher price. He never quite convinced me, since that also means there are much fewer people who can afford it, but he is probably right as getting money for ones work is concerned.
