The last thing jewellery owners want to see are green fingers. Unfortunately, this phenomenon is extremely common while wearing certain forms of jewellery. Thankfully, fingers turning green doesn’t indicate the poor quality of the ring. Plus, this colouration of the fingers doesn’t impact the ring wearer’s skin health. Such reactions are normal while wearing expensive jewellery. That’s because the metals used to make the rings often oxidise over time. This oxidation causes the areas of the skin that come in contact with the ring to turn green. The effects of this natural oxidation process are more common in people who have higher acidic pH levels in their skin. The oxidation process speeds up when exposed to such skin, causing the skin to go green. Similarly, when rings are exposed to certain chemicals in creams or lotions, the metals in the jewellery pieces oxidise faster.
Understanding the Oxidisation Process
Most jewellery pieces that contain some amount of copper turn fingers green. So, does sterling silver turn skin green? Yes, because it contains 7.5% copper! The 925-sterling silver jewellery is extremely common and sold by both affordable and high-end brands. These jewellery pieces are made of copper and silver. Unfortunately, copper oxidises at a fast rate, causing green-coloured layers on the wearers’ skin. Thankfully, to avoid these discolouration issues, people can take some simple steps like keeping the area in contact with the copper-alloy ring always dry. Similarly, jewellery owners need to be wary of the types of lotions they expose their rings or necklaces to.
Using Materials That Don’t Oxidise
Instead of taking so many precautions, jewellery owners can simply ask their jewellery sellers, “What Silver Doesn’t Turn Green?” For instance, jewellery pieces made of copper-silver alloys don’t turn green when they come with rhodium plating. Rhodium-plated silver jewellery stays lustrous for long periods and also keeps the skin tarnish-free. Rhodium plating is hypoallergenic and doesn’t cause any skin reactions or allergies.
