Steel is now Nickel-Free

In recent years, the “fast fashion” trend and the need for good quality jewelry at low cost has led to the widespread use of new metals for jewelry such as titanium and stainless steel, which are now commonly found in store windows alongside precious metals. Another decisive factor is the hypoallergenic nature of stainless-steel jewelry, which allows it to comply with current standards (UNI ISO 1811). Steel jewelry is often left in its “natural” classic grey state, although surface treatments to change its coloring can be carried out by depositing different metals. This can be done in two ways: PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) and galvanic deposition. The PVD process involves the evaporation of a solid metal in a vacuum chamber and its subsequent redeposition onto the materials to be treated, creating layered coatings. The colors that can be obtained by PVD depend on the color of the evaporated metals: colors range from the standard yellow, pink, white and black, to others that are difficult to achieve with any other metal deposition method, such as blue, green, violet or the well-known “rainbow” effect. The galvanic process, on the other hand, refers to the deposition of a metal by passing a current through an electrolytic solution containing metal ions. However, this process introduces the presence of nickel on the jewelry and hence the allergy factor. The colors that can be obtained are those of the deposited metals and range from various shades of gold to white deposits of rhodium and silver and darker colors with suitably blackened metals. In order to eliminate the allergic part, Legor conducted a study in collaboration with several brands from the jewelry and accessory sectors to develop galvanic cycles for steel so as to have releases close to 0 or well below the standard limits. This allows the high standards of aesthetics and corrosion resistance commonly achieved through the use of nickel deposits or nickel-containing metal alloys to be maintained.