What jewellery should I get pierced with?

Implant grade titanium certified to ASTM F136 or ISO 5832-3 is the standard for fresh piercings. Solid 14k or 18k gold is also safe. Pick an internally threaded or threadless piece with a slightly longer post to allow for swelling, in the gauge your piercer recommends for the placement.

What gauge should I pick for my piercing?

Standard gauges are 14g for lip, labret, tongue, navel and nipple piercings, and 16g or 18g for lobes, helix, nostril and other ear cartilage piercings. Septum is usually 14g or 16g. Stick with the gauge your piercer recommends for the placement, as thinner gauges have higher rejection rates.

When can I change my piercing jewellery?

Wait until the piercing is fully healed, not just feeling fine. For lobes that means 6 to 8 weeks. For cartilage 6 to 12 months. For navel and nipple piercings 9 to 12 months. Changing jewellery before full healing can set the piercing back significantly.

What is internal threading on piercing jewellery?

Internal threading means the screw thread is inside the post of the jewellery, with the decorative end having a small pin that screws into it. This leaves the post that passes through your piercing completely smooth. Externally threaded jewellery has the thread on the post itself, which scratches the channel during insertion and is not appropriate for fresh piercings.

How To Pick The Right Jewellery For Your Piercing

In short

For fresh piercings, the rules are tight. Implant grade titanium, the gauge the piercer recommends, slightly longer than normal to allow for swelling, and a style that suits both the piercing and your face. For healed piercings, you have far more freedom: solid gold, niobium, different gauges and a wider range of designs.

The single most common jewellery mistake is buying for a fresh piercing what you should be buying for a healed one. Get the starter jewellery right and you can upgrade later. Get it wrong and the piercing struggles.

Jewellery selection feels like the fun part of getting pierced, but it is also where the most preventable mistakes are made. People walk into studios with a Pinterest board of beautiful pieces, most of which are inappropriate for fresh piercings. The piercer’s job is to find something close to what you want that will also let the piercing heal properly.

This page walks through the four decisions you make about every piece of body jewellery: material, gauge, length and style. The first two are non-negotiable safety choices. The last two are personal preference within sensible limits.

Material: The Non-Negotiable Choice

The metal touching your piercing matters more than any other jewellery decision. The rules differ for fresh and healed piercings, and they matter.

For Fresh Piercings

Implant grade titanium certified to ASTM F136 or ISO 5832-3. Solid gold of 14k or higher is also safe but is usually saved for upgrades. Nothing else is appropriate for a piercing that is still healing.

For Healed Piercings

Implant grade titanium, solid gold (14k and higher), niobium and certain medical-grade plastics are all safe. Surgical steel works for most people though sensitivity can develop. Avoid all forms of plated jewellery and avoid sterling silver in piercings due to tarnishing.

The full breakdown is in our piece on best jewellery materials and the specific titanium versus steel question is covered in titanium vs surgical steel.

Fresh piercing

Tight Rules

Implant grade titanium only. Internally threaded or threadless. Slightly oversized post to allow for swelling. Simple end designs. No dangling bits. No coatings. No stones that can catch.

You can upgrade once the piercing has fully healed.

Healed piercing

Open Rules

Titanium, gold, niobium, sometimes steel. Sized to the actual piercing rather than to swelling allowance. Designs limited only by what works on the placement.

Get adventurous once the channel has matured.

Gauge: The Size of the Bar

Gauge measures the thickness of the bar passing through your piercing. It is shown in numbers that work backwards from what you might expect: smaller numbers mean thicker bars. The standard gauges for piercings are 14 (the thickest commonly used), 16, 18 (the thinnest commonly used) and 20 (which is fashion-only and not appropriate for body piercings).

Common Gauges by Piercing

Lobe: 18 or 16 gauge
Helix and other cartilage: 18 or 16 gauge
Nostril: 18 or 16 gauge
Septum: 14 or 16 gauge
Lip and labret: 14 or 16 gauge
Tongue: 14 gauge
Navel: 14 gauge
Nipple: 14 gauge

Stick with the gauge the piercer recommends. Going thinner than recommended causes higher rejection rates because the piercing channel does not have enough support. Going thicker than recommended is fine for healed piercings but requires stretching, which is a separate process.

Length: The Distance the Bar Travels

Length matters enormously for swelling. A fresh piercing typically swells for the first one to three weeks. If the bar is too short, the jewellery can sink into the swelling tissue and cause significant problems. If the bar is too long, it dangles and catches on things, which slows healing.

The convention at most studios is to fit slightly longer than the final desired length for fresh piercings, then downsize once the swelling has settled. This is normal and expected. The downsize appointment is usually quick and uses a slightly shorter bar of the same style.

Downsize Timing

Soft tissue piercings (lobe, lip, eyebrow): two to four weeks
Cartilage piercings: four to eight weeks
Navel piercings: two to three months
Nipple piercings: two to three months

F136

Titanium certification to ask for

14g

Standard gauge for many piercings

Typical downsize window

Style: The Personal Choice

This is where personal taste takes over from technical requirement. The main jewellery styles to know about:

Labret Stud

A bar with a flat disc on one end and a decorative top on the other. The flat disc sits against the skin or inside the mouth (for lip piercings). Comfortable, low-profile, ideal for fresh piercings on most placements. Our default starter for nostrils, helix, labret and lobes.

Barbell

A bar with a decorative ball or end on each side. Can be straight or curved. Used for tongue piercings, navel piercings, surface piercings and industrial bars.

Ring (Hoop)

Closed circle that passes through the piercing. Best style for fresh piercings only if the placement supports it well, which is uncommon. Better suited to healed piercings.

Captive Bead Ring

A ring with a small bead held in place by tension. Functional and adjustable. A standard option for septum and helix piercings.

Clicker

A hinged ring or D-shape that clicks open and closed. Easier to insert than a captive bead. Popular for septum and daith piercings.

Horseshoe (Circular Barbell)

An open ring shape with a small gap at the bottom and decorative ends. Common for septum piercings, where it can be flipped up and hidden.

manchester · titanium jewellery

Book and Pick Your Jewellery

Walk in and look at our full range of implant grade titanium pieces before booking. We will help you pick something that suits the piercing and your face.

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Internal vs External Threading

One technical detail worth knowing. The threading on a piece of body jewellery refers to how the decorative end attaches to the bar.

Internal Threading

The thread is inside the post. The decorative end has a small pin that screws into it. The post going through your piercing is completely smooth. This is the standard for quality body jewellery and what you should be fitted with for any fresh piercing.

External Threading

The thread is on the post itself. The decorative end is hollow and screws onto the post. The threaded section passes through your piercing every time the jewellery is inserted, scratching the channel as it goes. Fashion jewellery often uses this. It is not appropriate for fresh piercings and not ideal for healed ones either.

Threadless

A press-fit system where a slightly bent pin on the end locks into a hole in the post. No threads at all, completely smooth in and out. Increasingly the standard for high-quality body jewellery.

The jewellery in your fresh piercing is what your skin is reacting to for the next six months. Choose accordingly.
Shallows piercing team

When to Upgrade

The temptation to upgrade jewellery is strong, particularly once the piercing has settled enough to feel fine. The trick is to wait until it has fully healed, not just until it feels fine. A piercing can feel completely normal for months before the channel is genuinely mature, and changing jewellery too early can set healing back significantly.

Our piece on when you can safely change jewellery walks through the signs that a piercing is ready and the techniques for changing the jewellery yourself versus having a piercer do it.

Buying Online vs In Studio

Once your piercing is healed, you can buy jewellery from anywhere. Online stores, jewellery shops and direct from designers all sell good options. The buyer’s responsibility is to check the material specifications carefully: certified implant grade titanium or solid gold, internal threading or threadless, no plating.

For fresh piercings and downsizes, buy from the studio. The jewellery is sized for your specific piercing, threaded correctly and from a known supplier. Mistakes are easier to fix when the piece was bought from the studio that pierced you.

Common Mistakes

Choosing Heavier Jewellery Than Needed

Big chunky pieces look great but the weight pulls on healing tissue. Lighter starter pieces, upgraded later, are almost always the better choice.

Choosing Pieces That Catch

Anything with dangling parts, fragile stones or sharp edges will catch on clothing and bedding during healing. Save those pieces for once the piercing is settled.

Buying Plated Gold

Looks like gold, costs less than gold, is not actually appropriate for fresh piercings. The plating wears and chips, exposing whatever metal is underneath. Solid gold or titanium only.

Mismatched Aesthetic

A piercing only looks as good as the jewellery in it. Pick something you actually love rather than the cheapest piece that fits. The price difference between fashion and quality is rarely more than thirty pounds.

piercing preperation

Back to the Hub

Jewellery is one decision in the wider preperation hub. The hub covers studios, nerves, food, sleep and everything else you need before your appointment.

Back to Preperation

Working With Your Piercer

The conversation with your piercer about jewellery is part of the appointment. A good piercer will steer you towards pieces that work for your piercing rather than just selling you the most expensive option. Take their advice seriously, particularly on gauge and length. Both have technical implications that you cannot judge from the look alone.

If a piercer ever pushes you towards jewellery that conflicts with what you have read here (steel for fresh piercings, external threading, plated pieces), ask why. The answer should be a confident technical explanation. If it is not, the studio may not be the right choice.

Picking the right jewellery is part technical decision, part personal taste. The technical side is straightforward once you know what to ask for. The taste side is yours to enjoy. Slow down, take the recommendation for starter jewellery and save the more adventurous pieces for once everything has healed.