PVD. The dark side of black jewelry?

If you see this, change studios! It's a total red flag! Run away from piercers using black studs! Or how chilling stories about paint peeling and color flaking have influenced the perception of PVD. Rightly so? Well, as is often the case in our industry...

What is PVD?

PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) is a technology (!) that deposits a very thin layer of metal or metal compound in a vacuum chamber, rather than the material or color of the earring. PVD jewelry isn't painted or electroplated in the traditional way—material particles are vaporized and deposited on the earring's surface, creating a very hard and durable layer.

PVD is one of the most commonly used industrial methods for applying thin metal coatings. Thanks to this process, PVD jewelry exhibits features such as :

• increased corrosion resistance,

• high level of hardness and adhesion,

• greater resistance to abrasion than in the case of ordinary gold plating,

• the possibility of obtaining an ultra-wide color palette, including gold, black, rainbow, rose gold, etc.

PVD coatings don't have a single, fixed composition. They can consist of various compounds, such as DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon), TiCN (Titanium Carbonitride), CrN (Chromium Nitride), ZrCN (Zirconium Carbonitride), or ZrN (Zirconium Nitride).

Therefore, the term "PVD" does not indicate anything specific about the coating's composition or properties, and two earrings described as PVD may have completely different properties.

Why does PVD jewelry have such terrible PR?

The problem is not the PVD coating itself, but primarily its quality and application technology.

Most manufacturers do not provide:

• what exactly does the coating consist of,

• what is its thickness,

• what is its adhesion,

• what biological tests were performed.

Therefore, there is no complete information about what exactly is on the surface of the jewelry and how this particular coating behaves after years of use.

This is probably where all the horror stories about "paint peeling" or "plastering" all over the place came from. And they most likely involved products that didn't quite live up to the quality of well-executed PVD.

For years, the piercing industry has been lumping together high-quality, genuine PVD coatings, cheap, shoddy decorative paints, classic electroplating, and products (more or less consciously) mislabeled as PVD. As a result, a few terrifying internet stories later, it turned out that almost the entire industry, mortally terrified and serious, began to issue massive red flags to studios using black jewelry.

Is PVD safe?

Currently, there are no robust clinical studies showing that high-quality PVD coatings increase the risk of complications in new piercings, nor are there studies confirming they are as safe as uncoated ASTM-F136 implantable titanium.

If:

• the manufacturer uses great technology,

• the coating has excellent adhesion,

• the base material is titanium ASTM-F136,

• the process is controlled and in accordance with the art,

nothing bad can happen.

Compounds responsible for PVD color

PVD ( Physical Vapor Deposition ) is a technology for applying a coating to a selected base material. Depending on the chemical compounds used, various color effects can be achieved, such as:

• DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) - black, graphite,

• TiCN (Titanium Carbonitride) - from graphite to black,

• CrN (Chromium Nitride) - most often silver, sometimes dark gray,

• ZrCN (Zirconium Carbonitride) - black or dark gray,

• ZrN (Zirconium Nitride) - characteristic golden color.

Therefore, the term "black PVD" does not automatically refer to any of these specific coatings. It is a trade name, a colloquial term.

Does the PVD coating wear off?

Yes. But it's a truth as old as time – EVERY surface used on this planet wears out over time! Especially in areas exposed to friction, such as threads or points of contact with other jewelry components. However, this doesn't mean that the color "flakes off." Well-executed PVD coatings usually wear naturally and gradually, without harm to health. Poorly or poorly applied coatings will deteriorate much more quickly and dramatically.

What happens to the earring when the PVD layer wears off?

It depends on the base material:

• ASTM-F136 - reveals biocompatible, implantable titanium;

• 316L surgical steel - reveals an alloy of various metals, including highly allergenic chromium and nickel;

• Brass or zinc alloys - may corrode and release unwanted, harmful metal ions;

In general, the safety of a PVD-coated earring also depends very much on what is underneath it:

1) Implantable titanium ASTMF-136 / implant grade

After abrasion, the PVD is exposed: Ti-6Al-4V ELI . What happens? In practice, it's usually... nothing special. The titanium immediately forms a new TiO₂ oxide layer, several nanometers thick, which protects it from corrosion. Therefore, the biological risk is very low.

2) Implant steel ASTM-F138 / 316LVM

This is a high-purity variety of 316L steel manufactured according to the ASTM-F138 implantation standard. Once the PVD coating is damaged, the steel is exposed, containing primarily iron, chromium, nickel, and molybdenum. What can happen? With good surface passivation, usually nothing. Only damage to the passive layer and the development of corrosion can lead to the release of metal ions, including nickel and chromium.

3) Brass

It consists of copper and zinc. Once the coating is damaged, the copper can oxidize and the zinc can corrode. This results in green discoloration with a characteristic metallic odor and irritation.

4) Zinc alloys

This is the foundation of inexpensive jewelry. Once the coating is exposed, it quickly corrodes and loses its strength, leaving a white coating on the jewelry.

How to evaluate the quality of a PVD coating?

The following points should be taken into account:

• What chemical compound is the coating made of?

• what is its thickness?

• Were adhesion tests performed?

• Has corrosion resistance been tested?

How thick should the coating be?

• Decorative PVD: 0.25-5 μm

• Functional coatings: 1-6 μm

• Human hair: 70 μm

Thus, the PVD coating is approximately 20-300 times thinner than a hair.

Corrosion and durability:

TiCN (titanium carbonitride) can reduce corrosion currents by up to three times, increase abrasion resistance, and increase hardness by about ten times compared to an uncoated substrate in materials testing. Research shows that the compounds DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) , TiN (titanium nitride ), and TiCN (titanium carbonitride ) are very promising biomedical materials . Not because they are black, although this is an obvious aesthetic advantage. But because they demonstrate high chemical stability, significantly reduce corrosion, and above all, demonstrate good biocompatibility in laboratory tests and on implants.

So where do these tough coatings and legendary plastering come from?

From poor technology. And from a materials engineering perspective, there are even several significant causes:

1) Surface preparation.

PVD doesn't "bite" into metal. The coating must be applied to a perfectly prepared surface. If the titanium is poorly polished, contaminated with grease, or dirty after processing, adhesion decreases dramatically. It's a bit like painting a dirty wall—even the best Dulux will eventually peel.

2) Bad vacuum process.

PVD requires very precise parameters, including high vacuum, appropriate temperature, controlled gas composition, and the correct ion energy. If manufacturer X wants to produce faster and cheaper, they shorten the process or work with less stable parameters. The result? The coating looks good after removal from the chamber, but its durability is significantly reduced.

3) Too thin a layer.

A thicker coating means more time, greater resource consumption, and higher costs. The temptation is therefore obvious: to make it as thin as possible. While it may not look any different, abrasion resistance is somewhat lower...

4) Bad base material.

Even if the coating is excellent, but the underlying material is weak steel or, worse yet, brass, once the coating is damaged, the underlying material comes into contact with the tissue. If it's ASTM-F136 titanium, that's not a problem. The problem becomes more serious when metals toxic to humans are involved.

5) Adhesion. Or the lack thereof.

That is, the strength of the coating's bond to the substrate. You can have a great material and amazing color, but at the same time, terrible adhesion. In industry, this is verified through scratch tests, among other methods .

6) Shape of jewelry.

An earring has threads, edges, beads, grooves, and embellishments. Any coating will adhere more readily to these areas than to a flat laboratory sample. This can cause localized thickness variations.

Anodizing, PVD Coating, and Decoration vs. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

ASTM-F136 implant-grade titanium is a non-magnetic material (or, more precisely, very weakly paramagnetic). Therefore, high-quality implants made of this alloy typically do not present any problems during MRI. There is also no evidence that PVD coating or anodizing alone alters the magnetic properties of implantable titanium.

Titanium anodizing doesn't "add" new material—it merely creates a thicker layer of non-ferromagnetic titanium oxide (TiO₂). As for PVD, it all depends on what's in the coating. If it's TiN, TiCN, DLC, or ZrN, there's no reason to worry about this 1-5 μm-thin metal layer.

A problem may arise when we do not know the composition of the coating and the manufacturer very rarely declares MRI compliance for the finished product.

MRI isn't just about magnetic attraction. The potential for metal heating by RF fields, the creation of artifacts in the image, and the location of the piercings relative to the area being examined must also be considered. Therefore, decorative jewelry, even if made of ASTM-F136 titanium, will not be eligible for inclusion during testing if it contains any non-metallic elements (zirconia, stones, decorations, etc.).

Even non-magnetic jewelry may compromise the quality of the examination or require removal for safety or practical reasons. The final decision to leave earrings on or remove them rests with the examiner and should be respected.

Do you have a different opinion?

Do you think you just read the most unrelated sci-fi of your life? Or perhaps you had a completely different experience? Do you think something needs to be added? Is something missing, or do you have a better idea?

Write!

I love constructive discussion and Open Minds! Maybe together we can achieve something even better?

Paula Peszka, Paoli

F-Skin 2.0 EduLITE Academy

contact: paula.lapeszka@gmail.com

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