Materials used at Drip

Drip strives to use the best possible materials, while keeping costs low for you! Everything we do here is hypoallergenic and should withstand normal use. We want to be able to provide options for everyone’s budget and everyone’s lifestyle. ♥️💧✨

 

OUR MAIN MATERIAL:

Core/ Enduring: long-lasting.  These are our best quality pieces, other than 14k Gold.  These products are made with 100% US-Grade Gold-Filled or Stainless Steel materials.  

  • 14K GOLD Gold-Filled is a great alternative to solid gold, it is a base metal (usually copper, steel or brass) and is coated with 14k or 18k gold.  It is much more affordable than solid gold, but still has that high quality we strive for at Drip. All Gold-Filled on the website is 100% USA-Grade Gold-Filled Material, even if it does not say it (I just forgot to write it).

    To be classified as "Gold-Filled" in the United States, the product must contain at least 5% gold.  To be classified as "Gold-Plated" in the United States, the product can contain .05% gold! This coating is 100x more gold than gold-plated jewelry and can withstand normal amounts of sweat and water. However, it is not solid gold and that is kind of the point! Drip’s Gold-filled pieces are an affordable alternative and definitely a great bang for your buck.

    Gold-Filled material can get very expensive and that is why we have introduced stainless steel!
  • PVD 18K GOLD Stainless Steel: After months of testing, we finally hacked the system! We figured out why some gold-plated stainless steel is better than others.  It all boils down to the manufacturing process. 

    Ou    r gold-colored stainless steel is the highest quality you can get. The core of this material is medical grade stainless steel. AKA what the dentist puts in your mouth. AKA won’t tarnish! 18k gold is chemically bonded or vacuum sealed onto the steel so that it will not fade color like typical gold-plated jewelry would. Stainless Steel is known for its hypoallergenic and tarnish-resistant properties. These styles are water-resistant, like our gold-filled styles.

    The beauty of stainless steel is that it is far more affordable than gold-filed, this allows us to create more statement pieces and keep them in your budget. The other big bonus with stainless steel is that it does NOT TARNISH. EVER! After a while, a long while, the gold color may begin to fade, but it starts to look more worn and vintage-y, not tarnished. 

SOMETIMES WE USE:

*Trend/ Almost There: aka almost as good as gold-filled or PVD stainless steel, but not quite there. HOWEVER, we have tested these products for months and they are still much more durable than the gold-plated materials we are used to.  We have also tested lots of material that did not make the cut.  We only want to make jewelry that we would personally wear ourselves.

  • 14K Heavy Gold Plated: These products are made with a heavy 14k gold-plating and are just under the threshold to be considered gold-filled. Many jewelry supply manufacturers actually market this material to me as gold-filled.  This is because not every country has the same standards as the US and they can get away with calling it gold-filled, even when it is not. (Even US Manufacturers!)  

  • 18K Gold-Plated Stainless Steel : Since the base of this material is hypoallergenic stainless steel, the jewelry will NOT TARNISH, turn black, turn your skin green, or irritate your skin, if it does.. pleaseee let me know! 

    The plating process is just a bit simplier and more affordable than our PVD stainless steel, which allows us to provide more affordable trendy styles. However, I do not recommend wearing these in the pool, working out, etc. because the gold will rub off sooner than our other pieces!

    *These are some of my cheaper, for-fun items. Please look at the jewelry care tab if you want more information on how to care for your jewelry! I personally wear these pieces in the shower, because I do not mind the way it looks when the gold starts to fade, but if you want it to stay looking fresh, remove them before getting wet, and before applying chemicals or lotions*

After a LOT of science experiments, wearing 2397 bracelets at once at the beach, research and trial and error, we are pretty good at determining the difference between the materials and now know what to tell our customers.  That said, the products in the Almost There collection are still very high quality!  I have LOTS of customers who swim/shower all of our pieces without any problems!

BONUS MATERIAL:

Solid Gold: forever. These are our solid gold items. With proper care, these items can be passed down for generations.

Gold-Plated: not long lasting at all. We do not have any items in this category. 

Please look at the jewelry care tab if you want more information on how to care for your jewelry!

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