Twisted Niobium Captives are Here!

Niobium Twisted
Captive Bead Ring
$8.95 to $21.95

This month we've introduced a new twisted niobium captive bead ring in eight awesome colors.  With nine sizes to choose from they will work in almost any piercing!

New for your navel this month is our reverse cascading hearts shown below.  The top-mounted hinged charm, which moves when you do, makes it really comfortable to wear.  If you like this design, you may also be interested in our reverse cascading stars navel barbell.

Reverse Cascading Hearts
$15.95

Also new this month are dangling dragonflies, frogs and stars for the navel and an acrylic shaft barbell with larger 5/16" balls.

See all our new products below and on our web site.

This month Lenore has written an informative article on All the Colors of the Rainbow available with our niobium and titanium body piercing jewelry.

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Anodized Niobium
Captive Bead Ring
with Miracle Bead
$5.95

Have you ever wondered where all the colors come from?  Human beings love color and in this regard those of us who wear body jewelry are no different from the rest of humanity. The process the metals are put through to achieve color is called anodizing. The metals which are anodized for use in body jewelry are niobium and titanium. Niobium and titanium are called reactive metals because of the effect that electricity has on them. Passing a controlled current through these metals results in a transparent oxide layer, which acts like a prism, dispersing light into a brilliant spectrum of colors.
 

Anodized Niobium
Twisted
Captive Bead Ring
$8.95 to $21.95

Niobium is a strong yet flexible elemental metal and is  slightly heavier than 316L stainless steel. Niobium is chemically non-reactive. Few people are sensitive to niobium. Titanium is an extremely lightweight, elemental metal. The specific alloy used for body jewelry is 6AL4V (60 parts aluminum, 40 parts vanadium), specifically 136 grade. Titanium is the most biocompatible of all metals due to its total resistance to attack by body fluids. Titanium is often used in permanent surgical implants where the tissue is encouraged to assimilate the implant; the pores in the metal allow for the tissue to attach. When titanium is used for body jewelry it should be highly polished to minimize porosity.
 

Annodized Titanium Horn
$22.95 to $27.95

Niobium and titanium body jewelry is available in a range of colors which are produced through anodizing, not dyeing. During anodizing, the jewelry is submerged in an electrolyte solution and voltage is applied, creating an oxide layer on the jewelry. The voltage applied during anodizing determines the thickness of the oxide. The thickness of the oxide layer determines the resulting color. The color results from refraction of light through the oxide layer.

Be sure to check out our incredible line of made-in-the-USA niobium and titanium body jewelry. You’ll find excellent quality at very competitive prices.

Source: Piercing FAQ 2A--Jewelry Materials

What's New This Month?

With the coming holidays in mind, we've added some great new stuff this month! 

Click any picture or description to read more or purchase.

Our featured website this month is The Interactive Piercing Betty. Artist David Bruehl has put together a website combining his interests in body modification and art, specifically anime. At 23 years of age, he already possesses great talent and a passion for his art. Check out Interactive Piercing Betty. She’s smart, beautiful, and pierced!

A recent article in the Tewksbury Advocate (out of Massachusetts) states that body art, both piercing and tattooing, is now being embraced by people of all walks of life and at any age. The article also describes one studio owner’s experience in trying to establish his business in a town that still holds some old misconceptions about body modification. The owner, piercer Richard Warner, is a strong advocate for a thoroughly sterile studio and well-informed clients who take responsibility for their health by following proper aftercare procedures. Warner also states that communities that refuse to license legitimate and experienced piercers and tattoo artists will keep body artists underground, which poses a greater risk to public health.

An article in the Badger Herald offers a different take on this issue. It states that the explosion in popularity of body art has led to some unethical and unhealthy practices among piercers and tattoo artists looking to cash in. As is usually the case, when someone does not act responsibly and take care of business in the right way, someone else will want to come in and tell you how to do it. Therefore, many communities are tightening requirements for body artists, specifically in the amount of education and training required for licensing, and in requiring parental consent for minors to be pierced or tattooed.

For the remainder of October, all sizes and colors of our niobium captive bead ring are 25% off!

The 25% discount is already included in the price at our web site bringing your total savings to 38% to 44% off list price. 

These prices are valid from 10/7/2003 to 10/31/2003.

Each month we give away ten FREE $25.00 SteelNavel.com gift certificates good towards the purchase of body jewelry on our site.  Five winners are notified in our monthly newsletter, and the other five are notified in our mid-month newsletter.

This month's winning email addresses are: 

All subscribers to the SteelNavel.com News are automatically entered in the monthly gift certificate drawing.