Nothing is ever all good or all bad, which his why we're taking a look at the pros and cons of stainless steel rings.

I make and sell stainless steel jewelry, this short guide contains an honest apraisal of the metal.

If you're looking at this, there's a good chance you're thinking about buying a stainless steel ring. The good news is that they're great rings and extremely pocket friendly. There are plenty of styles to choose from and most things you can find in another material (gold, silver, etc), you can find in stainless.

Disadvantages of Stainless Steel Jewelry

• A lot of local jewlery stores won't resize it. I've had many customers reach back out to me when they took their ring to their local jewlery store (LJS) only to discover that their LJS wouldn't resize it. Keep this in mind when purchasing your ring. Be sure to buy a piece from a seller that offers resizes/ exchanges.

• Skin discoloration. I've worn a lot of stainless jewelry and never personally experienced my skin turning green. I've never had a customer report greening with stainless, either. That said, my skin will brown if I leave my rings on overnight. If this happens to you, try taking them off when you bathe and sweat as well. From the data on my orders, I estimate that on average 1 to 2 people out of every 100 experience this browning. It's completely harmless and is nothing more than our skin oil reacting with the metal. Many people believe it to be the nickel that's present in the 304 and 316 alloys commonly used in stainless steel jewlery.
• Does stainless steel jewelry rust or tarnish? Many of us think stainless steel isn't supposed to tarnish or rust. Stainless is corrosion-resistant, not corrosion-proof. Under extreme conditions (exposure to acids being one) it can corrode. It's believed that the chromium present in the alloy creates a protective layer that makes the metal highly resistant to corrosion. So anything that interrupts this can degrade the protective layer.

Is Stainless Steel Jewelry Good?

• It's affordable. Gold and platinum jewelry is generally out of most people's price range for personal purchases. Stainless steel rings starting at $10 or less depending on what you're looking for.
• It's durable. The rings hold up well and don't bend or break easily. They will scratch (pretty much every ring will regardless of marketing claims), but not as easily as gold and silver.
• Design options. Stainless steel is comparitively harder to work with than the softer metals. You need to get it to higher temperatures to work with it and need to use more force to shape it. As such, stainless jewelry as a whole may be a bit more limited in its breadth of styles. But when it comes to rings, there's so much that can be done with this beautiful metal if the artist has the skill and will.
• It's hypoallergenic. The number of people that experience a reaction to stainless steel is very low. I've sold probably close to three of four thousand pieces and only had 4 people react poorly to a ring. In all four cases, I told the customers to stop wearing the ring immediately and go to the doctor. I then took the pieces back for a full refund. I'm allergic to stirling silver and at one point had my ears pierced. When I put in my brand new silver earrings, I learned within a few hours how agravating a metal allergy can be. It felt like I had a tooth infection in my ear. I wish the seller would have taken back the earings. I know what it's like.

These are the pros and cons of stainless steel rings. Is the metal the perfect material for everyone? I'm going to say no. But is it affordable, durable, and hypoallergenic? Yes.