This gold ring turned my finger GREEN!

Have you ever purchased a ring that was stamped 10k gold that turned your finger green after wearing it a few times? Before you go back to the merchant that sold you that ring, accusing him of lying, there are few things you should know. Contrary to popular belief, this does NOT mean the ring is not 10k gold!First of all, not everyone can wear 10k gold jewelry. Why? To understand that, we must understand that jewelry that is stamped as gold, whether 18k, 14k or 10k is not made of only gold. Have you ever seen a ring made of 24k gold? I have and it is so soft that a child could bend it with two fingers. It is really too soft to make jewelry and will bend and break. However, it IS done occasionally especially outside the US. To harden gold in order to make wearable jewelry it is mixed with other metals that are harder. The more non-gold metals mixed with the gold, the harder and more durable the jewelry item will be and the lower the gold number. In the US 10k is lowest gold number you can have and still label an item as solid gold.It is the "other" metals that are mixed with gold to harden it that are causing your skin to turn green. Gold does not cause an allergic reaction but some other metals do. So, will you have an allergic reaction to all 10k gold jewelry? Not necessarily. It depends upon WHICH of the other metals is affecting your skin. The acidic reaction that turns your finger green is a reaction to one of the metals and pinpointing which metal is causing it is almost impossible. And since different metals can be used to harden the gold, you will probably never know which non-gold metal is causing the problem. Plus, you won't know if the next 10k item you wear contains that same metal that is causing your allergic reaction. That is why some people will insist that the 10k item they bought MUST be fake because they have worn 10k before and never had a problem. They just didn't have that problem causing metal in the other jewelry.So should you still purchase 10k gold jewelry? If you have a history of "green fingers" I wouldn't risk it. If you are lucky enough to be able to test a piece of jewelry for a few days then return it there is a problem then give it a try. Most jewelers are not that generous, though, so you may want to steer clear of 10k. But if it is a very rare occurance then 10k may be perfect for you. It is less expensive, more durable and can last you a lifetime and then some!