316L Materials Guide
Every piece we curate is built on 316L stainless steel. Here is what that actually means — no marketing gloss.
What 316L Is
316L is the stainless-steel alloy family used for surgical instruments and marine hardware. Compared with the ordinary stainless steel used in cheap jewelry (usually 304 or 201), 316L adds molybdenum — the ingredient that resists the chlorides in sweat, seawater and pool water. That is the difference you feel over months, not days.
Gentle on Skin — the Honest Version
Like all steel, 316L contains some nickel. What makes it the gentle end of the scale is its passive chromium layer, which keeps the nickel locked in so far less reaches your skin than with ordinary alloys. The Specifications table on a product page lists what that piece is made of, so you can read the material itself instead of a phrase in the description.
Reading Our Finishes
- Silver-tone pieces are the bare steel itself — there is no plating to wear off. Shower, gym, ocean: the color is the metal.
- Gold and other colored finishes are electroplated over the same 316L base. They are made for everyday wear, and they last longest with a quick rinse and dry after sweaty days — we recommend taking them off before showers and swimming.
Because plating is the one thing that can fade, colored finishes are backed by our Color-Fade Guarantee — if the color lets you down under normal wear, we make it right.
Where to Verify
The material claims on any product page are the ones we stand behind for that exact piece. Our site-wide commitments — this material baseline and the guarantee behind it — live on the Our Promise page.