A new revision of the European directive on nickel release will go into effect in April 2013. The new rules will dramatically drop the maximum allowed nickel release limit, leading to significant implications for the jewelry industry. This paper aims to provide an overview of how these new regulations will change nickel release compliance for the jewelry industry. Possibilities for various materials and technologies, with and without nickel, that can provide satisfactory compliance solutions to the jewelry market, together with a possible change to the way white-gold production is currently approached, will be discussed.

Author(s): Andrea Basso, Massimo Poliero, Andrea Friso, Riccardo Bertoncello, Legor Group S.p.A.