PVD coating on jewelry

PVD stands for physical vapor deposition. On jewelry pages it usually means a thin metal-nitride film, most often titanium nitride, laid over a base metal to give a colour such as gold. The word describes how a surface was made. It does not say what lies under it, how thick the film is or how long it lasts, and those are the points that matter if you react to nickel.

This guide reports only what we read: two makers’ pages, an EU regulation excerpt and a handful of PubMed abstracts. We have not tested products ourselves.

What two makers say

Tini Lux’s Mini Bar Stud page lists “Base Metal: Pure Titanium ASTM F-67” and “Coating: Titanium Nitride PVD”, and says the PVD is applied to give “an 18k gold colour”. The brand writes that “Titanium nitride is a hypoallergenic material that is more durable … than gold plating”. That is a maker statement, read from a page captured in a browser on 13 November 2026, and the sentence is elided in our record, so we cannot say what it is measured against. Our record of the Triangle Stud page notes that the gold colour there is a titanium nitride coating, not gold.

Impuria’s beaded cluster stud lists “F-136 ASTM Titanium” and calls its finish “titanium PVD gold plating”, with a statement that there is no silver underlay. The same page says “All products are nickel-free and hypoallergenic” and “Tarnish-free”. Again, this is the maker speaking. Another Impuria stud on its site, in silver colour, lists F-136 titanium but does not describe a coating in the text we read.

What both have in common is useful: each names a titanium base. Our guide to titanium grades for jewelry explains why “implant-grade” alone is not a grade, and why an ASTM number is something you can ask about. Notice also that Tini Lux gives two different grades on one page (F-67 for the stud, F-136 for flat-back studs), which is why reading the specific product’s line matters.

What the studies say about coatings and nickel

We found no abstract that tests PVD-coated jewelry. What exists concerns medical devices, and the results do not agree:

• A 2017 laboratory study of a TiN-containing layer on nickel-titanium alloy reported better corrosion resistance and smaller nickel ion release. A 2025 review of NiTi surface treatments says plasma oxidation producing TiO2 and TiN layers reduces nickel ion release. Both concern nickel-titanium implants.
• A 2023 clinical study of titanium nitride coated stainless steel pectus bars found that the coating “failed to reduce metal contamination” and that nickel and chromium levels rose compared with uncoated bars (12 coated patients, 28 controls). The authors attribute nothing specific in the abstract; we do not know why.

Together these say a coating’s effect depends on the substrate, the process and the use. They cannot be read across to earrings.

On titanium itself, a 2020 study of 228 orthodontic patients, who were patch tested with titanium nitride among other test materials, found sensitisation to nickel in 14% and to titanium in 4%. The abstract does not separate out a titanium nitride result. For the wider picture on nickel, see nickel allergy and jewelry.

What EU law says about coatings

REACH entry 27 limits nickel release from post assemblies inserted into pierced parts of the body to under 0.2 micrograms per square centimetre per week. It sets 0.5 for parts of articles in direct and prolonged skin contact, and for those articles with a non-nickel coating, the coating must be sufficient to keep release under 0.5 “for a period of at least two years of normal use”. That two-year clause is the only durability figure in the sources we read, and it concerns nickel release from coated articles under EU rules, not a statement about any PVD finish. More in our guide to the EU nickel rules for jewelry.

Coating versus plating

If a finish is called gold, ask whether it is gold or a gold colour. Our guide to gold plated, gold filled and vermeil covers the US labelling terms. PVD fits neither automatically, and a titanium nitride colour layer is not gold on the makers’ own account.

How to apply this

1. Look for a named base metal. Titanium named on the page is checkable; “PVD coated” alone is not.
2. Treat durability words as claims. We found no figure to hold a maker to, so ask what was tested.
3. Expect the coating to be the thin part. When the colour wears off, the base is what touches skin. Our nickel spot test guide covers what home test kits do and do not show.
4. For a reaction, see a dermatologist or allergy clinic, not a product page.

Related: hypoallergenic jewelry, hypoallergenic titanium earrings, titanium vs stainless steel earrings, why jewelry turns skin green, nickel-free wedding rings.