Beads of Bali

Many people who use jewelry report that they have an allergic skin reaction to silver jewelry, and must therefore avoid it. There are, in fact, confirmed reports of such skin sensitivity, which usually reveals itself in the form of a rash at the point of contact.  However, in a majority of cases, the suspect jewelry is sterling silver, not fine (pure) silver and the cause of the sensitivity is the metal joined with silver to strengthen it. Remember that sterling silver is, by definition, made up of 92.5% silver and 7.5% of another metal.

Most sterling jewelry consists of a sterling/copper alloy that usually causes few problems. However, there is sterling on the market that contains nickel. Nickel is much more likely to cause contact dermatitis than copper.  This would explain the mystery of why some sterling pieces may cause problems for a person but othe sterling pieces can be warn without issue.

Your doctor can run skin tests to determine the source of your reaction.