What is actually happening
Titanium forms an oxide layer the instant it meets air. Anodising puts the metal in an electrolyte and passes a current through it, which thickens that layer in a controlled way — typically to somewhere between 15 and 90 nanometres.
That layer is transparent. Light hits it, part reflects off the top surface and part reflects off the metal underneath, and the two reflections interfere. Depending on the layer thickness, some wavelengths cancel and others reinforce — and the colour you see is what survives.
Voltage controls thickness, and thickness controls colour. This is why anodised titanium comes in a specific sequence rather than an arbitrary palette: roughly bronze and gold at lower voltages, then purple, blue, teal, and yellow-green as voltage rises.
No pigment, no dye, no plating, nothing added to the surface. The colour is the metal's own oxide.
Why this matters for a piercing specifically
Plated jewellery fails in piercings because the plating wears through on the post and exposes the base metal to the inside of the channel.
Anodised titanium cannot fail that way, because there is no second metal. Wear the oxide layer thin and what is underneath is titanium — the same ASTM F136 alloy, still nickel-free, still inert. The worst case is cosmetic.
It is also why anodised titanium is one of the very few coloured options that appears on accepted-materials lists for healing piercings, while gold plated, PVD coated and vermeil do not.
| Anodised titanium | Plated / PVD | |
|---|---|---|
| What the colour is | Light through an oxide layer | A separate metal layer |
| Anything added? | No | Yes |
| Can it expose base metal? | No — it is titanium underneath | Yes, once worn through |
| Failure mode | Colour dulls or shifts | Flakes, peels, wears through |
| Accepted for healing piercings | Yes | No |
| Can it be restored? | Yes, re-anodised | Only by re-plating |
Anodised colour versus plating
Does it fade, honestly
It can dull or shift, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest.
The oxide layer is extremely thin. Sustained abrasion — a ring rubbing inside a bag, a piece cleaned with an abrasive cloth, or heavy daily friction — can thin it enough that the interference colour shifts toward a neighbouring shade or loses saturation.
What it does not do is flake, peel, or reveal a different-coloured metal beneath, because those are failure modes of coatings. And an anodised piece can be re-anodised back to colour, which a plated piece cannot.
In practice, on a flat back stud worn in an ear, most people never see a change. On a large hoop that lives in a jewellery box with other pieces, they might.
Caring for it
- Clean with warm water and a soft cloth. That is genuinely enough.
- Avoid abrasive polishing cloths and pastes — they are designed to remove a surface layer, which is precisely the thing you want to keep.
- Avoid bleach and strong chemical cleaners.
- Store pieces so they are not rubbing against each other, particularly harder items.
- Ultrasonic cleaners are fine for the titanium itself but can loosen set stones, so check the piece before using one.
Note that black titanium is usually a different process — often PVD coating rather than anodising — because true black is not readily achievable through the anodising colour sequence. If black matters to you, it is worth asking which method was used, since PVD is a coating.
Common questions
Does anodised titanium fade?
How is titanium anodised?
Is anodised titanium safe for piercings?
Is anodised titanium the same as gold plated?
How do I clean anodised titanium jewellery?
Is black titanium anodised?
Sizes and healing times on this page are typical ranges, not guarantees — anatomy varies and healing differs from person to person. Your piercer has seen your piercing and we have not: check with them before changing jewellery, especially on one that is still settling.