Jewelry You Can Wear Through Airport Security
You can wear gold, sterling silver and platinum jewelry through airport security. They can easily be worn without setting off metal detectors, becuase they are not magnetic. Silver, copper, gold, and platinum will not set them off unless you wear very large or you wear many pieces all at once. A normal amount is fine. I wear earrings, a two rings, a necklaces and a bracelet normally and I go through with no issues.
Why?
Fine silver, copper, gold, and platinum, are non-ferrous materials, meaning they are not magnetic. The security systems in airports detect magnetic metals. The detectors are primarily set to detect base metals in weapons. Meaning, you are more likely to set off airport detectors wearing costume jewelry, because it is made with magnetic metals, such as steel, nickel, and iron, etc. It’s because most jewelry is made of an alloy. An alloy is essentially the mixture of two (or more) elements taken from the periodic table. Alloys make the metal more durable for everyday use. Jewelry alloys can zinc, copper, cobalt, palladium, iridium, ruthenium, or nickel.
Jewelry to Avoid Wearing Through Airport Security
Large plate jewelry, gold fill, silver fill, or costume jewelry will also set off the detectors. “White gold” may because it has rhodium plating and will have a nickel undercoating. Gold watches will alarm, due to the base metals inside the case. One way to check your jewelry is to see if it reacts to a magnet, depending on the mix of metals it may set off the alarm.
How to Safely Wear Items
I advise you to leave your silver, gold, and platinum jewelry on because it’s highly unlikely to cause the security system to react. And it is much safer than putting it in your suitcase, or even your handbag where it may scratch or damage. I usually tuck my necklace under my shirt so it doesn’t show, and turn my rings around so the stones do not show, and place them in a separate padded jewelry bag in my purse and keep my purse zipped closed when whashing your hands or as needed.
How To Safely Store Items
If you have itmes you must take off when you walk through airport security, such as large pieces, and store them inside a protective pad case in your carrying case. Keep your case, and bag, zipped up and carry it in front of you at all times. Especially around the holidays, pickpockets can, and do, take items from preoccupied travlers.
Fun fact, you can use a magnet when buying silver, gold, or platinum to detect fakes!
Happy travels!
Read more about how to care jewelry:
HOW TO CARE FOR TURQUOISE
CARING FOR FINE SILVER, LEARN HOW
THE BASICS OF CARING FOR STERLING SILVER
Reference
https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/all-list
Image Credit: By EoRdE6 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Anna Harper believes in slow production and creating high quality jewelry products. If you would like to find out more about her work, or articles like this, read her Sustainable Jewelry Blog. When Anna is not making jewelry she writes under the name P. A. Harper. You can stalk online at PAHarper.com, Goodreads, on Facebook @AuthorPAHarper, Twitter @AuthorPAHarper, or Instagram @P.A.Harper.
