 January 2011
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It's a Whole New Year!
|  Happy New Year everyone!! Wow, 2011! As we work our way towards our 20th birthday here at Anatometal, we are constantly advancing, changing and evolving our jewelry designs. If you haven't heard yet, we now make standard earrings right alongside our eyelets and plugs because not every gauge is huge!
Expect great things in 2011 from the company who first brought implant grade materials into the world of body jewelry. Our mission continues to be to blend the best of 21st century technology with research and the refinements of manufacturing technique, in a modern-day guild of responsible and committed craftsmen. We also promise to work daily at providing the highest level of customer support out there!
Anatometal has so many new items in the works we couldn't even list them all here. We can not wait to show you what we have been working on in the coming year!
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These are a few of our favorite things...
|  - Halo Earrings - Available in stainless steel, titanium, and solid 18k gold: 20ga. Our Halo Earrings house 14, 2mm gemstones in either faceted or cabochon stones (see Gems/Metals section at anatometal.com for full selection). Our Halo Earrings come with a titanium butterfly back to secure the earrings in place. All gems are handset; no glues or adhesives are used. Get the look of our classic Gemmed Eyelets without stretching your lobes!
- Princess-cut Nostril Screws - Available in stainless steel, titanium, or solid 18k gold: 18ga and 20ga. Stones are 2mm and available in all princess-cut gemstones.
- Single Stone Teardrop Eyelets - Machined from a piece of solid stock material and available in stainless steel, titanium, and solid 18k gold. Our Single Stone Teardrop Eyelets are made from 7/16" to 1". Available in all of faceted stone options.
- Double Threaded Princess Ends - Double Threaded Princess-cut Gem Ends are machined out of a single solid piece of implant grade titanium or cast in solid 18 karat gold: 16ga and 14ga. Perfect to make your industrial piercing shine.
 - Navel Dangle - Gemmed Navel Dangle curves are always hand polished to a mirror finish and are available in stainless steel, titanium, and solid 18k gold: 14ga and 12ga. Our Gemmed Navel Dangles come in mini, regular and large; faceted or cabochon stones. You can choose single or double dangle.
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Meet Anatometal
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We know how much you love your Anatometal and what it stands for:
handcrafted right here in the USA, made with only the highest quality materials. There is so much that goes into each piece as it moves from our machine shop, to the polishing room, to the gold room, through quality assurance, packaging, and to our shipping department. We thought you would like to get to know the people who make that Gemmed Eyelet, Heart Navel Curve, and Nostril Screw possible! In the coming months, we will be invading all the departments here at Anatometal Headquarters and bringing our hard workers right to you!
This month we bring you...
From Anodizing, Meet Bob Stiles!
Anatometal: What do you do here at Anatometal?
Bob: I am the Titanium Color Specialist.
Anatometal: So you do all the anodizing of the jewelry?
Bob: You could say it that way too.
Anatometal: How long have you worked for Anatometal?
Bob: Just over 15 years, so you know, I'm the new guy.
Anatometal: What is your favorite piece that Anatometal makes?
Bob: Oh I would have to say the bling: the Gemmed Oval Eyelets and the Gemmed Teardrop Eyelets. I like anything unusual in shape the most. What I really want are diamond shaped eyelets, I want 4 diamonds, yeah. *laughs*
Anatometal: Tell us 3 things about yourself.
Bob: Me? Ummm I'm old, I am a family man, and I am a retired street luger.
(Bob is being modest here, he is actually one of the pioneers of street luge and has competed at multiple XGames in the sport)
Anatometal: Ninjas or Pirates?
Bob: Ninja Pirate no doubt, as opposed to a pirate ninja, that would just be awful.
Thanks for letting us get to know you a bit Bob! Who will be featured next month? Be sure to check back to find out!
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What is anodization?
| Anodizing 101:
Anodizing is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts. But what does that mean?
The name comes from the process itself; the part to be treated acts as the anode electrode of an electrical circuit. This produces an oxide layer on the piece that is thicker than what is usually found on the bare metal. Anodization actually changes the texture of a material at a microscopic level as well as it's crystal structure near the surface. Did you know that anodic films can be much stronger and more adherent then most types of paint and metal plating?
Titanium, niobium, zinc, magnesium, aluminum alloys, and tantalum are all metals that can be anodized. However, there are metals that don't react well to the process like iron or carbon steel. These metals exfoliate when oxidized which means the new layer will just flake off.
Anodizing a piece of metal will help protect it against corrosion and was first used in 1923 to protect seaplane parts that were constantly exposed to salt water. Anodization also increases wear resistance and provides better adhesion for paint primers or glues than bare m etals would. Other uses of anodizing are more cosmetic; body jewelry companies like Anatometal use this process to create colorful pieces of wearable art.
There are quite a few different practiced processes for anodizing and they vary from metal to metal. Titanium and niobium however are quite similar; through anodization these metals generate an array of different colors without the use of any dyes. The color that is formed is dependent on the thickness of the oxide (this is controlled by the anodizing voltage). The interference of light reflecting off the oxide layer with the light actually traveling through said layer and reflecting off the metal underneath is what determines the color you see.
 | Selected colors achievable through anodization of titanium.
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Copper, gold, green, purple, fuchsia, and yellow are just a few of the colors that can be achieved through the anodization of titanium; you can even create an "oil slick" effect with enough practice.
So to review: anodizing a piece of metal changes the texture of that metal which in turn changes how you see it (ie. the color). The process of anodizing both protects and beautifies the material. Let us round this science lesson out with one more anodizing fun fact; anodizing is one of the more environmentally-friendly metal finishing processes as the by products do not contain any heavy metals, volatiles, or halogens. Pretty amazing!
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Ask a Piercer
|  Body Jewelry and Medical Tests/Scans
The Question: Will my jewelry affect an MRI scan?
The Answer: - If the jewelry is in the way of what they are attempting to scan, then yes. - For implant grade titanium and gold, the metals themselves will not affect the scan.The concern is that the metal can heat up while being scanned.I have had friends who were allowed to leave their jewelry in during their scan, and they became so uncomfortable from the jewelry warming up that they said they would NOT leave it in if they had it to do over again. - The general concern is that with an MRI, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan.....anything magnetic would affect the scan itself and render the results unreadable. Implant grade titanium and gold are not magnetic, and so would not pose a problem. With Implant Grade Stainless Steel, there could be minute amounts of materials which could be considered magnetic. - If you are not sure exactly what your jewelry is made of, it would be best to just take it out. It's always best to consult your physician with any concerns or questions you may have about the scan, in addition to making sure they are aware of your piercing. - If your physician recommends removing the jewelry, it would also be best to just take it out.
*To have your questions answer by one of our resident piercers just send in email form to heather.anatometal@gmail.com
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In closing, we hope you have enjoyed this month's newsletter as much as we enjoyed making it. There is so much coming in 2011 and you have picked the best place to hear about it first! Happy New Year everyone! See you next month!
Sincerely,
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Your friends at Anatometal
Questions? Comments? Please send them to heather.anatometal@gmail.com. If you know someone who will enjoy this publication as much as you do, don't hesitate to pass it along.
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