Published 15 May 2026. Last updated June 2026.
Why Stainless Steel Is Our Material of Choice
Most jewellery is designed to live in a box. Worn for special occasions, taken off before the shower, replaced when it tarnishes or breaks. We wanted to make jewellery that does the opposite — something you put on and forget about, that doesn't ask anything of you, that's still beautiful a year later. To do that, the material had to do a lot of heavy lifting. After working through the options, we kept coming back to one answer: stainless steel.
Here's the full reasoning.
It doesn't tarnish
This is the one that matters most. Most fashion jewellery alloys are some mix of brass, copper, zinc and nickel — materials that look fine in the shop and start changing colour the moment they meet your skin. They oxidise. They darken. They turn your finger green. Stainless steel doesn't do any of that. The thin chromium oxide layer on its surface protects it from oxidation completely. A LAFENY piece looks the same after a year of daily wear as it did the day you bought it.
We think this matters more than it sounds. Jewellery you have to "look after" eventually stops getting worn.
It's genuinely waterproof
You can shower in it. Swim in it. Wash your hands in it twenty times a day. Sweat in it at the gym. Wear it to sleep. Nothing happens — no rust, no dulling, no need to dry it carefully afterwards. We mean waterproof in the everyday sense: it just keeps up with your life.
For us this isn't a feature, it's the whole point. The jewellery people actually wear most is the jewellery they never have to think about.
It's hypoallergenic — even for sensitive skin
A lot of people have had the experience of buying a piece, wearing it for a week, and waking up with an itchy red mark where it sat. That's almost always nickel — a metal commonly used in cheap jewellery alloys that a significant share of people are allergic to. The stainless steel we use is the type designed for medical and surgical applications precisely because it's compatible with skin. If you've reacted to jewellery in the past, this is usually the answer.
It's strong enough for a permanent engraving
This is where stainless steel quietly shines for what we do. Our diamond-tip engraving works by cutting permanently into the metal — and stainless steel is hard enough to hold that engraving sharply, for the lifetime of the piece. A signature, a date, a child's drawing, a name in any language: it goes on once and it stays. Softer metals wear smooth over time. Steel doesn't.
Read more about same-day engraving at LAFENY — what we charge, what we can engrave, and how it works in 15 minutes.
When we say an engraved piece is "made to last a lifetime," the engraving and the material are doing that work together.
It looks expensive — and it stays looking expensive
Steel has a clean, modern weight to it that you can feel in your hand. Polished, it catches the light beautifully. Brushed, it's understated and architectural. Plated in gold or silver, it carries that finish far longer than the same plating on cheaper base metals — because the underlying steel doesn't react with what's on top of it.
A lot of jewellery looks good for a season. We wanted ours to look good for ten years.
What it's not
Honest answer: stainless steel isn't precious metal. It isn't 18 karat gold and it isn't sterling silver, and we don't pretend it is. What it is is a deliberate trade-off — we chose toughness, longevity, wearability and a fair price over the prestige of a hallmarked metal. For some pieces of jewellery, precious metal is the right answer. For jewellery designed to be worn every single day, we think steel is.
Why this matters for an engraved gift
Almost everyone who walks into a LAFENY store leaves with something engraved. A name. A date. A coordinate. A few words in handwriting. Those engravings are personal, and the question isn't really "will this material last?" — it's "will this engraving still mean something in ten years?" Steel keeps that promise quietly. The engraving doesn't fade because the metal doesn't fade. The piece doesn't end up in a drawer because it never needs to come off.
That's the whole brief, really. Jewellery that can be worn — actually worn, every day — without compromise. Stainless steel is how we get there.
If you're looking for gift ideas, our personalised gift guide for Vienna walks through six engraving ideas across birthdays, anniversaries, and milestones.
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