by Steve Anderson, Owner of, and Artist at the 920 Tattoo Company Oshkosh, WI 11/18/21
Welcome to the first edition of,” What’s in the case.” In this post, we’re going to be featuring one of the newest jewelry lines we’ve started offering; Gorilla Glass. Now, if the name sounds familiar, you may be a stoner or enjoyer of fine blown glass that doubles as functional art. Indeed, the same company that has been bringing the world high-quality glass smoke wear also has been manufacturing all kinds of glass pieces for body piercings, and we’ve recently started carrying some at the studio. Now, if you are a long-time wearer of plugs or larger gauge jewelry or new to the world of ear lobe stretching, you’re aware of the fatigue and discomfort that goes along with wearing different pieces of jewelry. Over the years I’ve collected many a pair of plugs as I’ve journeyed through the sizes, and right now have settled at 5/8ths after having gone down from 1”. Once you’ve sized up, your lobes will always stretch a bit easier. I found that when I’d switch to a heavier pair of 5/8ths after I’d sized down within a matter of days my plugs would be falling out of my lobes. Frustrating! Looking for lightweight options that had similar durability to the stone plugs I've been wearing, and not a huge fan of metals, bone, horn, silicone, plastic, or other materials personally, we reached out to Gorilla Glass looking for an alternative.
Like any other piece of art glass, the color combinations and potential for creative use of different blowing techniques you can see in the current lineup of Gorilla Glass jewelry are impressive. I recently acquired a set of their Hagakure Algae double flares, and the detail in the swirl is great and really mimics the Japanese painting style they are named after well. Hagakure, for you all that don’t know, is a type of watercolor painting that uses wind to create the design. The effect is really nice and has really endless variations. Bonus that you get a solid color side opposite of the Hagakure design, so you can always just flip the plug around if you want to rock something different. While glass, like stone or anything crystalline, can be prone to shattering so far my new plugs have survived a few falls including in the shower, and are no worse for wear. The beauty of a glass plug is that they stay very clean (assuming, of course, that you bathe regularly and wash your ear lobes like a civilized human being), having no pores or grooves for funk to accumulate in. As I’d mentioned earlier, my lobes like to stretch on their own, so having a lightweight plug is super important to stay at the size I’m at. Gorilla Glass plugs are super lightweight, but by no means feel cheap. I find they’ve become my go-to wear, and am embarrassed to say that I plan on buying a few more colors at 5/8ths to coordinate with outfits.
If you’ve never worn glass jewelry the idea of a glass piece for a body piercing can seem a little weird but trust me, the comfort and quality are hard to match. Sure, they may be a little more expensive than some of your stone pieces, but you’re paying for a small work of art that will last a lifetime if you’re careful with them, like any other piece of quality jewelry.
We’re stoked to offer yet another high-quality jewelry brand to our community, and will be adding more Gorilla Glass pieces as time goes on. Be sure to check out our online store for our newest additions, shipped to your door or also available in-store.
The next edition of “What’s in the Case” is going to cover what’s new with our gold stock offerings and how you can now have fresh piercings done with gold jewelry at our studio. For those that aren’t ready to take the plunge with gold, we also can also anodize titanium, changing the usual silver color into just about any hue you can think of. We’ll be covering that as well.
Until then, stay safe, and be kind.
Your friends at the 920 Tattoo Company, Oshkosh, WI.