The short answer: price per item, decide by batch

€100 to €150 per item is the going rate, and a valid result normally needs two or three parallel samples per piece, so budget per SKU. Ten days from sample receipt is the floor. The regulation names no retest interval, so test by production batch, and retest when the alloy, the plating line or a component supplier changes.

What the test measures, and who asks for it

EN 1811 measures how much nickel escapes from metal that sits against skin. Ear posts, clasps, bracelet links worn every day: prolonged contact is the trigger, and its limit value differs from the one for items inserted into a pierced ear. Both sit under REACH Annex XVII entry 27, alongside the lead and cadmium figures collected in our guide to lead, cadmium and nickel limits for EU jewellery.

Who asks? A wholesale buyer in Germany or France before a first order ships, a marketplace compliance team after a listing goes live, an authority following a complaint, each asking a narrower question than "is this metal safe": what does this exact piece release?

Plated pieces take the longer route

Gold-plated jewellery does not go straight into EN 1811. EN 12472 comes first, simulating wear and corrosion through abrasion and perspiration cycling, and the nickel release is then measured on the worn piece. A report that skipped the wear simulation describes a pristine item that no customer will ever own, so look for EN 12472 by name before reading any number on a plated report. This is also where plating quality and returns meet, as returns on gold-plated jewellery explains, and the wider testing landscape is mapped in jewellery compliance testing.

Where the cost multiplies

€100 to €150 per item is the market rate, and a laboratory normally wants two or three parallel samples of each item, so five styles at two samples each means five tests, not one. Run that arithmetic before anyone promises a buyer "full certification"; a quote well below €100 per item raises a different question, what exactly was tested, and on how many pieces.

The clock: seven days inside the laboratory

The method includes a seven-day immersion period, so ten days from sample receipt to report is the minimum, before queues and courier time. Testing belongs in the production calendar: discovering the requirement after goods are boxed and freight booked grounds the shipment.

No retest interval exists, so use triggers

Nothing in the regulation requires a test every twelve months. Batch-level testing fills the gap, plus a retest after any shift in how the piece is made: an alloy mix change, a new electroplating tank, an ear-post vendor swap. A document from eighteen months back describes a process that may no longer exist, not the carton in front of you. A twelve-month freshness standard is a common buyer convention, commercial rather than legal.

Five checks before a report is evidence

  • The report names the exact SKU being shipped, not a material family such as "brass earrings".
  • Every metal part touching skin must be covered. Ear posts, hooks and clasps count, and the pendant is not the whole story.
  • The laboratory is recognisable, and its accreditation appears on the document itself.
  • The date is recent, and the batch covered is the batch being bought.
  • The limit value cited matches the test method and the intended use, not another standard.

Fail two of these and you hold a screenshot with a letterhead. The better factories answer the follow-up within a day. A complete order file is listed in jewellery compliance documents, and a thickness claim can be re-verified by XRF testing.

How the studio handles testing

At Qiuqiu Atelier, REACH, EN 1811, GPSR and CPSIA paperwork goes out with orders where it is needed, and our brass gold-plated and 925 silver lines are tested batch by batch. There is a commercial split worth understanding early. Where a batch is ours, our alloy, our plating, our assembly, testing forms part of the order. An accredited report made out to your own company, whether for an authority file or a marketplace submission, is one you commission; we hand over the samples, the process data, the alloy declarations and the plating records. Our jewellery compliance page sets out what we provide and when.

The following is an illustrative scenario, not a claim about a named customer or a published Qiuqiu Atelier order. A brand owner filed a nickel report in her marketplace pack; the marketplace rejected it for two reasons. The document named "brass earrings" instead of her SKU, and it dated back twenty months. Two samples went back for testing at roughly €280, and the best-selling listing stayed down for the fortnight. Her next supplier brief carried a single demand: a report, dated this year, that names this SKU.

Share a photo of your reference piece and your target quantity through the Qiuqiu Atelier quote form.

FAQ

What is the going rate for one EN 1811 test?

Expect €100 to €150 per item, with a valid result usually taking two or three parallel samples per piece; budget per item, per sample, per SKU. The equivalent test at MGS in Japan runs ¥10,000 to ¥15,000 per sample.

How long until the report arrives?

Seven days of the method are immersion in the laboratory, so ten days from sample receipt is the minimum; queues and courier time stretch it further.

Does the law set a retest interval for nickel release?

No, the interval is left open. The working convention is batch testing, with a retest whenever the plating setup, the alloy or a component vendor changes, and many buyers add a twelve-month freshness rule of their own.

Why does a gold-plated item need EN 12472 as well as EN 1811?

Plating changes what a surface releases once worn. EN 12472 simulates abrasion and perspiration first, and EN 1811 measures the worn piece afterwards; a report without it describes a condition no customer will experience.

Can a single test cover a whole collection?

Nickel release shifts with construction, plating and findings, so coverage has to name each item. Evidence for one style says nothing about the next; every SKU needs its own line.