Our materials

There are two key materials that goes into crafting our durable and exceptional necklaces:

316L Stainless Steel and 18K Gold.

Stainless Steel is the material in our pendants. The majority of all jewelry in the world uses stainless steel made from Grade 304. This version is cheaper and breaks more easily, and it’s what most brands use for their necklaces.

We have nothing against those brands personally. But it does sacrifice quality and we wanted to design our necklaces to last a lifetime. 

During our worldwide travels, we learned about something called Grade 316 Stainless Steel. It offers a higher degree of resistance, formability, and strength. And has a greater resistance towards chlorides and acids.

While it does increase production costs, we include it because we want to ensure you can wear your necklace in the shower, while being active, and just living your life. 

But we actually went to the next level and included Grade 316L Stainless Steel in our production. See it as an “upgrade” from your typical Grade 316. The big difference is that 316L has a lower level of chromium compared to Grade 316. The less chromium, the less likely your jewelry is to turn green. 

In addition, and combined with our other materials and 3-step quality control process, we’ve ensured you can wear your Louis Elite how you want and it won’t color your neck or skin – ever.

Straight up, 18K Gold is superior when it comes to necklaces and we’ll tell you why.

18K Gold means it contains 75% of pure gold melted bricks and a touch of alloy. Alloy is a unique combination of metals that makes 18K Gold extra strong and durable. So it can handle whatever you’re throwing at it, whether you're rockin' it at a party or just living your everyday life.

18K Gold costs more to produce and comes with higher quality and endurance. It’s superior and looks better than cheap gold like 10K and 14K, which is what a lot of brands use to sacrifice quality and increase profits. No hate against them, but we’ve never felt that was our style at Louis Elite.

But why didn’t we just go all out with 24K, which is “supposed” to be the highest quality of gold? Well here’s the deal: 24K is pure gold. It’s heavy. It’s flashy. You feel like the man wearing it. That is all true. And sure, by not using 24K we can offer our necklaces at a more affordable price.

But that’s not the real reason we avoid it in our production. What most people don’t know is that 24K gold is SOFT. Way softer than any other gold. Don’t get us wrong, it looks great, but it gets scratched up or dented way easier. And we didn’t want that with Louis Elite. We want you to wear it, tear it, and still look fly.

And that’s why we went with 18K gold. You get the best of both worlds. It's got that killer shine and elegance, but it's tough enough to stay looking fresh for a lifetime. And honestly, most people, unless they’re a professional jeweler, can’t even tell the difference between 18K or 24K gold.

So it looks like you’re rocking 100% pure gold anyways (because we avoid the cheap stuff that is 10K and 14K).

Now some people claim you’re not supposed to shower or swim with 18K Gold because the soap, shampoo, and hot water can damage the materials. While it is true that exposing gold to hot temperatures will tarnish the materials faster, don’t worry, we’ve thought about that too. 

That’s why, we've added an ultra protective PVD Vacuum Seal on ALL our necklaces. 

What does that mean? Well, Physical Vapor Deposition, or PVD, is a vacuum coating process that produces an insanely high protective and functional finish. PVD coatings have been shown in scientific blind tests to be 327% more resistant to corrosion from sweat and regular wear than gold plating.

Basically, you can shower, swim, play sports, and do whatever you want with it. We won’t say it’s unbreakable, but pretty damn close for a men’s necklace. And it’s why we believe our materials are superior to any other jewelry brand we’ve personally seen.

When you combine everything… the 316L Stainless Steel, the 18K Gold, and the PVD Vacuum Seal, you get a higher quality necklace that lasts a lifetime. 

And this is the reason we can offer you a lifetime guarantee on ALL our products. We know the jewelry industry inside out. We know the materials we use. We know they are durable. We’ve literally rocked our original samples from 2020 and they are STILL like brand new. And these necklaces have seen and experienced some wild stuff ;)

Now, anyone that knows anything about jewelry will ask themselves...

The truth is, with the materials we use, and the high level production facilities we work with, our necklaces SHOULD be priced higher. Way higher. 

But we have an unfair advantage over most brands…

We’re explorers ourselves. We love skydiving, snowboarding, skateboarding, all of it. And we love to travel the world and experience new cultures.

Combined, we’ve been to almost all of Asia, which is where we get a lot of design inspiration from, like the Shinka Survivalist, the Kintsugi, and the Teng-Tien Dragon.

After traveling so much, and being interested in launching our own brand, we’ve visited a LOT of trade shows. If you don’t know, a trade show is an event held where companies can display, demonstrate, and discuss their latest products.

At these shows, there are a lot of manufacturers, owners of production facilities, and world-class experts in bringing products to life. 

Well, when visiting one of them, we came in contact with a man who was running one of the most respected jewelry production facilities in all of East Asia.

His factory was producing goods for some of the world’s biggest brands. If we name dropped them, you would instantly recognize them.

But what was interesting was that their facility didn’t even have a public website. Meaning the only way you could come in contact with them was if one of these big brands gave you an introduction – or by meeting them at one of these trade shows.

When we first met him and his team, that’s when everything changed for us. Instead of having to find some unverified manufacturer online, like most brands do, we were having face-to-face conversations with one of East Asia's best jewelry producers.

We quickly became friends and started going to dinners together. It didn’t take long before we had formed a great relationship with their entire team...

Luckily for us, a few months later, one of their biggest clients was just about to discontinue a part of their jewelry line. 

They now had a spot open to work with a new jewelry brand. They were always booked in advanced and had a long waiting list (we're talking months) just to start discussing the production process with new clients.

A few moments later...

They asked us if we were interested in producing some jewelry and of course, we said hell yes. From there, we started the process and learned all about what true craftsmanship looks like when it comes to necklaces. 

This is where we learned all about the materials, what makes a necklace the most durable, and how to combine it all to offer exceptional quality at a superior price point. 

We can proudly say that we've been working with them ever since, and the results have been nothing but excellent. 

As a result of our personal relationships, we’ve managed to negotiate a far lower production costs than what 98% of men’s jewelry brands. And this is how we can afford to offer you necklaces of the highest quality –– with meaningful stories –– at more affordable price point. 

We are 100% our own producer of ALL Louis Elite products. No middle man or dropshipping BS.

So we are, without a doubt, confident you will not only love the look of your new necklace, the feel of your new necklace, the compliments, but the quality, as well.

Imagine rocking it in the shower, while swimming, playing sports, going on adventures, it doesn’t matter what you, you can always look fly with Louis Elite.

And if something was to happen with your necklace, you’re always covered by our lifetime guarantee. 

We rarely get cases like that, but if we do, just hit us up and we’ll help you out. You’re in great hands and we’re absolutely sure you’re going to love your new Louis Elite necklace. We promise you that ;)

If you’re interested, just browse some of our pieces below or on the site, and we’ll sure you’ll find something you truly fw.

Thanks for reading about our unique materials and how we are able to offer exceptional quality at a superior price compared to any other brand we’ve personally seen.

If you fw our story or dig the meaningful designs, remember to browse the site and cop your first piece if you haven’t already! You’ll love it even more in person :)