FAQ

Gorilla Glass is a design and manufacturing studio focused on producing glass jewelry for body piercing. We are based in Oaxaca, Mexico, and have been in business since 2002. Years of technical innovation, constant experimentation, and a love for design enable our skilled artisans to consistently produce our signature styles to the highest standards. The test of time has proven that Gorilla Glass is the world leader in manufacturing quality glass piercing jewelry.

At Gorilla Glass, we believe in the importance of community, inclusivity, preserving the environment, and promoting education.

COMMUNITY

Our community begins with our team at Gorilla Glass. We are committed to creating long-term employment opportunities for women and working mothers from the small towns near the workshop in Southern Mexico. 85% of our artisans are women, as well as supervisors and administrators. Benefits for workers include paid training to learn a skilled professional trade, full health coverage for workers and their families, paid maternity leave, free daycare near the Gorilla Glass studio, and profit-sharing of 10% of the annual sales.

ENVIRONMENT

Gorilla Glass is committed to reducing our impact on the environment. We have an upcycling facility that reuses our waste and surplus glass and converts it into high-quality glass jewelry. The studio is built with permaculture design principles. We employ rainwater capture and reuse gray water in the garden to reduce our water consumption.

EDUCATION

We believe education goes hand in hand with health and safety. We are proud corporate members of the Association of Professional Piercing since 2006 and support their educational mission. We attend their annual conference in Las Vegas every year. We also sponsor the Gorilla Glass scholarship for the Latin American Body Piercing Organization (LBP). The scholarship helps bring a gifted piercer from Latin America to attend the LBP Conference. The founder of Gorilla Glass, Jason Pfohl, has lectured on glass as a material for body piercing at conferences around the world.

Gorilla Glass is a wholesale-only company. Piercing studios and jewelry stores can buy our products directly through the getgorilla.com website. If you are the owner of a piercing studio or jewelry store you can fill out the application form here: getgorilla.com/signup. As soon as your account is approved, you can see pricing and place items in the shopping cart. If you have any questions about registering as a wholesale customer, please email us at sales@getgorilla.com. We review requests for new accounts from Monday to Friday, with the exception of Mexican holidays.

Gorilla Glass only sells wholesale; we do not sell directly to retail customers. We encourage retail customers to support their local piercing studio. A professional studio will be able to help you select jewelry that matches your anatomy, sterilize your jewelry in an autoclave, give you advice on stretching or new piercings, and advise you about proper aftercare. In addition, professional piercers are jewelry experts who are familiar with the top jewelry brands, the latest jewelry releases, and will be able to help you order rare and tailor-made jewelry from us.

Gorilla Glass is committed to the design and production of fine glass body jewelry. The skills and services that a professional piercer can offer go beyond our abilities as a manufacturer. We believe all of our customers should receive the best in terms of the quality of our product and the quality of attention to your individual piercings. We get the jewelry to the piercers who can best recommend the jewelry for your complete satisfaction. Another reason we do not sell retail is because we are based in Mexico, and international shipping fees are prohibitively expensive for retail sales to the USA and other countries.

If you don’t have access to a high-quality piercing studio in your area, contact us through email at sales@getgorilla.com and we will connect you with an online retailer. We respond to emails from Monday to Friday, with the exception of Mexican holidays.

May Inc. is our exclusive distributor in Japan. You can register for an account with them here: may.jewelry/registration.

After you are registered as a customer, you will be able to see wholesale prices in yen and get more information about product availability and delivery times.

If you did not receive a confirmation email or are having problems registering for a wholesale account, email sales@getgorilla.com and we will assist you. We respond to emails from Monday to Friday, with the exception of Mexican holidays.

If you can’t remember your password, click on the “Did you forget your password?” button on the login page here getgorilla.com/mi-cuenta/lost-password. 
Enter your email and you will receive an email shortly with your new password. If you don’t receive your reset password or have any problems during this process, don’t hesitate to contact us at sales@getgorilla.com. We respond to emails from Monday to Friday, with the exception of Mexican holidays.

After you are registered and approved as a wholesale customer, you can log in to your account and place orders using our online shopping cart. You can pay at checkout using your credit card or PayPal.

Yes, there is a minimum order of $300 for wholesale purchases (except Mexico customers). If you need to purchase a piece of jewelry for a medical appointment or a custom order that does not meet our minimum, please contact us directly at sales@getgorilla.com to consult with us. We respond to emails from Monday to Friday, with the exception of Mexican holidays.

All of our jewelry is guaranteed against manufacturing defects and accidental breakage in shipping. If you receive a piece of jewelry that does not meet your expectations(*), send us an email and photograph of the jewelry to sales@getgorilla.com. We will review the photo with our quality control team and issue a credit memo for the value of the jewelry.

Please note that we will not accept returns or claims after one week has passed since receiving your order.

(*) Keep in mind, there’s not cancel or returns on custom jewelry. Please, be sure of your choices before confirming your order.

Once you have confirmed your order and made payment online, the order is finalized and you cannot add more pieces to that order. You will have to place a new order on the shopping cart. You can email sales@getgorilla.com if you have any questions. We respond to emails from Monday to Friday, with the exception of Mexican holidays.

Once you have paid for your order, it cannot be modified. If it is an order that you started, but is still in the shopping cart, you can log in with your username and password and edit your order.

We have a “Design Your Own Plug” app that allows you to design your own custom glass plugs, including flare size, wearable length, surface finish, color, etc. Remember that you need to order two pieces in order to receive a pair.

Please, be sure of your choices before confirming your order. Keep in mind, there’s not cancel or returns on custom jewelry.

getgorilla.com/design-your-own-plug

All orders on our shopping cart are for single pieces of jewelry. You must order two pieces to receive a pair. The only exception to this is the Upcycle jewelry, which is sold as pairs only.

Yes, you can order a single piece of jewelry. When ordering, all of our jewelry is listed as singles. You need to order two pieces to receive a pair. All Gorilla Glass is handmade in small batches, so we cannot guarantee that a single will be a perfect match with previously purchased jewelry (color and shape may vary slightly). The only exception to this is the Upcycle jewelry, which is sold as pairs only.

We offer plugs up to two inches in diameter using the Design Your Own Plug app. Available in the SOLID PLUGS and DELUXE DICHROIC PLUGS styles only(*).

getgorilla.com/design-your-own-plug

(*) Keep in mind, there’s not cancel or returns on custom jewelry. Please, be sure of your choices before confirming your order.

Yes, Gorilla Glass makes in-between sizes (half-millimeter increments) in the Simple Plug styles.

Gorilla Glass is known for its diverse design portfolio over the years. The only items we currently offer are listed on the website. Limited edition collections from previous years and discontinued items are no longer available. Remember to keep your eyes open for upcoming limited-edition releases or new releases of our Upcycle line. Upcycle releases feature rare upcycled jewelry from older production runs and dead stock.

We generally ship out stock orders within three business days from receiving your order (we do not work on weekends or Mexican holidays). Large orders and custom orders placed using the Design Your Own Plug app may take up to two weeks to produce before shipment.

Our main shipping company is FedEx. You can request UPS if you have a preference, just add the request in the “custom order” section, or send us an email at sales@getgorilla.com. Unless you make a special request, we ship using FedEx Expedited.

All orders are shipped from our headquarters in Oaxaca, Mexico. Orders to the USA generally arrive in three to five business days, although there are occasionally delays with US customs. We offer free shipping for orders in the USA larger than $500. You can see shipping charges in the graphic below.

Yes, here is an overview of our insurance policy.

We understand the importance of ensuring the safe delivery of your valuable jewelry. Here’s a detailed explanation of our insurance policy:

1. Manufacturing Defects and Shipping Breakage:
   • Guaranteed Coverage: All our jewelry is covered against manufacturing defects and any breakage that may occur during shipping. If you receive a piece of jewelry that does not meet your expectations, send us an email with a photograph of the jewelry to sales@getgorilla.com. We will review the photo with our quality control team and issue a credit memo for the value of the jewelry. Please note that we will not accept returns after one week has passed since receiving your order.
2. Shipping Loss:
   • Optional Insurance: For additional security, we offer optional insurance to cover the loss of your package during shipping.
   • Mandatory Insurance: For orders over $1,500 purchasing insurance is mandatory.
3. Coverage Details:
   • 100% Coverage: By opting for insurance before completing your payment, you ensure that your package is fully covered against loss during shipping.
   • No Insurance: If you choose not to purchase insurance and your package gets lost, we regret to inform you that we will not be able to offer any guarantee or compensation.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding. If you have any questions or need assistance with purchasing insurance, please do not hesitate to contact our customer service team at sales@getgorilla.com.

The cost of insurance depends on the value of your order. Insurance costs are listed below.

Customs regulations for imported goods from Mexico vary from country to country. You will need to investigate what your home country customs policy is to know what taxes apply. There are no customs fees for orders in the USA, as they are covered by the NAFTA free trade agreement with Mexico. Orders larger than $2,500 from the USA will need to fill out a 5106 form for US customs. Our sales team will contact you in this scenario. Write to sales@getgorilla.com if you need more information or help regarding customs fees.

We are pleased to offer the following shipping discounts for our valued customers:

Take advantage of these discounts to enjoy free shipping on your qualifying orders. If you have any questions or need assistance, our customer service team is here to help.

We are truly sorry to hear that your order has been lost. Here is what you can do next:

• With Insurance: If you opted for insurance before making your payment, you are entitled to 100% coverage for the lost package. Our customer service team will be in contact with you about sending a replacement order.
• Without Insurance: If you did not choose to purchase insurance, unfortunately, we are unable to offer any guarantee or compensation for the lost package.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this situation may have caused and appreciate your understanding. Please contact our customer service team at sales@getgorilla.com for further assistance.

You will be asked to make payment at checkout with our secure online credit card processing. We accept Visa, Mastercard, and American Express, as well as PayPal and Stripe.

If your payment is denied, you may need to contact your bank to authorize the payment. We also offer PayPal as an alternative. If you still cannot process payment, please contact sales@getgorilla.com and we will help you. We respond to emails from Monday to Friday, with the exception of Mexican holidays.

Gorilla Glass does not offer volume discounts. You can find discounted jewelry in the Upcycle section of our website (Upcycle jewelry is 30% off the standard price).

Yes, Gorilla Glass gives a 5% discount to APP shops and sister organizations. Email a current copy of your up-to-date certificate of membership to sales@getgorilla.com and we will send you a discount code you can apply to your order. We respond to emails from Monday to Friday, with the exception of Mexican holidays.

Glass is a very safe material for piercing jewelry and lead-free glass is approved by the Association of Professional Piercers for initial piercings. Glass is a non-porous, inert material that can be sterilized in an autoclave.

Glass is a strong material, but can break if it receives an impact. Please handle your glass jewelry with care and treat it with the same respect you would a set of eyeglasses. By taking the following precautions, your glass jewelry should have many years of use:

• When you are not wearing your jewelry, store it in a safe, dry place.
• When traveling with your jewelry, wrap the jewelry individually so that it does not scratch or impact other jewelry.
• Please remove your glass jewelry before taking a shower or going to sleep. Glass may fall out of your piercing during these activities and is at risk of being broken.
• Do not wear glass jewelry while playing sports or during physical activities.
• Small retainers are particularly fragile and should be inserted and removed gently.

The following characteristics of glass make it a superior material for body jewelry:

• Glass has a smooth, non-porous surface (three times smoother than titanium!), making insertion and removal easy.
• Glass can be sterilized in an autoclave.
• Glass is the only material that can be worn during medical procedures such as X-rays or MRIs. By wearing glass, you can keep your piercings open and healthy for these medical appointments.
• Glass is a chemically stable material that will not cause allergic reactions.
• Glass is easy to clean, which helps prevent infections and keeps your jewelry looking brand new.
• Glass is available in half-sizes, making it ideal for stretching earlobes.
• Glass jewelry is lightweight and extremely comfortable to wear.
• Glass is a good insulator and will not freeze in cold climates.
• Glass is colorful and fun!

YES! Glass is the only material that can be worn during medical procedures such as X-rays or MRIs. Wear glass to keep your piercings open and healthy for these medical appointments.

• Clean your jewelry regularly using warm, soapy water.
• Store your jewelry in a secure, dry place.
• When traveling, pack each piece of jewelry separately to avoid scratching or damaging your jewelry.
• Remove your jewelry when showering or before going to bed to avoid it falling out of your ear accidentally.
• Remove your jewelry before playing sports or other physical activities.
• Take care of your glass jewelry with the same common sense you would treat a pair of eyeglasses.

Yes! You can autoclave all our glass jewelry. For your info, our glass resists up to 1292°F (700°C).

Our O-rings are autoclave safe too.

Our pieces are not sterilized. A professional piercer will be able to autoclave your glass jewelry.

All of our o-rings are made from medical-grade silicone and can be autoclaved without problems.

Yes, we do! Simple Plugs are available in intermediate sizes through our shopping cart. Using our intermediate size plugs will ensure the best possible stretching and healing experience for your customers. If you are interested in having other styles made with in-between sizes, check out our Design Your Own Plug app or let us know about your special request at sales@getgorilla.com.

Yes, we offer four lengths of single-flare Simple Plugs and Color Front Plugs: Short, Standard, Long, and Extra Long. This allows you to select the most appropriate length for your customer’s anatomy and specific piercing. We also offer the option of single flare plugs with a gentle groove to help secure the o-ring on the end of the plug.

• Total Length: Refers to the size measured starting from the back of the flare to the end of the plug.
• Wearable Length: Is the length of the piece that will be in contact with your earlobes.
• Overall Length: Is the length of the whole plug, including the front of the plug.

Glass can be described as a state of matter rather than a specific material. The glassy state has an amorphous structure and has characteristics of both a solid and a liquid. There are thousands of glass formulas. Typically, glass is made of three main ingredients: silica, soda, and lime.

Gorilla Glass uses two glass types in production. We use the most suitable glass for a particular manufacturing technique and to provide as many color options as possible.

• Soda Lime Glass: Soda-lime glass is the most common glass type, making up an estimated 90% of all manufactured glass. Its uses include containers, windows, bottles, and drinking glasses. It contains three major compounds in varying proportions, but usually silica (60-75%), soda (12-18%), and lime (5-12%). These percentages are a general composition only; other compounds are also present in smaller amounts. In addition, a large range of metal oxides are used as colorants in small quantities (less than 1%). Gorilla Glass uses soda-lime glass for its range of pure, transparent colors. We use high-quality glass rods imported from Italy for our Simple Plug styles. We also use imported glass blocks from the USA that are carved, ground, and polished to make our Solid Plugs and Deluxe Dichroic plug styles. We only use the highest quality, lead-free soda-lime glass in our production.
• Borosilicate Glass: Borosilicate glass is widely used in the scientific glass industry because of its resistance to chemical corrosion and thermal shock. Borosilicate glass has a tough surface resistant to scratching, making borosilicate plugs some of the most durable glass jewelry available. The composition of borosilicate glass is approximately as follows: silica (80%), boric oxide (13%), sodium oxide (4%), aluminum oxide (2-3%). In addition, a large range of metal oxides are used as colorants in small quantities (less than 1%). Borosilicate glass is defined as any glass type with at least 5% boron oxide in the composition. Pyrex is a well-known brand of borosilicate glass; however, Gorilla Glass primarily uses the Simax brand manufactured in the Czech Republic. Borosilicate colored glass is primarily produced by specialized manufacturers based in the USA. Gorilla Glass only uses high-quality, lead-free borosilicate glass in their production. The popular Color Front Plugs and Dichroic Plugs are made from borosilicate glass.

Dichroic is not a glass type in itself, but rather a coating applied to a glass sheet or object. Technically speaking, dichroic is a multi-layer coating of vaporized quartz crystal and metal oxides fused on the surface of the glass in a special vacuum chamber. The main characteristic of dichroic glass is that it has a transmitted color and a completely different reflective color as certain wavelengths of light either pass through or are reflected. Furthermore, these two colors shift depending on the angle of view. In other words, dichroic glass reflects a range of dazzling colors depending on the angle of the light to the glass surface! Dichroic glass was originally created for the aerospace industry for coating satellite mirrors, but it now has many technical and artistic applications.

Glass is colored during the melting process of the raw material by adding metal oxides in small quantities. Generally, colorants constitute less than 1% of the glass by weight. Many different oxides and rare earth metals are used to create the wide range of colors found in glass. Some examples of colorants are: cobalt makes a deep blue color, iron makes a green color, neodymium makes a pinkish color, gold makes a reddish color, manganese makes a purple color, etc. Color formulas are carefully guarded trade secrets kept by the raw glass manufacturers.

At Gorilla Glass, we don’t formulate our own glass colors. Our raw materials are purchased as rods, sheets, or blocks of glass before being made into piercing jewelry at our manufacturing studio. The raw glass material comes from different parts of the world, including the United States, Italy, and the Czech Republic. Gorilla Glass uses only top-quality, lead-free raw materials to manufacture our jewelry.

The Gorilla Glass production studio is based in Oaxaca, Mexico. We manufacture all of our glass jewelry in small batches with highly skilled artisans. The raw glass material comes from different parts of the world, including the United States, Italy, and the Czech Republic. Gorilla Glass uses only top-quality, lead-free raw materials to manufacture our jewelry.

Gorilla Glass uses a range of glass techniques in our production, including flame-working, fusing, blowing, and lapidary techniques.

• Flame Working: Flame working is the technique of heating up glass rods on a torch and sculpting them into the finished form using gravity and simple hand tools. Proper heat sequences and careful heating to avoid thermal stress are critical in flame working. Flame working requires a lot of manual dexterity and attention to detail. After the jewelry is finished, it is put in a special computer-controlled oven to slowly cool to room temperature and remove thermal stress from the jewelry.
• Fusing: Fusing is a glass technique that involves cutting sheets of colored glass and arranging them in patterns at room temperature. After the design is laid out, they are placed in a special fusing oven that brings them up to molten temperature, binding them into a solid block of glass. After being carefully cooled to room temperature after a cycle of up to twenty-four hours, they can be removed from the fusing oven and be ground and polished into jewelry in the lapidary shop.
• Blown Glass: Blown glass is the process of winding molten glass on the end of a steel blowpipe, where it can be blown into a bubble and then stretched into long tubes. After the tubes are cooled enough to be solid, they are immediately placed into a special computer-controlled oven to slowly bring them down to room temperature to remove thermal stress. After they are at room temperature, they can be cut into sections, ground, and polished into jewelry in the lapidary shop. Blown glass is always done with a team of glass workers.
• Lapidary: Lapidary techniques involve cutting, grinding, and polishing glass using diamond-coated wheels and tools. Many steps are involved in achieving the final polish. Water is used to keep the glass cool during the grinding process. After the final shape is achieved, surface finishes and textures can be added using additional processes such as sand-blasting for the matte finish or faceting using diamond-coated spheres for the martele finish. Often, flame-worked, fused, or blown glass is given its final form in the lapidary shop.

Glass making is a highly technical skill that takes years to master. At Gorilla Glass, we pay all artisans to learn glass-making techniques. Artisans start with the most basic techniques and gradually build on their experience as they develop specialized skills.

Upcycling is the process of using waste and surplus glass and transforming it into a high-end product. At Gorilla Glass, we aim to reuse all of our glass waste by fusing it into glass blocks and then carving, grinding, and polishing it into high-end glass jewelry. We also reutilize our “dead stock” of discontinued glass styles to produce limited edition glass plugs that we offer at discounted prices.