oh good questions. Tuesday is one of Pauls work days he would know all of that. You might call them and check to see what they say and also see if they have a gold ring in the gage they suggest...you might need to order it.

I don't think a captive beed ring can be made to not open. I'm thinking welding would have to happen to create a metal ring that can not be opened...but maybe I'm missing an idea?

anyone else?

i would definitely go to a shop with these questions and to have them help you decide what works best for your piercing. They can even try some of the jewelry on you to see what you like and what works best. when i got my VCH piercing Paul put it a curved barbell. Master wanted me to have a captive bead ring so we went back in and Paul put in a couple different sizes to see what looked the best. He totally didn't mind putting in different ones to see how they looked. It would have been hard to do at home because you'd have to buy all that jewelry to try it out and then be left spending money on the ones you didn't end up using. Paul is very knowledgeable and helpful. He also changed out my navel piercing for one with a real stone and placed some stretchers in my ears on that same visit.