Titanium and Tungsten Wedding Rings

In the jewelry industry, tungsten and titanium are considered as model metals. This is because they are not available for the consumer market as commodities until ten years ago. Tungsten wedding rings have become popular since the introduction and become an integral part of the jewelry material spectrum.

Many questions have arisen about the titanium and tungsten wedding rings when people are choosing jewelry. If you really are thinking about buying titanium or tungsten wedding rings , here are a few points consideration.

1. Hardness

Tungsten and titanium are known for the superior hardness over traditional metals such as platinum, silver and gold. One thing to remember is that it is not the metal itself in a pure form of violence. The hardest form of tungsten carbide is harder than titanium alloys, and only in extreme circumstances, such as abrasion from diamonds, can it be damaged.

2. Ductility

In the common alloys used in jewelry, titanium is more ductile than tungsten. In other words, when the wedding ring is under high pressure, such as hit by a car door, a titanium ring will be bent out-of-round whereas a tungsten carbide ring would fracture into several pieces. Therefore, the tungsten carbide ring is safer to use.

3. Coloring

Titanium reacts with different chemicals and produces a variety of colors blend. Jewelry makers use anodization to coat colored patterns on titanium rings. Black titanium is another form of titanium alloy that has a different color than the commonly used gray. On the other hand, tungsten carbide is usually offered in black only.

4. Weight

Titanium is lighter than tungsten because it has a lower density. Titanium alloy is about 43% lighter than stainless steel and tungsten carbide is about 90% more weight than stainless steel.

5. Engraving and resizing

Titanium wedding rings can be carved and size can be changed. However, tungsten carbide ring is too hard for carving and resized. While it can be carved, the letter will be very vague and difficult to read. So if you buy a ring for carving, choose a titanium ring.

6. Price

In general, titanium jewelry is cheaper than tungsten jewelry primarily due to differences in environmental control equipment and the need to produce them. Temperature to form tungsten carbide is about 6000 Fahrenheit, in the environment must either hydrogen or a vacuum.

7. Hypoallergenic

Hypoallergenic is one of the concerns held by some people. Some people may be allergic to the jewelry, but titanium jewelry is generally used to secure nearly all the people. However, some tungsten carbide jewelry contains the element cobalt that some people are allergic. Interesting, another form of tungsten alloy using nickel as a metal binder hypoallergenic, even for people who are allergic to nickel.