Author: Ken11

Both titanium and tungsten are considered “model metals” in the jewelry industry because they were not available to the consumer market as commodities until ten years ago. They have gained tremendous popularity since the introduction and become an integral part of the jewelry material spectrum.

Due to the rather little exposure, many questions arise concerning titanium and tungsten when it comes to choosing jewelry. The followings are some points of consideration if you are seriously thinking about buying a titanium or tungsten wedding ring.

1. Hardness
Titanium and tungsten are both known for the superior hardness over traditional metals such as gold, silver and platinum. One thing worth noting is that it is not the metals themselves in a pure form that possess the hardness, it is their alloys that do. Roughly speaking, the hardest form of tungsten carbide is harder than titanium alloys, and only under extreme circumstances, such as abrasion from diamonds, can it be damaged.

2. Ductility
Titanium is more ductile than tungsten in the common alloys used in jewelry. In other words, when a wedding ring is under high pressure, such as hit by a car door, a titanium ring would be bend out-of-round whereas a tungsten carbide ring would fracture into several pieces. Hence, in terms of safety, a tungsten carbide ring is “safer” to wear.

3. Hypoallergenic
This is the very same concern as buying silver jewelry to some people: Will I be allergic to the jewelry? In general, titanium jewelry is virtually safe to wear for everybody. Yet, some tungsten carbide jewelry contains the element cobalt that some people are allergic to. Interesting, another form of tungsten alloy using nickel as a binder metal is hypoallergenic, even to people who are allergic to nickel.

4. Weight
Titanium is lighter than tungsten, or more precisely, has a lower density. Titanium alloys are about 43% lighter than stainless steel and tungsten carbide is about 90% heavier than stainless steel.

5. Coloring
Titanium reacts with different chemicals and produces alloys of different colors. 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 grey color. On the other hand, tungsten carbide is usually offered on in black color only.

6. Pricing
Titanium jewelry is in general cheaper than tungsten jewelry primarily due to the difference in equipment and environment control need to produce them. The temperature for forming a tungsten carbide is about 6000 Fahrenheit, which has to be in either a vacuum or hydrogen environment.

7. Engraving and resizing
Titanium wedding rings can be engraved and resized. However, a tungsten carbide ring is too hard to be engraved or resized. Although engraving can be done, the letters will be very faint and difficult to read. So if you are buying to ring to engrave, get titanium rings.

About the Author:

Scott Murff got his MBA from MIT business school and currently is the marketing manager in Titanium Kay that specializes in men’s titanium rings, titanium bracelets and tungsten wedding rings.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Comparing Titanium and Tungsten wedding rings

Author: Stewart Goodwin

Tungsten Carbide vs. Titanium

Titanium rings look great new, and usually are less expensive. It is very common for people to mistakenly believe that the two metals are either the same thing or equal. Titanium is a strong metal but not resilient like tungsten carbide. Over time titanium rings will scratch and lose their polish thus needing to be refinished. Tungsten alone (not tungsten carbide) is also much like titanium. Without the carbide it does not gain its extreme hardness and durability. Only when tungsten is combined with a carbon alloy is it transformed into tungsten carbide, the strongest of all metals. Tungsten carbide is also a heavier metal than titanium which is very lightweight, making it more durable and better looking.

Tungsten Carbide vs. Gold & Platinum

Traditionally gold or platinum were the only choices that people would consider when buying a wedding band, or any ring that symbolized something important. Tungsten carbide has become a worthy substitute to these precious metals due to it’s brilliant forever lasting mirror like polish and resilient finish. Gold and platinum rings are also very brilliant but fade quickly and scratch very easy, over time gold and platinum can also begin to warp causing the ring to become “untrue” (not round). This nasty little side effect often is the culprit behind people not being able to remove their wedding bands and needing to have them cut off. Tungsten carbide rings can be easily removed in an emergency by a skilled professional just as easy if not easier than gold rings.

How to size your tungsten ring

Since tungsten carbide rings are thicker and are comfort fit, we recommend that when trying to decide your size, that you use the standard narrow gauge finger sizers, regardless of the width of the ring. This is to account for the comfort fit shape of the inside of the rings. Please keep in mind that fingers swell and shrink depending on the time of day and temperature. To be absolutely sure of your size we recommend you make your decisions with that in mind. On average many people find that when they are happier with a ring that is a half size smaller then what they are sized for. This is to accommodate the comfort fit of our rings.

What do tungsten rings look like?

Sometimes people will ask “What do your rings look like?” The most popular tungsten ring styles have a mirror polish. The rings are polished to a brilliant mirror finish that will last forever. They are slightly darker then platinum but are close enough in color to be often confused. Some cheaper rings are dark or grainy (not recommended). If you are confused about the look of a particular ring, simply email the vendor and ask them to send more detailed images or better descriptions.

View our favorite collection of tungsten carbide rings

About the Author:

Stewart Goodwin is a tungsten jewelry specialist. He has been in the tungsten jewelry industry since 2002 designing and producing fine pieces of tungsten jewelry.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Tungsten Carbide – the Ultimate Metal for Mens Rings