Tag: Carbide

Are tungsten carbide rings worth buying/having as a men’s wedding band vs. others like gold, platnum, etc.?

Question by Wes: Are tungsten carbide rings worth buying/having as a men’s wedding band vs. others like gold, platnum, etc.?
Does it shine well?
Does it keep its shine?
Will it scratch?
Is it heavy?
Is it expensive?

Best answer:

Answer by pspoptart
My HTB got a tungsten ring.

It’s very shine and tungsten is one of the most durable wedding ring materials out there next to titanium so it’s very, very hard to scratch it. They aren’t like sterling silver and will keep their shine even if you don’t use a polishing cloth.

Tungsten is heavier then titanium. Titanium is so light you almost can’t feel it. Some people like this feature, my husband prefered something he could feel in case (god forbid) it ever fell off. Our jewler also said that many men who orginally want titanium switch to tungsten because of the same reason as my husband or because they can’t understand how something so light could be so durable. It feels slightly heaver than gold and about the same as a decent platinum ring.

Some people have certain gold allergies (for instance anything less than 10k) whereas tungsten and titanium are very hypoallergenic. Another really durable allergy-free metal is stainless steel. It can be brushed or shiny but hasn’t caught on in popularity so very few jewlers use it. Our jeweler mentioned that some allergies were not to gold but to nickle which gold used to be cut with….the lower the carat the more nickle. However nickle is so hazardous to work with most companies have found a substitute that I can’t pronounce much less spell. lol.

He got a 7mm comfort fit band with a plain polished finish (looked like white gold) for $ 120 dollars including the lifetime warranty for the life of the ring. Depending on how complicated the design and where you are shopping they can go as low $ 50/$ 60 dollars or we saw the exact same ring for $ 500 because it was a higher end store. The mom and pop’s would have wanted $ 300 for his ring.

If you want to set stones, do special designs, or engrave a special message you really can’t do those things with titanium or tungsten so those may not be for you. They are choesn for their durability and low maitenence.

The other drawback (for some people) is that a tungsten or titanium band can’t be resized in the traditional sense. The metal is too hard. Instead what the store does is order a ring in the correct size with the same design.

I think palladium and platinum are a waste of money personally. They cost three times as much as gold, require just as much upkeep if not more in some cases. Unless you really wanna brag you have platinum pick another metal.

What do you think? Answer below!