Tungsten Wedding Bands

Tungsten diamond wedding bands are the latest inclusion in the jewellery industry. This new material is fabled for its extreme hardness. But in actual fact, tungsten is not new; it is not a very hard metal in itself either. Tungsten wedding bands are actually made of tungsten carbide. It is an alloy made of tungsten infused with carbon.

Tungsten carbide has been used for years in industrial applications such as drill bits and reinforced structures. It is the hardest metal made by man. On a Mohs hardness scale from 1 to 10, tungsten carbide is rated at 9, with diamond at 10. Tungsten carbide was only introduced into the jewellery industry in recent years, but its hardness and weight have allowed it to be fashion in ways not possible with traditional metals and also brought it to new heights of popularity today. Several features of the tungsten wedding band make them unique. Before you proceed to buy one, here are some features you should look out for.

Hardness

While tungsten wedding bands are reputed to be extremely hard and virtually indestructible, there are actually many grades of tungsten bands. Tungsten carbide is an alloy, and the more carbon infused within, the harder is the alloy. Not all tungsten wedding bands will be as hard as you think they might be.

Although tungsten rings are prized for their hardness, their hardness results in a problem of another kind. Because of the hardness of tungsten wedding bands, the rings cannot be resized or altered after its final structure has been form. Some jewellers provide lifetime warranty, including the replacement of rings that no longer fit, but some do not. So make sure you look out for such offers when getting a tungsten wedding band.

In case of an emergency, your ring may be required to be removed from your finger. Tungsten wedding bands are too hard for common ring cutters to cut through. To break the tungsten ring, grip-like locking pliers are used to clamp onto the ring and squeezed together. Repeat this process, clamping on different places of your ring until a crack is heard. Continue to clamp hard on the ring and it should break into pieces. Fortunately, most hospitals will carry the locking pliers used for such an operation.

Engraving

Most people will like to engrave names or dates on their wedding bands as the ultimate way of personalization. However, because of the hardness of tungsten wedding bands, only laser engraving will be able etch engravings on the ring, physical engraving is nearly impossible. This means that if you are looking for 3D engravings that can be felt by touch, you will be disappointed. Note also that once engraved, rings usually cannot be refunded.

Colour

Unlike gold wedding bands which come in a variety of colours, modernistic metals usually come in metallic white. Tungsten wedding bands are usually metallic white as well, but a recent technological breakthrough have allowed them to come in cool black. Black tungsten wedding bands exhibit a different aura as compared to common metallic rings and are the perfect choice for those who wish to opt for uncommon wedding bands.

Weight

A reason for choosing tungsten wedding bands apart its hardness is its weight. Unlike other wedding bands which are commonly light-weight, tungsten wedding bands, on the contrary are very weighty objects. Tungsten is a very dense metal and therefore it feels much heavier than common rings. Many people, men especially, prefer to feel this weight when wearing the ring.

Alloys

While the main components of tungsten carbide wedding bands are tungsten and carbon, most of them contain small amounts of other metal. Many people are allergic to metals like nickel and they should be avoided.

Other alloys like cobalt are sometimes added in low quality productions to make tungsten carbide easy to work on. The cobalt often causes allergy on human skin and also can also be oxidised, causing discolouration of your wedding band. Cobalt content in tungsten bands also weaken the strength of the ring, making it less scratch resistant.