If you are in search of a wedding band or a stylish ring to wear for many occasions, and you find that you're having trouble deciding between a traditional gold or platinum ring and a more contemporary item like a tungsten carbide wedding band, this basic breakdown of the very popular modern metal's strengths and weaknesses may be helpful.
The factors that serve as the key selling points of tungsten wedding bands relate to the durability and strength of these items.
Tungsten carbide is an extremely hard material-so hard, in fact, that diamonds are required to polish the rings during the manufacturing process-which logically tells us that they are extremely resistant to being scratched by other objects. Additionally, tungsten is chemically incapable of becoming tarnished, and due to the extreme heating and tempering these rings receive, they are impossible to bend out of round. Scratching, bending, and tarnish are all problems that come with the territory when dealing with traditional jeweler's metals like gold, silver, and platinum. Tungsten carbide rings will simply age far better than the average gold wedding band.
Much of tungsten carbide's attraction also lies in the uniqueness of the base material and the interesting ways in which tungsten can be formed and accented. The unmistakeable grey hue of tungsten carbide rings can be brightened with a mirror finish or warmed with a brushed finish like other metals, but it can also be laser engraved with complex designs and formed with facets and ring shapes that are impractical for metals that aren't as likely to hold their shape and brightness. A tungsten ring simply doesn't look like anything else, and you won't find a tougher ring with this kind of versatility and beauty.
It must be addressed, however, that even a great product will require considerations of its potential drawbacks. This is where personal tastes and lifestyle become very important, and decisions must be made regarding which qualities in a wedding bands are desired or necessary, which are negligible, and what problems are deal-breakers.
As we learned above, tungsten carbide rings are extremely hard. This makes them very strong and gives them all of the wonderful properties related to a ring's aesthetic longevity, but this is also the source of the most common issues that wearers of tungsten wedding bands encounter. For example, instead of cutting out or adding in metal to size a tungsten wedding ring as a jeweler might do to resize items made from platinum or gold, a tungsten ring would have to be replaced completely to make a necessary change in size. When choosing a tungsten ring retailer, make sure they offer a policy to accommodate this need.
Also, a harder material that does not bend is more likely to break; this means that a tungsten wedding band will never bend out of round and cause the wearer any of the related problems that can occur when a gold wedding band bends, but under too much force it is possible for them to break. Even this issue has its good point, though; breaking the rings under gentle pressure is the way they're removed in emergencies, and there are many stories out there about people whose hand were accidentally closed in doors or otherwise endangered, and their tungsten rings absorbed the trauma and broke but prevented more serious injury. While there is no guarantee that a tungsten ring would prevent injury and we certainly don't recommend testing this theory, it never hurts to improve one's odds.
In any case, reputable retailer of tungsten rings will be aware of these potential issues and generally offer some type of discount or contingency plan to offset the cost of replacements.
The factors that serve as the key selling points of tungsten wedding bands relate to the durability and strength of these items.
Tungsten carbide is an extremely hard material-so hard, in fact, that diamonds are required to polish the rings during the manufacturing process-which logically tells us that they are extremely resistant to being scratched by other objects. Additionally, tungsten is chemically incapable of becoming tarnished, and due to the extreme heating and tempering these rings receive, they are impossible to bend out of round. Scratching, bending, and tarnish are all problems that come with the territory when dealing with traditional jeweler's metals like gold, silver, and platinum. Tungsten carbide rings will simply age far better than the average gold wedding band.
Much of tungsten carbide's attraction also lies in the uniqueness of the base material and the interesting ways in which tungsten can be formed and accented. The unmistakeable grey hue of tungsten carbide rings can be brightened with a mirror finish or warmed with a brushed finish like other metals, but it can also be laser engraved with complex designs and formed with facets and ring shapes that are impractical for metals that aren't as likely to hold their shape and brightness. A tungsten ring simply doesn't look like anything else, and you won't find a tougher ring with this kind of versatility and beauty.
It must be addressed, however, that even a great product will require considerations of its potential drawbacks. This is where personal tastes and lifestyle become very important, and decisions must be made regarding which qualities in a wedding bands are desired or necessary, which are negligible, and what problems are deal-breakers.
As we learned above, tungsten carbide rings are extremely hard. This makes them very strong and gives them all of the wonderful properties related to a ring's aesthetic longevity, but this is also the source of the most common issues that wearers of tungsten wedding bands encounter. For example, instead of cutting out or adding in metal to size a tungsten wedding ring as a jeweler might do to resize items made from platinum or gold, a tungsten ring would have to be replaced completely to make a necessary change in size. When choosing a tungsten ring retailer, make sure they offer a policy to accommodate this need.
Also, a harder material that does not bend is more likely to break; this means that a tungsten wedding band will never bend out of round and cause the wearer any of the related problems that can occur when a gold wedding band bends, but under too much force it is possible for them to break. Even this issue has its good point, though; breaking the rings under gentle pressure is the way they're removed in emergencies, and there are many stories out there about people whose hand were accidentally closed in doors or otherwise endangered, and their tungsten rings absorbed the trauma and broke but prevented more serious injury. While there is no guarantee that a tungsten ring would prevent injury and we certainly don't recommend testing this theory, it never hurts to improve one's odds.
In any case, reputable retailer of tungsten rings will be aware of these potential issues and generally offer some type of discount or contingency plan to offset the cost of replacements.
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