Kenny: Question about titanium

[Dreamer_D]

How are you finding that your Boone titanium rings are wearing in terms of patina? How do you polish them, do you send them off, do it yourself? Any suggestions or tips about titanium rings in general?

 

[kenny]

I got brushed finish and Bruce told me to just use a Scotch Brite pad to polish (actually burnish) it myself.
That works great.

I have no clue about titanium rings with a mirror-like high-polish finish.

 

[affguy]

I'm hoping more guys weigh in on this. I'm about to order my ring, and am going with this, with a 2 mm palladium inlay (6 mm wide ring). The only question I have left is finish. I was thinking polished across the full width, so the inlay would be subtle at first (but hopefully still noticable enough to break it up), in anticipation of the palladium developing a patina while the titanium would stay relatively mirror-like. However a brushed finish all the way across could accent the inlay a bit more, or polishing the titanium and brushing the palladium should produce an even bigger contrast.

Anyhow, my gut is to go with polished, and I'm pretty sure I can change that after the fact if it's too subtle, but I'm not completely convinced and will be watching this thread in hope of more opinions.

(edit for spelling)

 

[kenny]

Any suggestions or tips about titanium rings in general?

Musings:
Titanium is much cheaper than those precious metals so that leaves more for a better diamond.
It is also much lighter which is nice for tension settings, which must be beefy to do their job; I also have a Gelin Abaci platinum tension setting and it weighs a ton.
I have read that titanium actually has better metallurgical properties for making the strongest tension settings but I realize stuff you read on the Internet is not vetted and can be written by people with a financial interest.

 

[kenny]

I'm hoping more guys weigh in on this. I'm about to order my ring, and am going with this, with a 2 mm palladium inlay (6 mm wide ring). The only question I have left is finish. I was thinking polished across the full width, so the inlay would be subtle at first (but hopefully still noticable enough to break it up), in anticipation of the palladium developing a platinum-like patina while the titation would stay relatively mirror-like. However a brushed finish all the way across could accent the inlay a bit more, or polishing the titanium and brushing the palladium should produce an even bigger contrast.

Anyhow, my gut is to go with polished, and I'm pretty sure I can change that after the fact if it's too subtle, but I'm not completely convinced an will be watching this thread in hope of more information.

Come to think of it I think the Octavia got set in a polished titanium finish and there was an event that discolored it.
A couple years ago I was photographing the rings and to keep them upright I pressed them into some Sculpy, a modeling clay.
The bottom of the polished ring got a bit discolored from what must have been a chemical reaction with something in the clay.
When my SO gets home I'll ask to see the ring and see if the discoloration has worn off.

Nice setting design BTW, I strongly considered it.

 

[Dreamer_D]

kenny Thanks!

My main concern is how the patina looks over time. I am happy if the ring gets an even patina the way plantium does, but would be less happy if it just gets some random scratches... I read in another thread you mentioned you just let your rings patina rather than polishing them?

affguy When will you have your ring? What size diamond are you using? I am asking this question of Kenny because I am planning a gift for my husband for our fifth anniversary I bought a lovely 0.355ct I Si1 AGS0 for his ring. I also want a strip of white metal in his ring but was unsure which metal. Palladium seems the best choice but would love to see your ring. FWIW I am planning a brushed finish for lower maintenance and because my husband really likes the patina his current white gold wedding band gets over time.

 

[affguy]

I'm probably going to order my ring in the next couple of weeks, and my understanding is that Bruce turns these around pretty quick, so I'm guessing about a month out. The picture that suggests to me I'd like a polished finish is this one, which is only 1 mm, and platinum (vs palladium...I don't think the color difference is visible).

My stone is a little 0.55 F-IF that I seem to pull out of my drawer and look at every day when I get home from work lol. I wish I had just half of Kenny's photography skills, but even 10% would be an improvement over what I'm currently capable of... A few different light levels inject warmth, but in reality it's icy white.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Stunning and gorgeous diamond affguy. I love it. I like the polished look, too, but how to keep it looking all polished and lovely? That is my issue Do you know if any old jeweler can polish titanium? Or would it need to go back to bruce?

 

[affguy]

Bruce's FAQ says owners can polish themselves, with normal wear just requiring cloth and stainless steel polish available at hardware stores, and a dremel with cotton pad for deeper scratches. Of course I don't have any personal experience with titanium jewelry, but find a normal jewelry polishing cloth works well enough for my stainless watch case. If your husband doesn't already have a dremel set, well, what guy doesn't love an excuse to buy more power tools?

 

[kenny]

kenny Thanks!

My main concern is how the patina looks over time. I am happy if the ring gets an even patina the way plantium does, but would be less happy if it just gets some random scratches... I read in another thread you mentioned you just let your rings patina rather than polishing them?

I'm sorry but I can't say whether platinum or titanium is the more scratch-resistand metal.
You'd think I could be more helpful since I have both titanium and platinum tension settings.

Also about the patina vs. random scratches . . . a patina is the result of random scratches, big and small, over time.
After you build up a nice patina you can still suddenly get a new ugly scratch which, if not too deep, will blend in over time and disappear into next year's patina.
So, I think this is as much about managing the wearer's expectations as it is about the properties of the metals themselves.
Plus even if you looked up and compared the hardness of the metals/alloys the harder one could still get scratched by lots of stuff you handle every day.

I have let both rings go for years and then burnished them with the Scotch Brite pad.
I'm not terribly concerned with how they look since I think of them as just diamond holders.
To me it's all about the diamond and I love tension settings since they let me see more of the diamond I paid an arm and a leg for.

I do not really notice a difference between titanium and platinum in their tendency to scratch, but I have a sample size of only one and any metal will scratch when it comes into contact with something harder like the unglazed bottom of a ceramic coffee cup in the sink.
Hopefully one of our appraisers will speak up since they will have seen many more rings than I.

 

[affguy]

affguy When will you have your ring?

I submitted my order Friday and sent my stone to Bruce. I casually asked him what his turnaround time is like these days, and he replied to me within 15 minutes "for your ring, about 2 days" . So depending on shipping, I'd guess that I should probably have it in something like 10-12 days.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Woo hoo!

Can't wait to see it. I am going for a palladium inset as well but am torn between the flat and domes styles. I have time to decide though. OUr anniversary is not until May.

 

[kcoursolle]

I have a lot of interest in titanium as a metal for rings. I'm curious why it's not used more considering it's practical, has a lovely color (in my opinion), holds up well, and is cheap. Sorry for the threadjack, but can titanium be used for rings with a standard basket with prongs style, bezels, and other non-tension designs? If so, anyone know of a place that works with titanium that can make something like this?

 

[affguy]

I have a lot of interest in titanium as a metal for rings. I'm curious why it's not used more considering it's practical, has a lovely color (in my opinion), holds up well, and is cheap. Sorry for the threadjack, but can titanium be used for rings with a standard basket with prongs style, bezels, and other non-tension designs? If so, anyone know of a place that works with titanium that can make something like this?

I think there are a few reasons titanium isn't used more often, or in more tradtional settings. First, this is jewelry, where more rare = more expensive = more desirable. Boone Rings FAQ states that the cost of materials for titanium rings is essentially nil (compared to the "precious" metals) . . . we're paying for labor and machinery (and some amount of profit, of course). The second reason I suspect is that titanium just isn't as easy to work with as its softer, more expensive counterparts. Gold has a hardness of 2.5-3, platinum 4-4.5, and titanium is a 6. Also, it seems that some people place value on the weight of a metal, and titanium's density is about a quarter that of gold or platinum, I've even seen where gold/platinum inlays in titanium are marketed with a line like "adds some heft". Personally, I'm adding a palladium inlay to my titanium ring, because its appearance is essentially identical to platinum and I couldn't care less that it weighs half as much.

 

[affguy]

Woo hoo!

Can't wait to see it. I am going for a palladium inset as well but am torn between the flat and domes styles. I have time to decide though. OUr anniversary is not until May.

It was delivered to my fiance's work today, about 40 miles away. I'll post some "real" pictures in SMTB this weekend, along with bigger kudo's for Bruce (that man is absurdly fast), but here's a couple iphone pictures she sent me. I haven't even seen it myself yet, but she's squeaking and such and says she can't stop smiling, which is probably a pretty good indication that it turned out well.

 

[kenny]

Very very very cool!!!

 

[Sparkly_Girl]

OMG... I love your ring! It turned out awesome!

Coincidentally, we are picking up my fiance's ring tomorrow... I wish we would have seen something like this during our search. I may have been able to talk him into a diamond if he had seen such a cool setting. Oh well, I still love his... I'll post both of our bling tomorrow when get them. (My custom designed Oscar Heyman is arriving tomorrow as well!)

 

[Rhea]

My titanium wedding band is still shiny. I've worn it roughly 2 times per week for the past 6 years. The finish looks even, and still shiny, with occasional little scratches from wear that aren't noticeable. I don't wear my brushed titanium band often enough to note how it wears.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Aarrgh! Affguy that look amazing!! I am totally SOLD on the palladium inset, it looks so fabulous. Now I just need to figure out the style, the width, and the finish