Titanium wedding ring?

[Rockford]

I'm going to be buying a wedding ring within the next year or so and I'm attracted to the idea of maybe getting a titanium diamond ring for my g/f. I like the idea of titanium primarily because it's just something a little different from the everyday. I've seen some designs that use tension settings and these too appeal to me as they seem to be fairly uncommon as well.
My question is how durable are rings like this? I've heard that some people won't work with titaium and diamonds because there's a chance the stone will shatter. Is this a relatively new thing way of making rings, or is it just new to me?
Has anyone had experience with the sort of ring I'm talking about?

 

[lawmax]

Titanium rings seem to be growing in popularity and are nice, although I've mostly seen them as men's rings. It would seem that they are very durable and keep their high polish, but are difficult to resize. Most titanium sites I've read warn against letting other jewelers do any work on their rings. http://www.trewtungsten.com/diamond.html have very nice rings, but they all appear to be men's rings to me. They are actually tungsten carbide. http://www.titaniumrings.com/proximaA.html has rings that seem geared toward ladies, but it seems that they come with cz's or moissonite. Some people don't like the very lightweight feel of titanium. I believe the tungsten carbide is weighty.

Let us know if you come across some good sites for ladies' titanium rings.

 

[Rockford]

Thanks lawmax,
I've heard that resizing is an issue with titanium. One of my main concerns has to deal with the tension setting itself. I guess I'm just looking for reassurance that this type of setting is indeed secure (and will remain so). It certainly doesn't look it but if there were any inherant problems I figured the people who frequent a place like this would know of them.
Here are a few sites I've come across with titanium, tension set, women's rings:

http://www.ti-designs.com/

http://www.titanium-rings.com/tendefaultringsfs.htm

http://www.titaniumcommitment.com/lovepage.html

If I decide to go this route I'd ideally be looking for someone in the Toronto area with experience with this sort of thing. Any and all feedback is appreciated.

Ryan.

 

[lawmax]

Tension settings can be fairly safe, but I'd carry good insurance on the piece. Flaws in the setting or a good knock on the diamond which has a lot of exposed area can cause you to lose or damage the diamond more easily than occurs in other types of settings. You want to get a tension setting from a company that specializes in them and then you would usually need to have a new ring made if you want to resize it. Have you checked out tension settings by Kretchmer, Niessing, and Gelin and Abaci? I think Kretchmers are the ultimate, but they are expensive. There are "safer" types of settings that give a tension look without being a true tension setting.

 

[lawmax]

To add: I haven't seen any consumer feedback on titanium tension settings, so I can't give you any information about performance.

For the manufacturers that will set a diamond for you, be careful when ordering diamonds through them. Buy a diamond you love for them to set or be particular if you ask them to find a diamond for you.

 

[muddy guy]

I have also been interested in Titanium tension settings. They seem to offer a stronger metal, and possibly a longer enduring finish. Obviously the problem of resizing is a factor with any tension set rings. Here are a couple of additional sites I have looked at:

http://titaniumera.com/stonesettings.html - I really like the Andromeda style here

http://www.furthers.com/titaniumweddingrings4.htm - Here I absolutely love

the simplicity and beauty of the Omega Plus style ring. I saw an almost exact duplicate of this ring in Platinum at a local custom jeweler's. The way it showcases the diamond is just exquisite (the saleswoman behind the counter was in love with it, too!).

https://spectore.com/collections/

http://www.titaniumarts.com/content/rings/tension.html

Hope these help, and let me know what you think!

Muddy_Guy