Tungsten vs. Titanium?

[nclrgirl]

Hi all! Anyone out there have any knowledge/experiences with tungsten or titanium rings to share? My FI is looking at one of these two materials for his wedding band, and I have NO knowledge on what to look for in either. Any information, experiences, opinions are welcome. Thank you all very much in advance.

 

[boonerings]

I''m pretty familiar with both.

Titanium is a pretty versatile metal. It is very inert, so people with allergies to white gold can wear it. It''s very lightweight, so will feel different than gold or platinum. It''s very easy to get used to because the metal takes the temperature of your finger quickly, and combined with the light weight, you don''t notice it on your finger. It''s used in aerospace because it has the strength of steel, but weighs only around 60% as much as steel. Titanium has a Mohs hardness of around 6.5, whereas diamond is 10, gold is 2.5 to 3, and platinum is 4 to 4.5. It''s similar to stainless steel, where it could scratch slightly when contacted by harder things,(like minerals or hardened steels) but it doesn''t dent or ding or squash out of round like most precious metals. The metal could be made harder, but it would get too tough to cut off in case of emergency. As it comes in the unhardened state, it can be cut off by ring cutters, hacksaws, or bolt cutters. The color of titanium is exactly that of a stainless refrigerator when brushed or a chromium toaster when polished. Some finishes, like a Brushed finish can be buffed with a ScotchBrite pad. Titanium has a unique property in that it can change colors by a process called anodizing, where electricity is applied in a liquid bath. The color is normally done down in grooves because it is about as hard as glass and can scratch. The rings are normally machined from solid bar rather than cast like most precious metals, so they are not normally made by traditional jewelers, but by people with specialized machines that are equipped to machine them.

Tungsten, more correctly called tungsten carbide, is an extremely hard material which is a 9 on the Mohs hardness scale. This is one of the hardest and highest melting metals known, and is used for cutting tools to cut things such as titanium rings! It is so hard that rings made from it can essentially stay polished for life. It is a very heavy metal, similar to platinum in density. Making tungsten carbide rings is extremely specialized so offerings are limited in sizing and styles possible. It starts as powder that gets compressed to donut shapes by huge presses, heated to high temperature to fuse the powder together, and ground to shape by special computer controlled diamond grinding wheels. It is too hard to machine in the conventional way. Being so hard, it cannot be cut off in case of emergency. It is cracked off by simply squeezing it in a vise or Vise Grips or something similar. It has properties much closer to ceramic than metal. The color of tungsten is very slightly darker than titanium.

I hope this helps.

 

[MustangGal]

To add to what Bruce has said:

My husband has a titanium band that he wears 24/7. He''s had it on about 5 years now, and he loves it. What I don''t like is the scratches it gets. Since his started out with a brushed finish it was never "shiney", but you can tell it''s worn and loved. He is very tough on it, and works outdoors, so probably puts it through much more abuse than a desk guy would.

I have a tungsten band I wear when I''m camping/traveling/etc. It''s heavy, and stays shiney no matter what. I''ve done all kinds of things to it, and it still looks brand new.

I''ve tried to get the hubby to look for a tungsten band, since I like them better, but he prefers the light weight of the titanium.

So it''s almost more of a personal preference. Sorry, that wasn''t too much help!

 

[Kevin509]

To add to others comments, tungsten carbide rings have heft, which give most people a sense of value and it does not scratch. Due to tungsten rings being relatively new to the market the price differences are considerable. Just be sure not to buy a tungsten ring that uses cobalt as the binder. A quality ring will use nickle as the binding element.

 

[Shay]

My husband has worn his titanium band for 2 years and it is wrecked. He is very hard on his hands - guitar/rockclimbing etc. and it is scratched and even has a few tiny chips. So I would say if your husband to be isn't too rough on his hands go with the titanium as it is gorgeous and comfortable, but if he's a savage like mine then go with the Tungsten carbide.

 

[cnspotts]

Tungsten is the way to go. I got myself one for our diving trip this spring and a toe ring too that has a look of small pyramids. They look as shiny and nice as the day I put them on. Hubbs got one after he decided he was not loving his Titanium rings once they got dull and scratched, it''s his favorite of all he''s had and he''s had a bunch of rings. He wears it 24/7 when he works on RR engines, cars, the a/c, or taking a criminal down on the pavement....not one scratch and just a nice as the day he got it. He won''t even bother to wear his platinum band, says he doesn''t want to ruin that one. lol

 

[oldmancoyote]

Date: 8/23/2008 11:08:10 AM
Author: Kevin509
To add to others comments, tungsten carbide rings have heft, which give most people a sense of value and it does not scratch. Due to tungsten rings being relatively new to the market the price differences are considerable. Just be sure not to buy a tungsten ring that uses cobalt as the binder. A quality ring will use nickle as the binding element.

Kevin, does nickel not create allergy problems - as it does in white gold and some silver alloys? What % in weight of Ni is added to the sintering compound, typically? What is the issue with cobalt?

Apologies if I ask technical questions; I'm just very interested in innovative materials.

 

[geckodani]

My DH has a tungsten band he''s been wearing for 2 years and it looks brand new. Our friend had a titanium band he''s been wearing for 6 months that is totally scratched into oblivion. I''d go with tungsten, personally.

 

[musey]

I'm worried about FI's band after reading this thread

I knew that tungsten was much more durable, but I didn't realize how quickly/badly titanium gets banged up.

His is polished titanium (6/4 Aircraft grade) with a brushed platinum overlay (the bottom picture on this page). We both would have preferred tungsten but couldn't find that design anywhere, and it was really what he wanted.

He does quite a bit of weight lifting so now I'm afraid it'll get eaten up