| celet,rings,man,bracelets | | | | This is the very same concern as buying silver |
| Scott Murff got his MBA from MIT business | | | | jewelry to some people: Will I be allergic to the |
| school and currently is the marketing manager in | | | | jewelry? In general, titanium jewelry is virtually |
| Titanium Kay that specializes in men's titanium | | | | safe to wear for everybody. Yet, some tungsten |
| rings, titanium bracelets and tungsten wedding | | | | carbide jewelry contains the element cobalt that |
| rings. | | | | some people are allergic to. Interesting, another |
| Both titanium and tungsten are considered model | | | | form of tungsten alloy using nickel as a binder |
| metals in the jewelry industry because they were | | | | metal is hypoallergenic, even to people who are |
| not available to the consumer market as | | | | allergic to nickel. |
| commodities until ten years ago. They have | | | | 4. Weight |
| gained tremendous popularity since the | | | | Titanium is lighter than tungsten, or more |
| introduction and become an integral part of the | | | | precisely, has a lower density. Titanium alloys are |
| jewelry material spectrum. | | | | about 43% lighter than stainless steel and |
| Due to the rather little exposure, many questions | | | | tungsten carbide is about 90% heavier than |
| arise concerning titanium and tungsten when it | | | | stainless steel. |
| comes to choosing jewelry. The followings are | | | | 5. Coloring |
| some points of consideration if you are seriously | | | | Titanium reacts with different chemicals and |
| thinking about buying a titanium or tungsten | | | | produces alloys of different colors. Jewelry |
| wedding ring. | | | | makers use anodization to coat colored patterns |
| 1. Hardness | | | | on titanium rings. Black titanium is another form of |
| Titanium and tungsten are both known for the | | | | titanium alloy that has a different color than the |
| superior hardness over traditional metals such as | | | | commonly used grey color. On the other hand, |
| gold, silver and platinum. One thing worth noting is | | | | tungsten carbide is usually offered on in black |
| that it is not the metals themselves in a pure | | | | color only. |
| form that possess the hardness, it is their alloys | | | | 6. Pricing |
| that do. Roughly speaking, the hardest form of | | | | Titanium jewelry is in general cheaper than |
| tungsten carbide is harder than titanium alloys, and | | | | tungsten jewelry primarily due to the difference in |
| only under extreme circumstances, such as | | | | equipment and environment control need to |
| abrasion from diamonds, can it be damaged. | | | | produce them. The temperature for forming a |
| 2. Ductility | | | | tungsten carbide is about 6000 Fahrenheit, which |
| Titanium is more ductile than tungsten in the | | | | has to be in either a vacuum or hydrogen |
| common alloys used in jewelry. In other words, | | | | environment. |
| when a wedding ring is under high pressure, such | | | | 7. Engraving and resizing |
| as hit by a car door, a titanium ring would be | | | | Titanium wedding rings can be engraved and |
| bend out-of-round whereas a tungsten carbide | | | | resized. However, a tungsten carbide ring is too |
| ring would fracture into several pieces. Hence, in | | | | hard to be engraved or resized. Although |
| terms of safety, a tungsten carbide ring is safer | | | | engraving can be done, the letters will be very |
| to wear. | | | | faint and difficult to read. |
| 3. Hypoallergenic | | | | |