Buying a Tungsten Carbide Wedding Band Ring

When you decide to marry, one of the most important decisions will be about your ring. Traditionally, gold, white gold, silver and platinum have been used in wedding bands. But today, the selection of metals is broader, reflecting the change in our tastes and lifestyle. Tungsten carbide is one of the new metals from which jewelry designers have begun to craft wedding band rings, offering a wide variety of styles and designs that fit every taste and budget.

What is Tungsten Carbide?

On its own, tungsten is a very hard and dense metal, with the highest melting point of all metals - 6,100 degrees Fahrenheit. Alone, tungsten is vulnerable to scratches and damage just like any other metal, it gains its extreme hardness by being combined with a carbon alloy, transforming it into tungsten carbide, with a hardness between 8.5 and 9.5 on the Mohs hardness scale. The strength of tungsten carbide has made it widely used for decades in industrial applications - it is four times harder than titanium, twice as hard as steel and almost impossible to scratch. The resulting metal can be designed into wedding band rings that are both visually stunning to please the eye and durable enough to withstand everyday use. These rings can only be damaged through extreme measures, such as abrasion from diamonds or being struck with a hammer.

Choosing Your Tungsten Carbide Wedding Band Ring


Make sure you ask your jeweler which metal was used in the finishing or binding process. Many manufacturers of tungsten carbide wedding band rings use cobalt as a binder, mostly because it is cheaper to produce. The problem with cobalt is that it bonds with oils in the skin and leeches out of the ring resulting in oxidation. The oxidation appears similar to tarnished sliver, but cannot be removed by polishing or grinding. The better choice is nickel-binder tungsten carbide which is chemically inert, will not oxidize and because it is hypoallergenic, there is no danger of irritation to the skin. Be careful about dealing with a jeweler that doesn't specify that their tungsten wedding bands are made with the nickel binder alloy. Many jewelry stores do not know which alloy they are selling, and if they don't know, it is most likely cobalt alloy or pure tungsten, which lacks the hardness of tungsten carbide and are easily scratched.

Because of tungsten carbide's extreme hardness, wedding bands made from this metal cannot be sized like gold, silver or platinum rings. When you are ready to purchase, make sure that you take extra care in determining the proper size. In regards to engraving a tungsten carbide ring, it is possible, but the results will be very faint and difficult to read.

Finally, since your tungsten carbide wedding band ring is not indestructible, it makes sense to get a warranty, especially against breakage. Under normal usage there should be little or no wear on both the polish and the textures of your tungsten carbide wedding band ring and you will never need to use your warranty.

Are Titanium and Tungsten wedding rings for life?

When faced with the once-a-life-time decision of choosing a wedding band ring, everyone should do their own research in order to make sure they get the piece that can symbolize the eternality of marriage.  For those who are seriously considering of buying the modern metals (titanium or tungsten) as wedding rings, here are some thoughts that are worth considering.

Will they be scratched?
Although titanium wedding bands are very strong and durable, the surface of the rings can actually be scratched.  It takes another extremely hard object such as diamond to cut into the metal; however, it does not get damaged during normal daily use.  For titanium rings with gold, silver or platinum inlay, the inlay part of the ring is as vulnerable as a ring that is made of the precious metal itself.  In the case of minor a blemish, a titanium ring can be re-polished or refinished to restore the original appearance.  On the other hand, tungsten rings are totally resistant to abrasions.  Since tungsten carbide, the most common grade of tungsten alloy offered in the market, is extremely hard, it will NEVER get scratched.

Will they be bent out of shape?
Both titanium and tungsten have extremely high ductile strength.  However, under extremely circumstances, titanium rings could bend out of round but a tungsten ring could not.  If a high pressure is applied on a titanium ring, which could happen when being hit by a car door, the ring would bend when the force is strong enough.  On the other hand, a tungsten ring stands a better chance of remaining intact, because tungsten in general is harder than titanium.  However, once the force goes beyond the threshold, the tungsten ring will be fractured into several pieces instead of bend out of round.  This characteristic, which we refer to as being brittle, is similar to that of diamonds whereas it is extremely hard but not ductile at all.

Will the color turn?
Neither of the metals will turn color.  Titanium and tungsten alloy are biological inert and do not turn color with normal usage such as being exposed to the sun, in contact with sea water or cosmetic products.

Can they be resized?
The possibility of getting resized might be important since we gain or lose weight in the future.  Due to the extraordinary high melting points of titanium and tungsten alloys, they cannot be cut and welded like traditional precious metals.  Hence, resizing is more difficult, if not possible.  Titanium wedding rings can be compressed or stretched up to one size, if there are no stones or inlay on the rings, with the help of special equipment.  However, tungsten carbide wedding rings can not be resized at all.  Therefore, one must measure the ring size carefully, possibility averaging the finger sizes at different times of the day, in order to avoid any sizing problem after the titanium or tungsten wedding band rings