Tungsten

Tungsten. The name itself exudes resilience and strength. Even its official name in the periodic table, wolfram, gives off a strong vibe. If you are considering getting a tungsten wedding ring, you are on the path to one of the best choices you could make, and one that is proving increasingly popular with both men and women.

Tungsten is an extraordinary element which has the highest melting point of all metals known to man (3422 degrees C) as well as the highest tensile strength. Tungsten is also the hardest metal on earth, making it virtually impervious to scratches and dents.

What some describe as a disadvantage – the inability to resize tungsten rings – is actually a testament to what an amazing material it is to have made into your wedding ring. Most jewellers are unable to alter a tungsten wedding ring because their normal tools and saws would not be able to put a dent in it. Only the hardest materials we know, like diamond and corundum can abrade tungsten carbide rings.

Tungsten carbide scores about 9.0 on the Mohs hardness scale, making it an amazing ten times harder than gold and four times as hard as platinum. That translates to hundreds or even thousands of scratches you would get on your gold wedding ring that would not register on your tungsten carbide wedding ring if you indulged in exactly the same activities wearing both. This property makes it popular choice of wedding ring material for people who work with their hands.

Metals have always been prized for their weight, or more accurately, their density. Gold and tungsten are of similar density, and so the weight of both gold and tungsten rings gives a ‘solid’ feel when placed in the hand. Lead is considered a heavy material but tungsten is almost twice as dense.

If you have worn rings of other materials in the past, you know that they require upkeep and polishing to retain their shine and look. No such effort is required with a tungsten carbide ring – it will retain its polish permanently and look as good twenty tears down the track as it did on the day you first put it on.

The hardness of tungsten carbide rings also makes them a safe option for an environment like a workshop. Whereas gold, platinum and silver rings will easily deform under pressure and possibly injure the finger they are on in case of an accident, a tungsten carbide ring will resist deformation till it shatters, keeping the finger safe until then.