# Anybody have a tungsten carbide or titanium ring? How do you like them?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-tungsten-carbide-or-titanium-ring-how-do-you-like-them/481577
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 16, 2009, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-tungsten-carbide-or-titanium-ring-how-do-you-like-them/481577 "2009-01-16T08:28:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-tungsten-carbide-or-titanium-ring-how-do-you-like-them/481577/41 "2009-01-17T22:16:43Z")
For some reason the seller I purchased our rings from his having problems with their webpage. Oh well.
Hubby and I both have titanium wedding rings, with an oxidised coloured band around them. His is blue, mine is purple.
I love them. They’re light, so they’re extremely comfortable. They were cheap, and they’re really hard-wearing. The finish has dulled a tiny bit through normal wear, but that’s nothing that can’t be fixed with a quick polish.
And it’s different to many other people’s rings. So that’s cool.
I love those black ceramic ones, though, too. That’s awesome.
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### Author:  [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-tungsten-carbide-or-titanium-ring-how-do-you-like-them/481577/42 "2009-01-17T22:25:48Z")
> [@Revtim](#):
>
> I have a couple titanium rings, at least I thought they were titanium, but they both are scratched up. I got them from [overstock.com](http://overstock.com). Is the fact that they are scratched evidence that I got ripped off? I don’t recall how much I paid for them, it was like 5 years ago I got them.
No, titanium can be scratched. The maker of mine made super extra clear that titanium can and will scratch. He offers a refinishing service at any time for $5 (includes shipping.)
The most notable feature of titanium is that is it more grey/less white than other jewelry metals. As I mentioned, I have a silver inlay, and the color different between the two metals is significant.
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### Author:  [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-tungsten-carbide-or-titanium-ring-how-do-you-like-them/481577/43 "2009-01-18T00:26:08Z")
> [@Napier](#):
>
> Titanium is quite hard and strong, but so is steel. I think they are roughly comparable in these ways (though titanium is much more resistant to oxidation and corrosion, and noticeably lighter)
Although titanium is strong and tough, it isn’t all that hard; at its highest hardness (from heat treating) it is comparable to a mild steel. It will be harder than gold or silver, but people who buy titanium watches expecting them to be scratch resistant are in for a nasty surprise. Most jewelry grade stainless steels are actually harder than titanium.
I don’t know of rhenium diboride, but tungsten carbides are very hard; they are used in the throats of solid rocket motors to provide integrity against the highly erosive exhaust which would wear away at most normal materials. The problem with this, aside from the cost of the material itself, is that it is very difficult and time consuming to precision machine parts out of this. (Parts are normally made by sintering, but final precision machining still constitutes the bulk of the cost.) Because of this, all modern SRM throats are made from 3D carbon-carbon composites and a higher erosive allowance is accepted as part of the design. This problem also translates into jewelry, specifically, if it ever needs to be removed from a traumatized digit. I think you’d want to order a ring of such a material slightly oversized or with a notch to aid in cutting away the ring without cutting into the finger.
Stranger
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### Author:  [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-tungsten-carbide-or-titanium-ring-how-do-you-like-them/481577/44 "2009-01-18T15:50:17Z")
\>The most notable feature of titanium is that is it more grey/less white than other jewelry metals.
The titanium I have worked with (usually the common engineering alloy 6Al4V) has a slightly brownish cast to it, that some describe as “chocolatey”.
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### Author:  [@rn4j0r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rn4j0r)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-tungsten-carbide-or-titanium-ring-how-do-you-like-them/481577/45 "2014-08-28T17:09:34Z")
The hubby and I recently got ours from [Tungsten Wedding Bands | Mens Tungsten Wedding Rings | Couples Rings](http://www.tungstenaffinity.com/Tungsten-Wedding-Bands-s/367.htm).
We are both on disability and on a budget. Why spend so much on a ring when we can use that money for our honey moon or putting a down payment on a house?
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-tungsten-carbide-or-titanium-ring-how-do-you-like-them/481577/46 "2014-08-28T17:18:18Z")
I have a titanium wedding ring with 2 inset gold strips. I love it. It’s not my original wedding ring, that was an interlinked set of 3 gold rings (yellow, white & red) that was getting worn through just be regular wear after 7 years. Now it lives in a pouch, and the titanium one still doesn’t have a scratch in … 8 years.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-tungsten-carbide-or-titanium-ring-how-do-you-like-them/481577/47 "2014-08-28T17:47:39Z")
I got a white gold ring in 2008 when I got married, and in the span of a couple years, it got all scratched and beat up.
So I got a tungsten carbide ring (plain polished band), and some 4 years later, not a scratch. Plus, it cost $50, so if I lose it, I’ll just buy another one and not sweat it.
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### Author:  [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-tungsten-carbide-or-titanium-ring-how-do-you-like-them/481577/48 "2014-08-28T18:12:44Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#):
>
> I too, am the kind of guy who needs something pretty tough. I have destroyed every piece of jewelry I have ever worn on my hands.
>
> So a while ago, I was musing over some wikipedia articles about materials with unusual properties, and I came across [rhenium diboride](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhenium_diboride). It’s a metal-like substance with a higher mohs value (i.e. harder) than diamond. It was discovered in the last few years, and there was a lot of excitement because apparently, the process to create it in the lab is particularly cheap. The rhenium metal required to make it, however, is somewhere between gold and platinum in terms of rarity and price.
>
> I saw all that and thought, “Hm. Precious metal. Unusual hardness. Sounds like it would be the perfect wedding ring for me someday!”
>
> Anyone know if this is feasible, or would I have to donate several million dollars to a research institution before I could even begin to think about it?
>
> (Sorry if this is too much of a hijack.)
Wow. I don’t even remember writing this over FIVE years ago, before I even met my wife. For the record, we got married almost a year ago, and I got a WC ring. It looks great, feels great, and, of course, has no scratches or dents yet.
I originally got it for $75, but then a few days later (still months before the wedding) I found exactly the same thing for $15 from a retailer on eBay. Got both of them and they were completely indistinguishable except for the brand engraved on the inside. Returned the overpriced one.
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### Author:  [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-tungsten-carbide-or-titanium-ring-how-do-you-like-them/481577/49 "2014-08-28T23:24:32Z")
I bought either a tungsten or titanium ring (I can’t remember which) as a back-up to my platinum wedding band. I thought I would wear it when I travel or under extreme circumstances. If I got mugged and lost it, so what?
The only problem is that it discolored enough to not look nearly as good as the platinum. I put it away.
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### Author:  [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-a-tungsten-carbide-or-titanium-ring-how-do-you-like-them/481577/50 "2014-08-29T02:18:41Z")
I got [this TC one](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004U2C6UQ/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) for myself and a titanium ring for my husband. So far my only complaint is that I tend to whack myself in the nose with it in my sleep. It’s a hefty little bugger, too.
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