# Has titanium become cheap enough to make jewelry out of it?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 21, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098 "2005-02-21T02:05:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/1 "2005-02-21T02:05:25Z")
I bought some eyelets (hollow plugs for my pierced ears) and the guy at the shop said they were titanium. I thought titanium was fairly expensive to produce, so this took me by surprise. Also, based mostly on seeing bike frames made from ti, I thought that it always had a matte pinkish gray color to it. What I got has the look of stainless steel – shiny, silvery or chromed looking. Could titanium look like this, and could it be cheap enough to mass produce jewelry for the masses?
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### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/2 "2005-02-21T02:13:09Z")
A guy I work with has a titanium wedding ring. It’s very light and looks like stainless steel, like you said.
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### Author:  [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/3 "2005-02-21T02:18:14Z")
From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium):
> [@](#):
>
> Because of its very high tensile strength (even at high temperatures), light weight, extraordinary corrosion resistance, and ability to withstand extreme temperatures, titanium alloys are principally used in aircraft, armor plating, naval ships, spacecraft and missiles. It is used in steel alloys to reduce grain size and as a deoxidizer but in stainless steel it is employed to reduce carbon content. Titanium is often alloyed with aluminium (to refine grain size), vanadium, copper (to harden), iron, manganese, molybdenum and with other metals.
As should be obvious from the listed applications, by no means is titanium too expensive for use in “mass-produced” jewelry.
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### Author:  [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/4 "2005-02-21T02:21:29Z")
Here’s a link with pictures:
[http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Elements/022/index.s7.html](http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Elements/022/index.s7.html)
As for pricing info, nothing to definite, but I am seeing $100/gram here and there. Could be way off.
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/5 "2005-02-21T02:24:43Z")
See [A HISTORY OF TITANIUM](http://rivercitybikes.com/gear_guide/article.asp?id=162)
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### Author:  [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/6 "2005-02-21T02:33:06Z")
Titanium is currently being used for major parts of some handguns, due to its high strength to weight ratio. It can’t be that expensive.
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### Author:  [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/7 "2005-02-21T02:37:46Z")
Titanium is often used to make body jewelry. It’s light and hypoallergic (or whatever the heck that word is).
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### Author:  [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/8 "2005-02-21T02:42:27Z")
> [@Aeschines](#):
>
> Here’s a link with pictures:
>
> [Facts, pictures, stories about the element Titanium in the Periodic Table](http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Elements/022/index.s7.html)
>
> As for pricing info, nothing to definite, but I am seeing $100/gram here and there. Could be way off.
You are. We’ve been around the price of titanium before:
> **[Titanium vs. Platinum - Price per Ounce](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=258224)**
>
> What is more expensive per ounce \*\*pure\[/p\] titanium or pure platinum?
Titanium sponge (the way the raw metal is sold as a commodity) is on the order of a few dollars a pound.
It’s expensive enough that it will be restricted to specialty uses, but it’s not a “precious metal”, per se, even though it is being used in jewelry a lot these days.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/9 "2005-02-21T02:45:59Z")
Titanium prices dropped like a rock about 15 years ago. Manufacturing technology made it a lot easier and cheaper to make. Opening the markets to Russia helped a lot. It’s a great source of hard currency for them.
I am working in my second consecutive machine shop that makes titanium medical products. Groovy things like bone screws and pacemaker parts. Three years ago 1/2 diameter commercially pure titanium rod (96%) was running at about $5.00 a pound. I’ve a chunk the size of a baseball on the bookshelf above my head right now.
My eyeglasses frames are titanium. Regarding bike frames or golf clubs you are almost always talking about an alloy. Mostly aluminum with vadinum and chrome as a stiffiner.
In its pure (ish) state it’s a dull grey and a real bastard to machine. Polishes up to a really nice mirror finish if you take your time and have the right equipment. It’s weight and strength vs. steel make it really cool to put in racing applications. My friends professional set up race motorcycle has titanium parts all over it.
Cheers \*\*Mr. Goob. \*\* \*who is tickled to death there is a GQ he really knows something about. \*
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/10 "2005-02-21T02:55:55Z")
> [@Mr. Goob](#):
>
> Titanium prices dropped like a rock about 15 years ago. Manufacturing technology made it a lot easier and cheaper to make. Opening the markets to Russia helped a lot. It’s a great source of hard currency for them.
>
> I am working in my second consecutive machine shop that makes titanium medical products. Groovy things like bone screws and pacemaker parts. Three years ago 1/2 diameter commercially pure titanium rod (96%) was running at about $5.00 a pound. I’ve a chunk the size of a baseball on the bookshelf above my head right now.
>
> My eyeglasses frames are titanium. Regarding bike frames or golf clubs you are almost always talking about an alloy. Mostly aluminum with vadinum and chrome as a stiffiner.
>
> In its pure (ish) state it’s a dull grey and a real bastard to machine. Polishes up to a really nice mirror finish if you take your time and have the right equipment. It’s weight and strength vs. steel make it really cool to put in racing applications. My friends professional set up race motorcycle has titanium parts all over it.
>
> Cheers \*\*Mr. Goob. \*\* \*who is tickled to death there is a GQ he really knows something about. \*
If you made a knife blade of titanium how would it compare to a stainless steel blade re strength and edge holding ability?
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### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/11 "2005-02-21T02:57:30Z")
I was getting Ti bicycle spokes for about $2.50 each 10 years ago. The prices had really come down.
**Mr. Goob** what does that baseball bat sized rod weigh? And what might one expect to pay for such a thing?
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### Author:  [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/12 "2005-02-21T03:12:00Z")
It’s not the price of the titanium itself - that’s relatively cheap. The real problem wth titanium for jewelry is that it’s just damned hard to work with. In this case, the softness of gold is a real advantage. A jeweler with a few hand tools can work gold, but titanium is a whole different story.
I suspect that’s why you can find things like titanium bands and studs and such, but you won’t find cheap titanium diamond settings and other intricate jewelry.
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/13 "2005-02-21T03:36:07Z")
I had a pair of titanium eyeglass frames. I loved them–strong and light–until a solder failed. Of course, I was 30 miles from the closest LensCrafters, with no car, and no real pair of backups. And no one had the materials to solder them–working with titanium requires an inert atmosphere and pretty high heat.
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### Author:  [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/14 "2005-02-21T04:25:03Z")
[http://www.titaniumcommitment.com/stars.html](http://www.titaniumcommitment.com/stars.html)
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/15 "2005-02-21T04:25:19Z")
I bought a couple titanium rings from [overstock.com](http://overstock.com) a few weeks ago for about hundred bucks total.
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### Author:  [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/16 "2005-02-21T04:39:10Z")
I have a spork made of titanium. It cost about $15.
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### Author:  [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/17 "2005-02-21T04:52:41Z")
At the moment, titanium is extracted using the Kroll process. The ore (eg rutile) is reacted with chlorine to form TiCl4. This is then reduced with sodium or magnesium to give titanium metal. The chloride is then recylcled.
A new process ([FFC Cambridge process](http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/djf/FFC_Process.htm)), which was reported a few years ago involves the direct electrolysis of titanium oxide. Carbon anode, TiO2 at the anode in a molten calcium chloride electrolyte. This is much cheaper and more simple, but the great thing is that alloys can be created simply by baking the oxides of the metals - eg aluminium and vanadium together with the rutile and use this oxide blend at the cathode to form the corresponding alloy.
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### Author:  [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/18 "2005-02-21T04:57:01Z")
that should be ."… Carbon anode, TiO2 at the \*\*cathode \*\* in a molten calcium chloride electrolyte. …"
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### Author:  [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/19 "2005-02-21T05:14:20Z")
My wedding ring is titanium, (black titanium, I guess it’s anodized or whatever the equivilent is). It’s very light and very shiny.
It’s got a ‘replacement plan’, if you need it sized, they just send you a new one.
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### Author:  [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2005, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-titanium-become-cheap-enough-to-make-jewelry-out-of-it/291098/20 "2005-02-21T08:12:29Z")
I think we could say that in general any material from which bike frames are made is cheap enough for jewelry.
I once knew a guy who ran a 2-man “boutique” machine shop. He specialized in titanium, and felt its reputation for being hard to work was a bit overdone. He claimed that the techniques were different - if you tried to machine it as if it were steel you’d have all sorts of problems, but by other methods it wasn’t too bad.
He said that Ti had roughly the strength of steel and the density of aluminum. Everyone knows of its performance at high temperatures, but it’s also about the least chemically reactive metal in widspread use.
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