Titanium Rings

[marypoppins]

I''ve been looking at erings and bands and came across the metal titanium. I''d never heard of it till I began my ring search.
So here are my questions--
How durable is titanium compared to gold and platinum?
Also what''s the difference between white and yellow gold?
How durable is white gold compared to yellow gold?

 

[MustangGal]

I can answer the titanium question a bit. My DH has a titanium wedding band that he''s been wearing non-stop for 5 years. The surface is a little scratched, but the ring is still perfectly round, and I hear I can give it a new satin finish by buffing it with steel wool, I just haven''t tried. He is pretty tough on his hands, works out side all day and on his car in teh garage on weekends. He liked the ring so much, he now has a titanium watch, a titanium bracelet, and a titanium necklace!

 

[neatfreak]

Just FYI you can't get traditional engagement rings made in titanium...only certain kinds (like tension set). So it isn't a substitute metal for most rings. And if you do a search on metals you will find hours of reading about gold vs. platinum and the different gold karats, etc.

White gold is just yellow gold mixed with a white metal to make it whiter. Then usually plated to make it really white on top. This plating needs to be redone, sometimes often depending on your chemistry.

 

[marypoppins]

Having to replate my ring often doesn''t sound very attractive to me. Would I need to do that for yellow gold as well?

 

[marypoppins]

It sounds like a very sturdy metal but being limited to tension ering designs only is a bummer.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Hans Meevis at http://www.meevis.com does some very interesting and unusual work in titanium (not tension setting!). He is also a sweetheart. His tools suppliers must also love him, for I am sure he goes through metal files at record speeds.

 

[boonerings]

Some manufacturers can laser weld prongs of a metal like white gold or platinum to a titanium ring. Here''s an example of that with a mokume gane inlay in the center.

 

[aayushk]

A good thing to remember about titanium is that it is a very very strong metal. So strong that the only way to cut it is by laser. So imagine your finger swells up and you have to take the ring off, how would you do that? Stick to gold, platinum or palladium(all the jazz of platinum at a 14k gold price).

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Date: 11/21/2008 1:54:10 PM
Author: aayushk
A good thing to remember about titanium is that it is a very very strong metal. So strong that the only way to cut it is by laser. So imagine your finger swells up and you have to take the ring off, how would you do that? Stick to gold, platinum or palladium(all the jazz of platinum at a 14k gold price).

That is somewhat exagerated. Yes, titanium is harder than gold or platinum. But it can still be cut with an ordinary saw or with a ring cutter. I have cut a lot of titanium with just a plain jeweller''s saw.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/21/2008 4:33:56 PM
Author: Lady_Disdain

Date: 11/21/2008 1:54:10 PM

Author: aayushk

A good thing to remember about titanium is that it is a very very strong metal. So strong that the only way to cut it is by laser. So imagine your finger swells up and you have to take the ring off, how would you do that? Stick to gold, platinum or palladium(all the jazz of platinum at a 14k gold price).

That is somewhat exagerated. Yes, titanium is harder than gold or platinum. But it can still be cut with an ordinary saw or with a ring cutter. I have cut a lot of titanium with just a plain jeweller''s saw.

Agreed. It is tungsten I believe that can only be "cracked" or lasered and not cut off.

 

[Junkenpo]

My hubby and I have matching titanium wedding bands. I like that they are very light & inexpensive, especially when compared to precious metals like gold and platinum.

I wear my band with the my platinum ering & when they are together, you can definitely see the color difference. The titanium is more gray & the platinum more silvery white.... at least it is now.