Characteristics of Tungsten Carbide Wedding Rings

What is tungsten exactly? Tungsten is a chemical element, also known as wolfram, and it has some pretty amazing properties. Out of all the metals, tungsten has the highest melting point and the highest tensile strength. It is extremely durable and somewhat rare.

But tungsten wedding bands are not made out of pure tungsten – instead, they are made out of tungsten carbide. Pure tungsten is too difficult to work with, so tungsten that is used for industrial applications – and in jewelry – is compounded into its carbide form.

Tungsten carbide is created by combining an equal number of tungsten and carbon atoms. The result is a very fine powder which is then mixed with a binder – like nickel or cobalt – to create a compound that can be crafted into different shapes – like razor blades and wedding rings.

Tungsten carbide rings retain many of the characteristics of pure tungsten metal – including a high melting point and high tensile strength. The rings too are extremely resistant to scratching, and have a light gray color which can be darkened with brush finishing processes.

It is a common myth that tungsten carbide rings cannot be removed during an emergency. They can be removed in the event of an emergency using regular jewelry removal tools.

Tungsten wedding bands are also somewhat heavy – just a touch heavier than 14k gold.

The Best Tungsten Carbide for Tungsten Wedding Bands

Quality tungsten wedding bands are made with jewelry-grade tungsten carbide compounded with a nickel binder.

While nickel in gold alloys can cause allergies in some people, the amount of nickel in tungsten carbide is extremely low plus bonded so tightly to the other atoms in the ring that allergy risks are low.

Tungsten carbide compounded with cobalt binders should be avoided – completely – for wedding rings and other types of jewelry. Not only does the cobalt cause allergic reactions, but the cobalt reacts with the oils in the skin and can create a permanent stain on the rings.

There are different types of jewelry-grade tungsten carbide and rings made with quality tungsten carbide (which contain a low amount of nickel and a high percentage of tungsten and carbon) are priced higher than rings made with lower quality tungsten carbide grades. This is why you’ll see a wide range of prices for tungsten rings.

What about Black Tungsten Rings?

Most black tungsten rings are made with a plate over the natural gray tungsten. Unfortunately, any type of plate will eventually scratch – even if the plate itself contains some tungsten carbide ingredients.

Are Tungsten Wedding Bands Brittle?

Recently, there have been many questions about the durability of tungsten wedding bands. Before you decide to go with a tungsten carbide wedding ring, here is what you need to know about the durability of tungsten carbide:

Tungsten carbide is extremely durable, more durable than gold, palladium, silver, or platinum – and highly resistant to scratching – but it does have brittle properties. This means that if enough pressure is applied to a tungsten wedding ring, the ring will crack or break instead of bending like, for instance, a gold or platinum ring.

How brittle are tungsten wedding bands? Tungsten rings made with quality grade tungsten carbide will not break unless extreme force is applied to the ring.

Some people actually prefer the fact that a tungsten ring will break – instead of bending – if extreme force is applied to the rings. (Men’s tungsten rings are especially favored by men who work with heavy machinery or heavy objects because of their break vs. bend properties).

But because tungsten carbide does have these qualities, many reputable retailers of tungsten carbide wedding rings offer lifetime warranties for their rings – if the rings do break, they will be replaced at no charge.