Titanium Ring Facts

Titanium is a natural metal that lends itself well to wedding rings and bridal sets because it’s silver-white in color and much stronger than gold, silver or even platinum. It need not be industrial-looking either. It can be polished to a shine that is much like platinum and much more lustrous than silver or white gold.

And for the man who will wear his wedding ring every day, titanium is less likely to dent or be bent out of shape or get scratched than a gold wedding ring. For bride with sensitive skin who hopes she will be able to wear her wedding rings from the moment she says “I do” without removing them, the fact that this metal is 100% hypoallergenic will make her a little happier.

There’s nothing worse than loving your rings and not being able to wear them because you’re allergic. Titanium wedding and engagement rings will not irritate your skin or leave discoloration, and on top of that you needn’t remove them for work because they can withstand heat and light and chemicals and salt and chlorine and even perspiration without any ill effects.

Titanium Rings for Him and Her

The best part is that these products are now created in so many styles that you can even have your sparkling diamonds mounted into titanium settings or choose cubic zirconia or a tanzanite ring with a band. There are black titanium rings that are unique and may make a personal statement about you that a traditional gold wedding band would never do. For men, titanium sounds less girly than gold or silver, and the guys can say things like, “my wedding ring’s made from aircraft grade titanium alloy and it’s 3 times stronger than steel, ” while the ladies can still dote over the sparkle in HER wedding ring setting.

Since wedding rings are intended to be worn for a lifetime, it’s not at all surprising that brides and grooms are choosing titanium rings that will prove resistant to everyday wear and will not readily lose their shine or shape.

Titanium Ring Grading

There are different grades of titanium jewelry – basic grade, aircraft grade and extra hard aircraft grade alloy. It’s important to note that the inexpensive basic grade titanium is only a little more resistant to scratch and denting than regular gold. That is why many people choose aircraft grade or titanium alloy so it really lasts a lifetime.

• Basic grade titanium is about 99.9% pure and divided into strengths from 1 to 4 with the most common jewelry being a grade 2.
• Rings made from 90% pure titanium, 6% aluminum and 4% vanadium, are known as aircraft grade rings and are very popular in jewelry, especially mid-range priced wedding rings.
• The strongest titanium rings are made with 86% extra hard titanium, 6% aluminum, 6% vanadium and 2% tin resulting in the alloy that is actually used for aircraft and space shuttles and has now become popular as the highest quality titanium jewelry and rings on the market.

Great. You know what you want. That’s a good start because engagement ring shopping is hard enough without wander aimlessly through jewelry shops and searching online galleries and catalogs of rings upon rings in every precious metal and shape known to man.

How to decide on the Ring

First, determine a general budget. Is it $20 or $2,000?

• For under $100 you can get a cubic zirconia/titanium engagement ring that’s stunning but not the best quality. These rings look great when first purchased but may end spending most of the time in your jewelry armoire after a few years when the lab created diamonds start to show the inevitable signs of wear and tear.
• For $200 you can get a medium to good quality ring if you’re not looking to add a precious stone or if you want only chips of diamonds or some such small accent.
• For $300 and up you can choose medium to excellent quality rings and some may even have stones or two-tone designs with a teeny bit of gold.
• From $500 your choices are excellent and the quality of titanium will be aerospace alloy grade which is the best. The engagement or wedding rings in this category are both beautiful and good quality.
• For around $700 there are a few unique titanium ring choices in designer jewelry – by designer I don’t mean Calvin Klein or YSL or Dior, I mean small designers who make unique creations and often only have a few and all are unique. For example one custom jeweler has a black titanium tension engagement ring with a a Swarovski crystal, an Austrian crystal or a small genuine diamond for just under $700 and he will ship anywhere in the world.

Second, determine if she will be happiest with white or smoked titanium rings or would prefer something in black. Will she want a diamond, crystal, cubic zirconia, pearl or other precious stone? Would a colored titanium band be best? Would a plain ring suit her style? Will the engagement ring double as wedding ring? Will she be matching a mens titanium ring for you to what you give to her?

Although there may be a million variations, titanium rings fall into these general categories:

• Black titanium rings

• White titanium rings
• Brushed/frosted/etched/polished titanium rings
• Colored titanium rings (not a great choice because the color doesn’t last)
• Engagement rings with stones and gems (precious gems or imitations)
• Plain engagement rings with no precious stones (may be best as wedding band)
• Titanium wedding rings in sets of two or three (two for her and one for him)

It can be alloyed with iron, aluminum and tin. It can become anything from a jet engine to a bicycle frame or even end up as a filling in your tooth. It can be shaped into a piece of jewelry or made into a titanium pipe.

Yes, titanium is amazing. But it isn´t Black!

Its white, perhaps a little smoky or steel grey, but never naturally black. In order to have black titanium rings its necessary to heat the metal or pass it through an electric bath or otherwise subject it to a process to change it from white to black. And that is why sometimes the black on titanium, that´s actually not part of titanium, may disappear or become scratched and ugly looking long before the ring is very old. This surprises many ring buyers because one of the main reasons to buy titanium is the fact that they are almost indestructible and won´t get scruffy looking and will withstand a lot of abuse.

So how do we produce a black titanium ring?

It all begins with the grade of titanium that the rings will be made from. Although there are some 50 grades only half of them are used for commercial purposes, and even fewer are used in the making of black titanium rings.

A specific alloy with the right blend of trace metals and elements react to high temperatures by becoming black. The black forms from the outside of the metal and, depending on the length of time subjected to the heat, the temperature and other atmospheric conditions, the black will penetrate or deepen into the titanium.

Once the blackening has begun, the outer side of the metal being treated becomes hard and changes to a structure resembling ceramic. Therefore black titanium rings are extremely hard, but the problem of the black chipping or getting scratched off depends entirely on the depth to which the blackening has occurred.

Best Black Titanium Rings

The highest quality rings have been treated until the blackness has gone about half-way through the thickness of the ring. These rings will not lose their black so easily. However, since this is a costly and time consuming procedure, the less expensive products are blackened only superficially. This will account for the huge price variation in mens titanium rings that appear similar.

If a black titanium ring is $30 and another is $300 there is a very good reason. It’s not just because someone is earning more money. In the case of mens titanium wedding rings you really do get what you pay for. It is essential for you to know exactly what you’re buying or that eternal ring you slip on your finger may be very temporary.

However, if you’re looking for fun rings that aren’t going to take much abuse and aren’t going to be wedding or engagement rings then go for an inexpensive design that suits your fancy and your budget.

There are some excellent options for a titanium ring that you can order online and that can be a great gift for a groomsman or a friend without putting you in the poorhouse, and they are one of the most popular mens rings today.

Here are some suggestions in a variety of qualities and price ranges:

Top:

• TRITON ® Titanium Serpentine Band – $149.00 -$329.00
• ARTCARVED ® Black Titanium Ring – $249.00
• EDWARD MIRELL Black Titanium Ring with Diamond and 14K Gold- $557.00 – $795.00

Mid to Low:

• A basic black titanium ring of medium quality, but that can be worn everyday will run you about $60 – $80.
• A brushed titanium wedding ring, or a grooved titanium wedding ring in lower quality is $60 -$70.
• A unique mens titanium ring is the Mens Skinz Titanium Ring with a jaguar, tiger or leopard animal print embossing. The quality is medium but it’s fun at about $45.