Titanium Wedding Bands

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Titanium's unique properties of being featherweight and tough make it an excellent choice for wedding rings. Many people are familiar with titanium because of it’s use in the space industry, in military applications, and for many things including sports equipment (mountain bikes, hunting knives, golf clubs, tennis racquets), eyeglass frames, cutlery, artificial joints, and sports cars.

TITANIUM QUALITIES

Titanium is grayish white in color, a few shades darker than platinum and white gold, more similar in color to stainless steel or gun-metal gray. It is lightweight, yet extremely strong, more durable than gold or platinum, and is very scratch resistant. It is hypoallergenic and will not irritate or discolor the skin or harm the body in any way. Because it is biologically and chemically inert, it is corrosion free and resists most acids and other corrosive materials. Average titanium wedding ring prices range from $100 to $700.

Titanium is not a rare or precious metal, and most of the cost of making a titanium ring is in the skilled labor required to make a ring from such a hard metal. Since it is very challenging to melt, weld, or cast titanium, the rings are mostly handcrafted and finished after they are cut from a solid titanium slab. It is titanium’s strength and durability that also makes it very difficult to cut and shape compared to gold and platinum, and makes it nearly impossible to be resized once made. The ring can be made slightly bigger by removing a small amount of material from the inside surface, but it cannot be made smaller.

TITANIUM GRADE: The recommended alloy is Titanium 6.4 (6AL/4V), also known as high aircraft grade titanium. It is composed of 90% titanium, 6% aluminum and 4% vanadium.

TITANIUM SAFETY. In a situation when it might be necessary to cut off the titanium ring (hand injury or weight gain), it will be more difficult than cutting through gold or platinum, but it can still be done. Most hospitals are prepared to handle almost any situation. Also, because titanium rings are strong, if you shut your hand in a car door or drop a heavy object on it, it will be less likely to crush or bend out-of-round than other metals.

TITANIUM CARE. Just like gold and platinum, titanium wedding bands can get scrapes and scratches with normal wear. Even though titanium is very hard and durable, it can be scratched by abrasive materials like rocks, sandpaper, and hardened steel tools and utensils. If needed, titanium rings can be polished back to a new shine.