The Hard Facts About Tungsten
There are many “About Tungsten” pages out there that all say the same thing. We did our best to give you some information that you may not already know. We will continue to update this page with interesting Tungsten information.
"Almost a third of men’s bands today are in contemporary metals. The most growth has been in tungsten, which now accounts for 19% of all men’s bands." Modern Jeweler
The element Tungsten was discovered in 1783. It is sometimes referred to as “Wolfram,” which explains why its chemical symbol is W. All tungsten rings are a combination of elements. The great majority of these elements are tungsten and carbide. There is no such thing as a “pure” tungsten ring, however using the correct grade is critical. Because it has the highest melting point of all metals, Tungsten was first found useful as filament in lamps. Tungsten carbide has been widely used for the past 100 years. Industry has found numerous uses for tungsten carbide, mainly with cutting tools. The jewelry industry has made fine watches from tungsten carbide for many years. For the most part, the jewelry industry refers to tungsten carbide as tungsten and the industrial industry refers to it as carbide.
Tungsten is hard, very hard. It ranges from 8 to 9 on the Mohs scale. By way of comparison, Titanium, a very hard metal, is about 6.5. Gold, Silver, and Platinum range from 2 to 4 on the scale. Sand ranks up there at 7 and your teeth, depending on your diet, range right around 4. The Mohs scale is more or less a “scratch test” so you can see why Tungsten is such a durable ring. Have some fun with them by trying to scratch them with a metal file. We routinely cut out our titanium rings using tungsten carbide cutting tools. There are just no rings that can compete with tungsten’s durability.
Not all tungsten rings are the same. Please be aware that not all ring manufactures use the same grade of tungsten. Some use a lesser quality tungsten grade that is more susceptible to scratches. Be sure to purchase from a reputable company.
For a demostration of the scratch resistent properties of our tungsten rings please click here
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