Designer Scott Kay breaks some tungsten carbide wedding bands to show why men should choose a new cobalt alloy instead.
Not so long ago, a wedding ring was a simply a “band of gold.” When platinum came on the scene in the 1980s, some high-end bands began to be made of that precious metal too. But this last decade has seen a huge surge in what the jewelry industry calls “contemporary metals,” like titanium, steel, and tungsten carbide, which isn’t really a metal at all (more on that later.) Recently, a relative of platinum, palladium, has also been added to the mix.
Why have hundreds of thousands of men chosen a band made out of one of these non-traditional metals? They are much more affordable, especially with the gold price now above $1,000 per ounce.
A ring made out of a high-tech material seems modern and in sync with a contemporary lifestyle. Titanium, because of its light weight, feels more comfortable to some men. Steel has a classic industrial appeal, especially when combined with diamonds or gold. And tungsten carbide is marketed as being more durable than precious metals, with a superior hardness that resists scratching. Sales of tungsten carbide have surged in the past two years and are now estimated at 300,000 to 500,000 wedding bands a year.
But one of the country’s leading bridal jewelry designers wants men to think twice before choosing a tungsten carbide wedding band.
Scott Kay held a press conference today in New York to demonstrate that tungsten carbide is not as indestructible as a YouTube video might lead you to believe. How did he do that? He destroyed a lot of tungsten carbide rings. He tossed them against a marble tile and they shattered. He hit them with a hammer and they cracked. He put them in a vise and they broke in two.
Tungsten carbide, a metallurgist at the press conference explained, is not a metal but a metal matrix composite, a ceramic like material sintered from a powder of tungsten and carbon sintered with cobalt or nickel into an aggregate, which still contains tiny voids. Because it isn’t a metal, it can’t bend so a sharp shock can break it.
These tungsten carbide rings were thrown on the floor, shattering them
“When I go on the internet and read that tungsten rings are indestructible, unbreakable, durable, and strong, I have a real problem with that,” Kay says. “I have a problem with tungsten carbide for a wedding ring without 100% disclosure that it breaks when it falls on the floor.”
This jewelry mayhem had another point: Scott Kay announced a partnership with manufacturer Spectore Corporation metal alloy supplier Carpenter Technologies to launch the SK Cobalt collection of bands in a patented white metal alloy of cobalt, chromium, and molybdenum called BioBlu 27. The collection will be designed by Scott Kay and manufactured by Spectore from the high-tech alloy created by Carpenter.
The SK Cobalt Collection will retail from $125 up, with most bands in the $300 range. They will directly compete with those not-so-indestructible tungsten carbide wedding bands.
Kay promises that the new bands will not shatter when hit by a hammer (and he of course demonstrated by doing just that.)
The bands in the new SK Cobalt Collection will also have a wider selection of styling than most bands in other contemporary metals because the BioBlu 27 alloy can be cast as well as machined, allowing more sculptural and organic designs and textures. Although stones can not yet be set in the new alloy, BioBlu 27 can be combined with precious metals, with or without gems.
SK Cobalt rings will be available in stores in the next two weeks. Helzberg Diamonds will carry an exclusive collection in the new alloy called “Brute Cobalt.”
“There is a need for a $300 wedding ring,” Kay says. “If gold was $100 an ounce, everyone would have a gold ring. BioBlu is dense, it’s solid metal matrix, it’s strong and it’s not brittle. I am excited about BioBlu 27. I want other manufacturers to use it also.”
SK Cobalt wedding rings in the BioBlu 27 alloy
Is the metal blueish-white?
Tungsten Carbide looks like other white metals, similar to the tone of white gold or platinum.
My fiancee and I bought our rings this weekend. Mine is 18k white with stones, and for him we were wanting a simple but thick 14k white for him. Benchmark makes gorgeous men’s wedding bands in gold. But the pricetag was outrageous. We weren’t wanting to spend more than $500 on his, and for gold, $500 buys a very very thin tiny band. After looking at each metal available on the market, we decided to go with a Scott Kay cobalt ring.
Its gorgeous. No, it doesn’t have a blue color. Its maybe just slightly darker in color than platinum, but it will go with my 18k white set beautifully. And for the same size in millimeters as Benchmark gold one we were looking at, it was $600 less.
Just what the world needs – another alternative metal to clog the market. But at least with Scott Kay, he has the advertising clout to set his alternative metal rings apart from the rest. He also addresses the need to hit a certain price point fairly well.
Would you test the durability of a diamond by hitting it with a hammer?
It all depends on what test on runs on a product to find out how durable it is. Some materials resist abrasion very well yet are soft and scratch like platinum and palladium that will not shatter when hit with a hammer. There are other materials like zirconium ceramic or diamond that are hard and don not scratch, but can be shattered with a hammer. One must test a product by looking at what happens during normal wear and tear.
“Would you test the durability of a diamond by hitting it with a hammer?” you need to go back to jr high school. dimonds would SHATTER in a billion peices if you hit them with a hammer. That is not where a dimonds strnetgh lies. ANY jewler would gladdly take a dimond to show you it will scratch ANYTHING.
“All the people that I know that have a tungsten ring have it one purpose. The reason for this was the fact that they break. Yes, break. Most of the men that I know work in or around machinery and thus want a ring that will break if a machine catches it versus smashing and ripping there finger off. People need to keep this in mind when they are buying a wedding ring.” really?? how often do people get their fingers ripped off becusae of their wedding ring??? i would LOVE to see the number on that one!!!
I just saw a portion of the Scott Kay Cobalt line and we’re in. This stuff is white as precious metals and very, very durable. A customer came in while the rep was here to replace a tungsten band that chipped badly. I hate selling it.
From the photo it looks just like platinum ring. if that is the case I am in. I have seen some tungsten rings, which does not look white but very dark metallic feel. I was wondering how scratch resistant are they compared to tungsten and platinum? my Platinum band scratch too easily for my line of work.
Sure, David. Your platinum band does appear scratched. But as you might know, you can refinish platinum without losing much mass (if any). So if it was me, I’d wear it, and then have it refurbished every year. Heck – aren’t scratches kinda manly anyway?
All the people that I know that have a tungsten ring have it one purpose. The reason for this was the fact that they break. Yes, break. Most of the men that I know work in or around machinery and thus want a ring that will break if a machine catches it versus smashing and ripping there finger off. People need to keep this in mind when they are buying a wedding ring.
I just got a bioblu 27 wedding band and I love it. It’s as white as platinum, and very light for a 7mm wide band. I am so allergic to metals containing nickel that there are very few options but I am definitely happy with this new ring. I purchased it from Jared and then went shopping around at the other jewelry stores in town and none of them have even heard of BioBlu. Its more economical than platinum, palladium and titanium and looks just as good.
I own Tungten Carbide wedding band. I never plan on throwing it against the hard floor. No worries. Good luck to the new guy and his line of rings – I guess.
I meant Tungsten – excuse my bad typing
Benchmark also has cobalt now. It’s their Cobalt Chrome collection. My fiance and I just picked his band last night. His band is a actually a square design w/ slightly rounded edges. very sleek and is under $300. There are a couple diff models and looked to be in and around the $200-$350 range. I imagine some are more if including diamonds.
FYI I can’t find these on Benchmark website yet, but our Jeweler had a brochure and some samples.
i just bought a new tungston carbide wedding band and like prior ppl have said i dont plan on throwing it at the floor or directly hitting it with a hammer also if i wanted a ring that would bend to the point that the had to cut the ring off and maybe part of my digits then keep it ill keep my tungston as in my line of work (motorcycle mechanic) if i smash my hand against an engine block id rather smash the ring take the chip back and get a new one then have it contort around my finger.
We have sold SK Cobalt for over a month now and can’t keep it in stock. It’s the right price, solid, bright white and comes in a lot of different styles, just like Scotts’ platinum collection. Now I hear they are offering a certificate to guarantee the designs are 100% American made. Seriously, this is the perfect metal for the economy and even if we weren’t in tough times, we’d be buying it. God knows customers are!
I just got married recently in July 2010. We shopped a few places and ended up with the Brute Cobalt BioBlue 27. The key points are what you read, but when I describe it to my friends, I tell them it is comfortable like tungsten, shines like platinum, and is unmatched in terms of durability. I work in a field that involves dirt and getting dirty and the ring shines bright everyday. It hasn’t been very long, but I love my ring. I highly reccomend it to anyone looking for a ring.
Correction: Comfy like Tungsten, light like titanium, shines like platinum, and uncompared in durability. And in the $300 range? I would think the choice is easy. If you have another type of ring already, that’s great too, but if you ever needed another ring, give the SK a look.
What a b*llsh*t, he’s just against Tungsten jewellery… Very cheap (and nasty) trick to promote himself and to disqualify the enemy…
For normal usage, Tungsten rings are the best! scratch-free, and the shine of it…. fantastic
i love this kind of ring i really want to figure out how to make them more indestructable
I am fan of tungsten for the same reason Marchi mentions, if I get it caught it will break before crushing my finger. This is not bad thing when working with heavy machinery.
Tunsten Carbide isn’t as bad as this article makes it out. Yes it can be shattered but it is more scratch resistant then gold or platinum, both of which scratch easily. I wear a gold bracelet (10k) I’ve had for more then 10 years and even though having it polished several times you can see minute scratches on its surface. It really depends on what you want out of the metal, more then likely it will be scratched vs being shattered or smashed.
In terms of design, beauty strength and value, premium titanium or black zirconium are far superior materials for men’s wedding rings.
I understand that tungsten carbide is very strong, but any gold alloy would also suffer damage if subjected to the same ‘tests’. I’m having trouble figuring out why anyone needs to prove that these rings can break in such extreme tests. It doesn’t mimic everyday life in any way.
Puzzled,
Ross
I, for one, am happy to learn that tungsten carbide rings are NOT indestructable. I always worried if there was a situation where my hand was injured and swelled that the only option would be to amputate the finger. Scratchless is GREAT, indesctructable not so much.
In March 2012 I bought my wedding band and we left for our wedding in Hawaii. On the first day in our Hawaiin Condo, as I was pulling off my Tungsten ring, it slipped and fell two feet onto the granite countertop and shattered. This was the worst $300 I have spent in a long time. The Jewelry sales person told us that in case I ever got my hand caught in machinery it would break but not that dropping in would cause this. Now they say that they will not cover replacement since I didn’t purchase the warranty for $75.00.
I do not recommend Tungsten rings.
Doug
This was a really informative blog. Thank you for posting it!
Best,
Alexa Demara Jewelry
Does a ring that resists being scratched, cause more scratching on objects it contacts?
I have actually dropped my ring at least 50 times (I remove it when I shower and my cat hates rings evidently) and it actually will bounce almost as high as it fell and has never broken or chipped. If you need to sell your product line and are actually losing this much money maybe you should reconsider your ring material choices and stop over exaggerating because anyone who is upright and functioning knows you can flatten a gold or silver band with a hammer.
People are so dumb. Do they even read the article before they comment?
He is not comparing SK Cobalt or Bioblu to silver or gold, except for price. So duh, gold will scratch, and duh, both will flatten with a hammer. He is comparing his product to Tungston, which has been labeled as “indestructible”, which it isn’t. Yes, he is doing this to promote HIS new line of rings, but hey, all he’s giving are more options, and who really hates that?
Please – read before you comment, and stop comparing apples to oranges. We ALL should know that diamonds & gold are expensive, and the article points that out, so why are people commenting on these things? And yes, some people might like indestructible, and some may want a ring that will break if it is caught. That’s a thing called “preference”. Again, why are people going to get mad that there’s just one more option out there now? Geez.
Ask a Jeweler: Nonmetal Bands, Gem Appraisal, and Inherited Damage