Mens Wedding Bands – Are You Sure You’re Buying the Right Ring?

Finding the perfect ring for your groom is no easy task. While most people initially think,I'll just pick a gold band for him and we'll be done. Unfortunately, that simply no longer cuts the cake. Mens tungsten wedding bands come in such a wide variety of metals and styles that couples are putting as much effort into finding the perfect ring for him as well as for her.

The first thing to consider when purchasing a man's wedding band is what type of metal works best, gold, silver, platinum, titanium, or tungsten carbide. Each metal has it's benefits and drawbacks, not to mention there is no accounting for personal tastes.

Gold

Gold is very beautiful and traditional, however gold rings are easily damaged and the selection of styles is limited to the traditional plain domed and pipe cut bands.

The price of
gold rings falls anywhere from $200-$2000.

Another drawback to gold is the more pure gold that is in the ring, the softer it is, thus making it more susceptible to damage.

One positive with gold is that your ring can be resized, however resizing a ring weakens it a great deal.

Platinum

Platinum rings are considered to be the most expensive wedding bands. On average platinum rings cost 3x-4x the price of gold.

Platinum is stronger than gold however it can be scratched fairly easily as well.

With platinum wedding rings you are not as limited in design as gold, however you won't find the wide variety of styles and sizes offered by tungsten and titanium.

Platinum rings can often be confused with white gold. To differentiate the rings check the inner band. With platinum you will see a stamp with either Pt950 or 950Plat. A platinum ring with the Pt950 is 950 parts platinum and 50 parts various other metals per 1000.

Silver

Silver rings make for cheap mens wedding bands. Typically ranging between $20-$100.

While this may seem like a great deal initially, you have to factor in the durability and replacement costs with silver. Silver is a very soft metal which will damage and tarnish easily. Most tarnish can be removed, however if your silver ring is made of low quality materials you may be out of luck when It comes to removing tarnish.

While I wouldn't recommend a silver ring, a silver inlay makes a nice compliment to rings composed primarily of other metals.

Titanium

Titanium rings are very light, almost to a fault. With a ring that is 43% lighter then stainless steel your titanium ring could slip off your finger without you ever knowing until it is much too late.

Titanium is fantastic in that is totally hypoallergenic.

Titanium is also great in that it can be styled and colored in ways that gold, platinum, and silver can not. Titanium can be plated with either gold or a black can be fused into the ring to create a variety of eye-catching styles.

The cost of titanium wedding bands can vary greatly. There are a few reasons for this the main reason being that titanium can be made of various "grades" similar to the purity of gold and platinum. Titanium rings are available in Aircraft grade titanium Ti-64, super-hard titanium Ti-662, and commercially pure titanium Ti-999.

The commercially pure titanium is softer, thus easier to work with, and in turn cheaper. Commercially pure titanium will also scratch quite easily.

Ti-64, aircraft grade titanium, is a wonderful material to have a ring made of however they are extremely hard to find and quite expensive as well.

Tungsten Carbide

Tungsten wedding bands or tungsten carbide as many people refer to it, has seen it's popularity skyrocket recently.

Tungsten rings are scratch and tarnish resistant, they carry a nice weight, and when combined with other materials create one of a kind styles.

Tungsten rings can be paired with gold or silver inlays for a classy look or can be laser engraved in an ancient Celtic pattern to create a beautiful and historically significant
Celtic tungsten ring.

When purchasing a tungsten ring you want to make sure the ring was created with a nickel binder as opposed to cobalt. Cobalt binders weaken the ring and open the ring to tarnishing and scratching. While some individuals may be allergic to nickel, tungsten bound with nickel is chemically inert, thus making the ring hypoallergenic.

One major concern with tungsten rings is that tungsten rings are so strong they can not be cut off. There is no need to worry about this as emergency rooms are prepared to handle this situation. All that needs to be done to remove a tungsten ring is it to crack it off with a pair of channel lock pliers. You may find our tungsten ring removal guide helpful.

Tungsten rings cost significantly less then platinum, prices usually run from $100-$300, while outlasting all other metals.

One final note in regards to tungsten rings and wedding bands is the polish present on tungsten is known as a permanent polish. This means that you will never need to take your ring to the jeweler to be polished. If the ring becomes dirty simply clean it with a bit of soap and hot water and it will look as good as new.

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