When attempting to define marriage what comes to mind? Is it a highly evolved commitment between two lovers symbolizing the eternal and the infinite? People from all around the world would generally agree. When it comes time to establish that bond between you and the one you love you want to pick a wedding ring that will be a tangible object of all, that marriage means. One of the rings being sold today are made; from something called tungsten carbide. Pushed as one of the strongest materials on earth this is only a selling point. When it comes down to it tungsten rings are a very bad choice when it comes to your wedding.
A reasonably costing yet enduring option; tungsten is sold under the pretense that it ranks high on the Mohs scale of hardness. It’s not going to scratch throughout the life of the ring but there is something extremely devious about the hocking of tungsten rings. First off tungsten isn’t even a metal like gold or silver; it’s a ceramic. Ceramic won’t become scuffed up over time but it could very well snapin two if struck or dropped.
Discovering tungsten is not a metal like gold or silver is only the beginning. By reading more and more you will find more and more negatives about the tungsten rings. A great example will come with the day that you find you’ve lost or gained a little weight in your hands and decide it’s time to have your wing resized. You’ll go to your jeweler only to discover that you can’t have tungsten rings resized. It will be mandatory to purchase an entirely new ring or have some sort of agreement with your dealer with acquiring a new one. Not quite the “eternal” symbol of marriage as originally thought, is it?
One final thing about tungsten which is cause for alarm is that I could be seen as a health hazard. Forget about tungsten carbide dust being toxic. If you find yourself in the terrifying position of an emergency room with a swelled ring finger wrapped in tungsten it will take special pliers to remove it. If the incident is serious enough and they don’t have those particular pliers the doctors will in fact remove the whole finger to save your life. Most hospitals only carry a saw to cut rings like gold or silver which is totally ineffective on tungsten. If you find yourself at the wrong hospital you could have a very bad night.
Deciding on the rings that defines the commitment between you and your wife is a big decision. Be aware though that tungsten falls short of that definition: an everlasting commitment between two people who are absolutely dedicated to each other and tungsten fails to meet that in much respect.
Tungsten is considered one of the hardest metals found on our beautiful planet earth. It rates high on the Mohs scale of hardness and is found in many products and instruments in many industries. There’s one catch however; men’s tungsten wedding bands and tungsten rings are also considered astonishingly brittle. Do you really want to take the chance with Triton tungsten? We all know that traditional metals like gold and cobalt are highly valued as well as aesthetically pleasing so why even bother with something that has the possibility of cracking?
The reality that it’s brittle isn’t even the worst of it. If a person happens to have an accident or an occurrence where his or her ring finger swells while their tungsten ring is on, doctors at hospitals will have a very difficult time removing it without the right tools. Other rings, such as gold and cobalt can be removed with a typical saw like instrument that will literally cut the metal.
Tungsten however, needs to be cracked off which requires a special vice like tool, which not every hospital carries. So, the brittleness works against you in everyday life, (remember to try and not drop the thing) and the hardness works against you in an crisis. Really sounds like a win-win.
Another pitfall of tungsten carbide rings is that they are not re-sizable. I know it’s rare but just imagine if you gained a little weight throughout the years after you wed, with tungsten rings snug on your finger. You wake up one day to the knowledge that if you get any fatter, the Triton tungsten will literally be cutting off the circulation to your finger. If decide to get it resized, if you can still get it off your finger without damaging it; good luck. You’re better off just fracturing the thing and getting a new one because tungsten rings aren’t one size fits all.
One final and brief thing I’ve come to know about tungsten carbide is that it’s literally toxic. Sure, a simple ring will most likely not kill you but breathing in tungsten carbide dust can lead to fibrosis. You make the decision. You can go with the hazardously hard yet relatively brittle tungsten ring that you won’t be able to resize if and when the time comes, or you can make a better decision. I’m not one to tell you which way to choose, but the information is out there to read. All one has to do, is the required research to find the truth.