Wedding Rings for Men

I can write this hub because my husband has four wedding rings. Yes, he has FOUR. We have been through ring after ring to find what works for him. It sounds silly, but read on to see what happened.

OK, it's not a precious metal. But, it sounds functional, right? We eat with stainless steel, our appliances are made of stainless steel now, even counter-tops come in stainless steel. It's been a durable kitchen metal for ages, and more popularly so these days.

Before our wedding, my husband decided to have a "training" ring. You see, he fidgets a lot, and we thought it would be a good idea to see if he could keep track of a ring before we bought a nice one. The edges were a little sharp for him, and he found it uncomfortable, but he wore it. It also has some nicks in it now, just from daily wear. Maybe not the right long-term ring choice.

Stainless steel often contains elements of iron, chromium, nickel and carbon. It does not rust easily, but it can be stained.

He chose a lovely ring, 2-toned gold. This is what we used for the ceremony. He wore it proudly for a few weeks, and then . . . . . his fingers began to peel. Apparently he is allergic to the nickel found in gold rings. Take the ring off, everything is fine - put the ring on, peeling begins. It's now used for special occasions only. At least we won't have to have it re-dipped very often.

Gold is a very soft metal and has to be mixed with other alloys to allow for jewelry settings. Yellow gold is often mixed with copper, while white gold is often mixed with nickel - a less expensive but toxic alloy.

White gold is covered by a thin layer of rhodium, which helps to protect the metal and gives it a wonderful shine. Most white gold rings that are worn daily need to be dipped in rhodium about once every 6-12 months.

This one was sweetly engraved. It was a more comfortable cut, but this ring took more nicks in a shorter amount of time. It may be because of the satin finish, or it may be that he's just hard on rings. Who knows.

Now we had to find something that was virtually indestructible and would require little to no maintenance. A friend recommended tungsten carbide. Truly, there isn't a single mark on it after 6 months of wear and tear. There were several to choose from, including diamond insets and lovely etchings.

Tungsten has the highest melting point of all metals. Tungsten by itself is very soft, but when mixed with carbon becomes extraordinarily hard.

According to Wikipedia, "Tungsten carbide is four times harder than titanium, twice as hard as steel, is virtually unscratchable, and has been widely used for decades in industrial applications such as cutting tools, mining machinery, and rocket engine nozzles. Its extreme hardness makes it useful in the manufacture of cutting tools, abrasives and bearings, as a cheaper and more heat-resistant alternative to diamond. Tungsten carbide is also used as a scratch-resistant material for jewelry including watch bands and wedding rings."

Titanium allows for durability while offering a lighter weight. Titanium can be engraved or etched without affecting the strength of the metal.

Platinum costs more than gold because it is a more precious metal. I have heard others remark that platinum actually is fairly soft in rings and needs maintenance. We don't have any platinum rings so I can't speak to this first hand.