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Battle of the Bands: Tungsten Carbide versus Cobalt Chrome

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Battle of the Bands: Tungsten Carbide versus Cobalt Chrome

By: Lina Lambert

The huge surge of new materials used in the creation of jewelry today has given customers more choices of fresh products that bring in style. But the surprising thing about the impact of these new products is the increased interest of men to accessorize.

Though there are men who do love to dress up with necklaces, bracelets and pendants, most male customers prefer to buy signature rings as their main jewelry. Titanium, tungsten carbide and stainless steel jewelry apparently are now directly competing with silver and platinum. The affordable price and same appearance of alternative metals make most men think twice about spending thousands of dollars on precious metals.

But even in the alternative metal jewelry arena, competition is also tight. Because the price point is nearly the same with each type of alternative metal jewelry, tungsten carbide jewelry and stainless steel jewelry appears to be further fragmenting the market. Designers and consumers are now debating whether tungsten carbide or stainless steel jewelry is better when it comes to men's wedding bands.

Tungsten carbide has always been marketed as a tough and very durable metal. Because of this perception, sales of tungsten carbide rings surged and are now estimated to be between 300,000 to 500,000 wedding bands a year. But some industry experts and designers are arguing that tungsten carbide is not as indestructible as what customers were led to believe.

Actually, tungsten carbide is not really a metal but a metal matrix composite. It is a very tough material with hardness that is comparable to sapphire. But because it is not a true metal, wedding bands crafted from tungsten carbide cannot bend or tolerate sharp shocks, like getting dropped on a marble floor. Tungsten carbide rings (though this is subject to the quality and design of the jewelry) has the tendency to shatter, crack or chip.

With the creation of a new breed of stainless steel jewelry in the form of cobalt chrome alloy, many advocates and fans of this alternative metal argue that customers will likely benefit more by buying cobalt chrome wedding bands instead of tungsten carbide rings.

Cobalt chrome is a member of the stainless steel jewelry family and is considered to be an innovation of the industrial alternative metal. It has luster that is comparable to platinum but four times as hard. Like stainless steel jewelry, cobalt chrome rings can withstand corrosion, scratches and sharp shocks. Also, unlike tungsten carbide rings, cobalt chrome bands can be resized.

Compared to 316L stainless steel jewelry, cobalt chrome is fairly new. As of the moment, the types of cobalt chrome jewelry that is available are limited to statement rings and wedding bands due to the restrictions in the manufacturing process, though this may change in the coming years.

As more men get enticed to improve their style with jewelry and accessories, retailers should analyze what are the best products that they can offer to tap this new market. Tungsten carbide and cobalt chrome rings have their own pros and cons, thus, the best way to go is to give the decision to customers on which kind of wedding band is better.

Article Source: http://articles.tiptopweb.info

Lina Lambert, loves to write article out from her collections especially accessories, gadgets and jewelries from Inox Stainless Steel jewelry either for men and women as alternative metal jewelry. Visit the website and learn more about the products that beautifies men and women as mens steel jewelry and womens steel jewelry respectively.

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