Buying jewelry online

LeVeL said:
I have a friend who broke a tungsten ring as an experiment. Said it took some effort but nothing crazy. I've also heard of people dropping their rings and cracking them - won't happen 99 times out of 100 but that one time it might fall the wrong way.... Idk, most people really like them but I'm slightly weary since I want it to last my lifetime.
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Also, I suspect there are "tungsten" and Tungsten, as well as TUNSGTEN ?rings around. :lol:
 
Redliner said:
Oh, really glad to hear that!

I was a bit worried about using it at the lab and the gym, but from what you're telling me I have nothing to worry about.
The bad news is that they're still sitting in customs, because apparently they're on strike...26 days and counting.
Anyway, where did you buy it? Would you mind posting a picture of yours?
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Oh, we got ours locally/brick and mortar, though I just read up on the care instructions for tungsten rings. Apparently, you're not supposed to take 'em into the pool. Ooops. :lol:

Anyhow - here's the pic of mine. I had a helluva time trying to get my potato to focus correctly:

KmAVRSD.jpg


Pardon the staging - one of the reasons I ended up with a men's ring is because I have well used/crooked man hands. :p
 
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I also have a Tungsten ring. I wear it all the time, even in the garage when handling tools, getting down on the concrete floor, and working on engines and other such things. It still could pass for new to anyone not looking too closely. If you take time to really inspect the ring you will see it has some minor scuffing after years of being knocked around, but it has held up remarkably well.

It is true that you can't resize the rings, but they are also significantly cheaper than precious metals so replacing one with a different size may be about as much as resizing a gold ring (depending on the price of gold and whether you are going up or down a size). The other thing people forget is that gold or other soft metal rings wear over time and have to be replaced. The metal wears off on your skin and also due to handling things - and they don't have to be abrasive or particularly hard, gold is a very soft metal. Most people will have multiple wedding rings throughout their life.

Sorry for the ring being slightly out of focus, I'm still getting used to my new potato.

9dmyM3U.jpg
 
Kiki said:
Oh, we got ours locally/brick and mortar, though I just read up on the care instructions for tungsten rings. Apparently, you're not supposed to take 'em into the pool. Ooops. :lol:

Anyhow - here's the pic of mine. I had a helluva time trying to get my potato to focus correctly:

KmAVRSD.jpg


Pardon the staging - one of the reasons I ended up with a men's ring is because I have well used/crooked man hands. :p
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Nice!
I like the design.

MWF said:
Spookily enough we are buying our rings online, most likely from a place not too far from Viper...

Here is the engagement ring which we will order in white gold....

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/253...rch_query=blood+moon&ref=shop_items_search_12
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Really nice!

Blind_Io said:
I also have a Tungsten ring. I wear it all the time, even in the garage when handling tools, getting down on the concrete floor, and working on engines and other such things. It still could pass for new to anyone not looking too closely. If you take time to really inspect the ring you will see it has sally niceome minor scuffing after years of being knocked around, but it has held up remarkably well.

It is true that you can't resize the rings, but they are also significantly cheaper than precious metals so replacing one with a different size may be about as much as resizing a gold ring (depending on the price of gold and whether you are going up or down a size). The other thing people forget is that gold or other soft metal rings wear over time and have to be replaced. The metal wears off on your skin and also due to handling things - and they don't have to be abrasive or particularly hard, gold is a very soft metal. Most people will have multiple wedding rings throughout their life.

Sorry for the ring being slightly out of focus, I'm still getting used to my new potato.

9dmyM3U.jpg
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Good points. Also, interesting that you choose a non-matching design. :thumbsup:
Honestly, my goal is to eventually get a Zirconium one, so I am not too worried about durability.
 
We each picked the one we liked. The wider ring I picked didn't fit Kiki's hand well and the narrower one she liked wasn't comfortable for me and looked oddly small on my gorilla-paws.
 
MWF said:
Spookily enough we are buying our rings online, most likely from a place not too far from Viper...

Here is the engagement ring which we will order in white gold....

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/253...rch_query=blood+moon&ref=shop_items_search_12

And matching wedding bands in this design...

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/108261290/mens-steampunk-gear-ring-sterling-silver

With this finish...

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/116...rch_query=sandblasted&ref=shop_items_search_3
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Ooh, I really like the style (I'm a sucker for steampunk) and if you're posting pics, I'd love to see how they turn out!
 
Blind_Io said:
The other thing people forget is that gold or other soft metal rings wear over time and have to be replaced. The metal wears off on your skin and also due to handling things - and they don't have to be abrasive or particularly hard, gold is a very soft metal. Most people will have multiple wedding rings throughout their life.
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I'm not so sure that's true. I haven't heard of anyone having to replace their hold rings - heck, my parents have had theirs for over 30 years.
 
My cousin wore his out in about 7 years. It depends on the alloy and how hard it gets knocked around. Someone with a 10 karat gold ring will have it last a lot longer than 24 karat gold.
 
MWF said:
Spookily enough we are buying our rings online, most likely from a place not too far from Viper...

Here is the engagement ring which we will order in white gold....

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/253...rch_query=blood+moon&ref=shop_items_search_12
Click to expand...

With a garnet as the stone? If you haven't been told or read up on it yet, just please be aware garnet is a relatively soft stone and not really suitable for an engagement ring as it will scratch and chip with daily wear. If you're OK with having the stone wear down and likely need replacement several years down the line that's fine, but you should be made aware of that before you purchase it so you don't expect to have that stone hold up and look perfect 10+ years down the road only to be disappointed. Traditionally sapphire is the minimum hardness stone recommended for an engagement ring, with diamond (and now in modern times moissanite) being better as they're even harder.

Blind_Io said:
My cousin wore his out in about 7 years. It depends on the alloy and how hard it gets knocked around. Someone with a 10 karat gold ring will have it last a lot longer than 24 karat gold.
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It's definitely going to depend on the alloy and the thickness/design of the ring. 10Kt will hold up ages as it's more copper and other metal than gold (41.6% gold by weight) and results in about the hardest alloy. 14Kt is also very typical in the US and also holds up well over time, you shouldn't see any issues unless the ring is on the thin side to start and you're very rough on it. In general go with a shank over 2mm thickness for men and about 1.5mm for women and you won't see many issues over time. Head over to Europe and really the rest of the world and 18Kt is pretty common, it will hold up OK over the decades if it's thick to begin with but will definitely show dings and scratches. I've had people bring in rings that belonged to grandparents and were 60+ years old which were worn very thin but were still serviceable. With anything you do have to take care of the rings and get some service done over time to make sure they don't get too damaged.

24Kt... well you really won't find any jeweler in the US and most of Europe who will make a ring from 24Kt gold without also making you sign something saying they're not responsible when it bends and deforms and eventually breaks. 22 and 24Kt jeweler is really only found in parts of Asia and India where it's mostly ceremonial and dress jewelry which is seldom worn- head pieces, necklaces, earrings. Very rarely any rings because it's so soft.

Now if you're the sort of person who works with their hands on a lot of rough and abrasive materials it will definitely wear away some over time. The other big culprit will be polishing the ring, with gold when you polish it you do lose metal, so as nice as that mirror finish is, try not to get hung up over the scratches. This is one advantage of going with platinum, in layman's terms it's a very sticky metal so when you polish it you don't so much remove metal as you push it around. This means over time you lose considerably less metal with polishing when it comes to platinum versus gold. More expensive up front, but much longer lasting and decently stronger, not to mention it's got a great heft. I like my platinum ring.
 
Both good. Palladium is becoming more and more common, very similar to white gold and doesn't need rhodium plating and about the same price. It has the advantages of being workable, some jewelers will be able to handle it just like they could gold or platinum, but you'll want to ask to be sure before you assume as there are many shops that won't be comfortable working on it since they won't have much experience.

Cobalt is nice too, but you will find most jewelers will not work on it. A simple band can be sized up or down slightly on a stretcher- maybe half a size without risking anything. Quite durable, and much more inexpensive. As far as I know there are also no issues with allergies for people who have issues with some metals, but that would require more research to be sure.

I happen to have this old picture of a few of the rings I've worn- from bottom to top they are Sterling Silver, White Cobalt, and Platinum. I believe this was at least a few months of wear on the cobalt ring (note both the silver and cobalt have a hammertone finish- intentionally not smooth), it holds up well but does still scratch and dull a bit, but not nearly as quickly as silver and still somewhat better than gold. It also doesn't tarnish or discolor like silver. The platinum ring is half the size but weighs more than either of the other two. You can also see how it scratches and "dulls" over time, it has much more on-finger time than the others.

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They arrived!

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Yay!! I like the color and finish you chose - it really stands out. :)
 
Very nice!
 
Kiki;n3542617 said:
Yay!! I like the color and finish you chose - it really stands out. :)
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Thanks!
I was a bit worried since we chose based on pictures, but it's all we wanted: simple, heavy and very dark. :lol:
 
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