Male wedding rings

[p1t1o]

So I proposed to my other half on New Years.

I know what you are thinking? After all this time, was I able to achieve tactical surprise? Yes, yes I did, Sun Tzu would have been proud.

So on to topic: "Man Rings"

I quite like the idea of wearing a wedding ring, though an actual wedding is quite far off.

A plain gold band is traditional, but Im not too attached to tradition.

There is a bit of a fashion for male rings these days, Tungsten Carbide, being a pretty macho material (strong, hard, refractory, used in tank armour and KE penetrators) is popular as are other similarly "MAN" materials like titanium (sci-fi sounding name, used to build terminators).

Whilst I like these materials (you can even get a ring made from titanium taken from scrapped SR-71's) they are a bit "on-the-nose", I mean, tungsten carbide? Its a bit....like, if it is gold or platinum, all you have to say is "gold" or "platinum" if you feel inclined to reveal what your ring is made of...but tungsten carbide? Im gonna have to give a miniature materials science lecture every time, or something like "What? My ring? Well, first I have to tell you the story of CIA reconnaissance during the cold war...well, after we have covered supersonic aerodynamics of course." *sound of groans from audience*

 

So my question is - alternatives. What are some cool (tasteful - multi-digit finger armour encrusted with rubies and emeralds and adorned with dragon skulls are out, I checked. Also pricey.) alternatives to a plain gold band for a male wedding ring?

Honestly Im leaning towards simple stainless steel. It wont corrode very easily, though will "age" over time (granting character), it will be strong enough as to make no odds and modern, high quality steel and its metallurgy is an extremely important technology in terms of the development of materials in recent history. Might look a bit dull though, though it might be possible to find a case-hardened one with a fancy oxide sheen on it - though that might just end up looking like Im wearing a plumbing fixture? I dunno, thats why Im here  

PS: I could still be sold on tungsten carbide or titanium if only for that scene from "Sphere" "The Abyss" where some guy is trying to reach a bulkhead door before it seals (classic trope style) and just manages to get his hand in the gap and his wedding ring stops his fingers from being crushed and after he is all like kissing his ring and junk. I like that. Un-crushable finger powers. I'd practically be a superhero.

 

Edited January 3, 2017 by p1t1o

[Benji13]

My dad recently got married and he has a ring that is carbon fibre with a tungsten carbide lining. Kinda hard to explain. Here's some pics:

https://goo.gl/images/4hSWdM

https://goo.gl/images/xY9FXK

The main reason he went for such strong materials was because his old ring (from a previous marriage) was made of gold and was scratched and dented too much with his work (industrial electrician). In my opinion the all grey one is pretty stylish. 

Edited January 3, 2017 by Benji13

[kerbiloid]

50 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

Tungsten Carbide, being a pretty macho material (strong, hard, refractory, used in tank armour and KE penetrators)

And in shape of the Moebius strip. This will show your erudition, remarkability and openness to new ideas.
_{With flash memory inside.}

Edited January 3, 2017 by kerbiloid

[p1t1o]

26 minutes ago, Benji13 said:

My dad recently got married and he has a ring that is carbon fibre with a tungsten carbide lining. Kinda hard to explain. Here's some pics:

https://goo.gl/images/4hSWdM

https://goo.gl/images/xY9FXK

The main reason he went for such strong materials was because his old ring (from a previous marriage) was made of gold and was scratched and dented too much with his work (industrial electrician). In my opinion the all grey one is pretty stylish. 

Excellent reason for an advanced-materials ring!

Being a desk-jockey, my ring is in most danger of mild impacts with a plastic keyboard and possibly if I pick up my phone with too much gusto. Though I do do a bit of medieval fencing (Longsword) and fingers are a prime target believe it or not, so it could technically be a small piece of armour...if you kinda squint with your mind...

 

8 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

And in shape of the Moebius strip. This will show your erudition, remarkability and openness to new ideas.
_{With flash memory inside.}

I like the way you're thinking!

[Shpaget]

The prospect of snagging the ring on something and losing a finger does not worry you?

[Elthy]

Isnt tungstencarbide kinda brittle?

I allways loved the color of osmium (and the fact that its the densest element), sadly it seems to be to brittle for actuall usage. Maybe its possible to make an alloy thta keeps the color...

[Dafni]

I have not much to add, just that I dont advise wearing rings when working with electricity or climbing or any of that sort. My uncle ripped a finger off in a door of some cable cart, and once a friend of mine got a short through his wedding ring while he was welding, the ring glowed red hot for a second... ever since then you wont see me wearing any rings at all.

[p1t1o]

1 minute ago, Shpaget said:

The prospect of snagging the ring on something and losing a finger does not worry you?

Not really. Im not likely to be exposed to much danger of that, apart from the aforementioned over-energetic phone answering (and I get some pretty dang urgent emails...) but Im also quite sure even a pure gold ring will whip my finger out its socket just as readily as any other. If I was going rock climbing or skydiving, I'd probably keep it safely elsewhere. 

 

2 minutes ago, Elthy said:

Isnt tungstencarbide kinda brittle?

I allways loved the color of osmium (and the fact that its the densest element), sadly it seems to be to brittle for actuall usage. Maybe its possible to make an alloy thta keeps the color...

I think TC might be "brittle" in terms of "not ductile" but I am fairly certain that my body will smash several times over before a ring would.

Quick google says Osmium is an actual possibility (http://www.osmium-rings.com/), but quite on the pricey side ("Each year, worldwide, only 120 kg traded!"), potentially there could be realistic examples with a bit of searching. The sparkley, "crystalline" ones are a bit...girly?

[Shpaget]

True enough, even gold rings have claimed a few fingers, for example:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Čupić

Which raises the question, why take the risk at all?

Anyway, you obviously want something shiny and blingy. Steel will keep the shine longest.

[Dartguy]

46 minutes ago, Shpaget said:

The prospect of snagging the ring on something and losing a finger does not worry you?

My Mom was an ER nurse for decades.  One day Neil Armstrong came into the hospital with his ring finger "degloved", nearly ripped off.  He had caught his ring on a nail when jumping out of a haywagon.

[MaxxQ]

2 hours ago, p1t1o said:

So I proposed to my other half on New Years.

I know what you are thinking? After all this time, was I able to achieve tactical surprise? Yes, yes I did, Sun Tzu would have been proud.

So on to topic: "Man Rings"

I quite like the idea of wearing a wedding ring, though an actual wedding is quite far off.

A plain gold band is traditional, but Im not too attached to tradition.

There is a bit of a fashion for male rings these days, Tungsten Carbide, being a pretty macho material (strong, hard, refractory, used in tank armour and KE penetrators) is popular as are other similarly "MAN" materials like titanium (sci-fi sounding name, used to build terminators).

Whilst I like these materials (you can even get a ring made from titanium taken from scrapped SR-71's) they are a bit "on-the-nose", I mean, tungsten carbide? Its a bit....like, if it is gold or platinum, all you have to say is "gold" or "platinum" if you feel inclined to reveal what your ring is made of...but tungsten carbide? Im gonna have to give a miniature materials science lecture every time, or something like "What? My ring? Well, first I have to tell you the story of CIA reconnaissance during the cold war...well, after we have covered supersonic aerodynamics of course." *sound of groans from audience*

 

So my question is - alternatives. What are some cool (tasteful - multi-digit finger armour encrusted with rubies and emeralds and adorned with dragon skulls are out, I checked. Also pricey.) alternatives to a plain gold band for a male wedding ring?

Honestly Im leaning towards simple stainless steel. It wont corrode very easily, though will "age" over time (granting character), it will be strong enough as to make no odds and modern, high quality steel and its metallurgy is an extremely important technology in terms of the development of materials in recent history. Might look a bit dull though, though it might be possible to find a case-hardened one with a fancy oxide sheen on it - though that might just end up looking like Im wearing a plumbing fixture? I dunno, thats why Im here  

PS: I could still be sold on tungsten carbide or titanium if only for that scene from "Sphere" where some guy is trying to reach a bulkhead door before it seals (classic trope style) and just manages to get his hand in the gap and his wedding ring stops his fingers from being crushed and after he is all like kissing his ring and junk. I like that. Un-crushable finger powers. I'd practically be a superhero.

 

RE: Your PS - That was The Abyss.  Ed Harris.

I had a co-worker who has a titanium wedding band.  Looked realy nice, until he almost sliced his finger off at another job.  When he went to the hospital, they needed to cut the ring off in order to work on his finger.  They dulled three TC blades on the thing before giving up, and it only has the barest cut across it.  He ended up just taking it off himself, the normal way.

As for the main part of your post, it just so happens that I am a bench jeweler - meaning I actually make the items, rather than just selling from behind a counter.  We don't work in steel, titanium, TC, or other exotic metals like that (we're a small studio, and not equipped with forges, casting equipment, lathes and suchlike needed for that kind of work), but we do have some nice stuff.  One of our products that I particularly like is our Mokume Gane rings.  It's Japanese for "wood grain", and I wear one myself.  It's a mix of copper and Argentium silver that's been treated and heated and worked in a way to give it a woodgrain appearance.  Most other studios make their Mokume Gane rings in a way that there's a visible seam, due to it being nearly impossible to match up the pattern on the joined ends.  Ours NEVER have a seam - it's a continuous solid ring, with no join whatsoever.  We can also do it in a White Gold and Argentium silver mix, where the white gold is slightly grayer than the silver, and shows a much more subtle contrast.

We also have reticulated silver rings.  Reticulation is a process that's too much to go into at the moment.

Anyway, if you're interested (and if this doesn't get edited by the mods for "advertising") check out our rings and see if there's something that catches your eye.

Mokume Gane: https://www.etsy.com/sg-en/listing/91221497/mokume-gane-wedding-band-in-copper-and?ga_search_query=Mokume+Gane&ref=shop_items_search_1

Reticulated: https://www.etsy.com/sg-en/listing/226640706/unique-wide-reticulated-silver-wedding?ref=related-7

Obviously, these aren't as tough as steel, titanium, etc, but they're definitely unique, or at least, somewhat unusual.

The studio owner can answer more questions you might have, and she might know someone who possibly COULD work those other metals for you, so if nothing else, you could convo us and ask away.  Just tell 'em Maxx sent you.

6 minutes ago, Dartguy said:

My Mom was an ER nurse for decades.  One day Neil Armstrong came into the hospital with his ring finger "degloved", nearly ripped off.  He had caught his ring on a nail when jumping out of a haywagon.

I remember that happening.  Read about it in the paper.  It was on his farm in Wapakoneta, Ohio, and I'm from Columbus.

[TheSaint]

Congrats on getting married. My only input is this: I went with a titanium ring because I'm allergic to nickel, and most every other type of jewelery metal you can buy will have some amount of nickel alloyed into it. In fact, I had to buy a second ring, because the first one I bought (through a jeweler) was actually a titanium alloy that contained nickel. I bought a replacement online that was aircraft-grade titanium-aluminum alloy.

[MaxxQ]

3 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

Congrats on getting married. My only input is this: I went with a titanium ring because I'm allergic to nickel, and most every other type of jewelery metal you can buy will have some amount of nickel alloyed into it. In fact, I had to buy a second ring, because the first one I bought (through a jeweler) was actually a titanium alloy that contained nickel. I bought a replacement online that was aircraft-grade titanium-aluminum alloy.

None of our rings contain nickel. We use a silver/copper alloy for our sterling. 

[p1t1o]

1 hour ago, Shpaget said:

True enough, even gold rings have claimed a few fingers, for example:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Čupić

Which raises the question, why take the risk at all?

Anyway, you obviously want something shiny and blingy. Steel will keep the shine longest.

I dont really see it as much of a risk, I've done this-and-that over the years that involve making sure you take these things off first so I'd take it off if ever there were an increases risk. Day-to-day my life is fairly sedentary. If I ever end up in a career as an aircraft carrier loadmaster I'll get one made with an engineered-in breakaway point

Shine/bling is not so important is "interesting", there are some nice ceramic ones, and if you get one made out of a decent (tungsten or zirconium usually) ceramic they can be even stronger than tungsten-metal rings (in other words - little risk of it shattering and shredding your finger, which was the first thing that entered my mind).

My rant about explaining the material is probably moot at this point, I'd probably enjoy the groans, its just that tungsten carbide seems a bit cliche today - the "go-to" MANmaterial.

 

45 minutes ago, Dartguy said:

My Mom was an ER nurse for decades.  One day Neil Armstrong came into the hospital with his ring finger "degloved", nearly ripped off.  He had caught his ring on a nail when jumping out of a haywagon.

Amazing! Small world...

Again, dont do much jumping out of moving vehicles/live electrical maintenance/horseriding/bareknuckle fighting etc these days - I do do martial arts, including the aforementioned fencing, but these are already jewellery-free zones (the armour things was [mostly] a joke) if I do get my finger plucked out, I'll chalk it up to luck. 

Besides, its only the ring finger on my left hand...

 

38 minutes ago, MaxxQ said:

RE: Your PS - That was The Abyss.  Ed Harris.

AWWGODDANG! You're right! Makes a better reference as well.

Your Mokume Game rings are amazing! I think I have heard the term before (you know, swords, metallurgy, pattern welding, damascus etc.)

Edited January 3, 2017 by p1t1o

[kerbiloid]

Spoiler

Obvious choice

2 hours ago, p1t1o said:

over-energetic phone answering

 

1 hour ago, p1t1o said:

I do do martial arts, including the aforementioned fencing

 

4 hours ago, p1t1o said:

I like that. Un-crushable finger powers. I'd practically be a superhero.

 

[p1t1o]

7 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

Welp that settles it. I have no choice now, it has to be this one.

[TheSaint]

1 hour ago, MaxxQ said:

None of our rings contain nickel. We use a silver/copper alloy for our sterling. 

It seems like the industry is a lot more aware and accomodating for it these days. When I was shopping for rings 14 years ago most responses ranged between, "No jewelry has nickel in it," and, "There's no such thing as a nickel allergy."

[p1t1o]

The below example is probably a bit flashy but what do we think about stones? I can have a stone if I want since Im bucking pur tradition.

I just found a semi-precious stone called Pietersite (pronounced Peter-site, I think Pieter is the dutch spelling of Peter. Oh Im called Peter btw...)

A complex variety of quartz, its a pretty cool looking stone:

 

Could even go fully monolithic, as the ring-material itself:

 

[Kerbart]

Titanium is popular because it is hypo allergenic. Gold being a noble metal should be as well, but something to consider—not all materials do well with your skin and some might irritate over time (which might or might not be symbolic for your significant other, so who knows, hahahaha). For any exotic "manly" materials it is perhaps a good idea to get a simple plain version to try it out and see how your finger reacts to it.

[HalcyonSon]

5 hours ago, Benji13 said:

 

3 hours ago, TheSaint said:

 

[HalcyonSon]

I went for black titanium with grooves down to the gray.  Love it.  Lightweight, tough, interesting.  Really easy to wear, but impossible to resize.  An ex gave me a stainless ring and I never got used to it.  Too heavy, too sharp, and too cold... her too actually lol.  You can also get different inlays, which look amazing.  As I understand it, the black color on high quality titanium is a chemical change (anodizing or something similar) and only deeper scratches will remove it.  I've worn mine for five years now and it has taken some damage from working with my hands, but it's definitely tougher than gold (about on par with stainless watch bodies in my experience).

http://www.edwardmirell.com/titanium-jewelry/ring-titanium-black-7mm-2-gray-grove-476/

http://www.edwardmirell.com/titanium-jewelry/6mm-black-ti-trade-ring-with-14k-yellow-gold-dome-band-481/

Edited January 3, 2017 by HalcyonSon

[Guest]

I have a simple tungsten band. It's comfortable, stays relatively shiny, and is fairly hefty. Sort of a darkish grey, a bit over four years old at this point.

Spoiler

 

Edited January 3, 2017 by regex

[UnusualAttitude]

Congratulations, @p1t1o. I wish you both the very best.

I don't know about materials (mine is a plain white gold band that is doing fine after a couple of years, despite my bass playing and gardening). But for that special, unique touch, have you considered engraving it?

On the inside of my ring I have the latitude and day/month of the place and date we met for the first time. Madame Attitude (funny, that suits her) has the longitude and the year. We figured this would give some future archeologist something to think about...

[HalcyonSon]

1 hour ago, regex said:

I have a simple tungsten band. It's comfortable, stays relatively shiny, and is fairly hefty. Sort of a darkish grey, a bit over four years old at this point.

That's the big daily difference between Tungsten (Carbide) and Titanium.  People tend to get them confused, but Tungsten feels HEAVY.  

I can't stand heavy rings.  Rings that spin wrong-way-round and beat up the pretty face (like a school ring) also drive me nuts.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, HalcyonSon said:

I can't stand heavy rings.

I find it comforting and I have never been surprised hours later if I took it off for some reason (usually only to do the dishes since I wear nitrile gloves when working on engines and such). To each their own, obviously, but thanks for pointing that out. Tungsten rings do, in fact, feel heavy.