Wedding Blog
Mr. Cherry Pie is big on tungsten carbide rings for their durability and shine. Personally, I loves me some platinum, but I understand his desire to be able to wear his ring while hiking and rock climbing without scratching it up… because he won’t remember to take it off. [It also means I am saved from spending thousands of dollars on a rather plain-looking platinum band, yay!]
At the suggestion of a reader, I have been browsing eternaltungsten.com for tungsten wedding bands. I told Mr. Cherry Pie to send me a sample of the styles he liked.
Here they are:
1) Halo, 2) New Yorker, 3) Nexus
4) Orion, 5) Accenture, 6) Califa
Purdy, huh?
The only problem is the Eternal Tungsten doesn’t make these rings small enough to be sized to his hand (which is not all that small). WHOOPS. Well, at least I have an idea of what to look for, and our local custom jeweler can probably find me something similar to the one I choose in an appropriate size.
Which of the rings above do you like? What did you get for your man’s wedding band?
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I heard that tungsten carbide rings can’t be cut or sized so if something heavy squishes it onto his finger, he may lose the finger, not just have the ring cut off. Something I would recommend looking into. We bought my honey’s ring on goldenmine.com. They have an incredible selection!
My FI was kind of bored by the designs out there, since there aren’t all that many different varieties in mens’ rings. We ended up having it custom made through this website:
I thought the designs were just lovely and a little different from the usual that we’d been finding in tungsten and/or titanium. Plus they are quite affordable.
The artist was easy to communicate with, and is willing to do anything as long as it’s possible - you can work with all sorts of metals for inlays, yellow gold, rose gold, green gold, palladium, platinum, etc. in different widths, offset, and so on. When we asked him about the design we came up with, he was excited to do it as he said “there won’t be another one like it on the planet.”
How cool is that?!
My FI is very very big on tungsten as well, for its practical characteristics so we probably will end up getting him one. I’m a fan of the matted look rather than the shine, something like #4.
Megan, while it’s an interesting concern, the properties of tungsten carbide don’t really allow the scenario you’re describing. In fact, the way to remove a tungsten carbide ring that is stuck on is to use a pair of vice grips / pliers and essentially crush the ring by degrees. Tungsten is very hard, but when bent or compressed it tends to break and crack, the end result is you basically crack the ring off your finger because it doesn’t like to bend.
So if something lands on the ring hard enough to crush the metal, it’ll just shatter or split it…then smash my hand. Oops.
Thank you Megan and thank you sweetheart for the horrifying imagery. o.0 I can’t unsee that. LOL.
I love 2, 5 & 6. I think that 2 is my favorite, but I would prefer if the middle part was matte instead of shiny (similar to 5 & 6).
These are pretty much exactly the type of bands that my fiance has chosen! 
And he likes the tungsten too!
my husband selected tungsten also…very happy with design and $$$ good luck on your quest!
Fabulous! I love seeing alternative materials used in wedding bands … the nice thing about stainless/titanium and other alternative materials is they aren’t as heavy as platinum. I personally love #6.
My fiance is a graphic designer and wanted a really different ring - a black stainless steel ring designed by a local jeweler, 10mm in width.
Pictures on my blog: http://itsjustawhitedress.blogspot.com/2008/03/ring-ding-ding.html
cheers!
#5 is exactly my husbands ring so of course I like that one best. His is white gold though.
My guy’s ring looks a lot like what would happen if you stuck two of #3 on top of each other, but it’s brushed metal (I can’t actually tell if that one is brushed or shiny) and white gold. My ring actually looks quite a bit like #3 (but shiny), so, conveniently, we’ll almost match!
My guy too is partial to the Tungsten…we picked one that looks just like #6…..my mom described it has “handsome”…it does have a manly quality to it.
my fiance wanted a tungsten ring as well, we just went shopping this past weekend and learned that the smallest size tungsten comes in is 9 and his fingers are an 8, so we opted for titanium because it is just as strong and scratch resistant as tungsten and a little nicer finish to it.
The Tungsten process was patented by a man based in California. If you buy from any other source you’re essentially stealing from him. http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?sid=66768
We bought my FI’s ring from titaniumkay.com, and it’s a tungsten carbide. The service was great, prices are fantastic, and some of their rings come as small as a size 5.
Anon- I hadn’t heard about that, and all the major jewelers and smaller ones as well sell them. That website says he patented how to make tungsten rings with angled sides, and that he owns a portfolio of patents, not a patent on tungsten. Still interesting to look into, but that would be like someone saying no one can sell gold rings because one guy made them into a ring shape first.
also, it says on that man’s website that other tungsten carbide rings can be sold legally by other jewelers, not that everyone else is stealing his work.
Hi Miss Cherry Pie,
is there a way I can get in touch with you by email?
Thanks!
Suzanne Davis
My husband has a tungsten ring and loves it. It’s very thick and heavy looking and the color makes it different looking. And..it was so much cheaper than platinum!
So I just sent this to FI and he really likes the designs, but he also said that he kind of likes the idea of the ring getting “older” meaning gaining a type of a patina. However, he doesn’t want a gold ring because that’s what he got for his first marriage. Does anyone know the best “non gold colored” metal that gains a patina with age? I’m going to do some research, but Bees are so knowledgeable, I figured I’d ask here too!
I highly recommend Titanium Style. We got my FI’s TC ring and my Ti ring there. They have GREAT prices (the best I’ve seen), many styles and a wide variety of sizes available, a generous return policy, and super helpful customer service. They can do custom work with Ti, but not TC.
http://titaniumstyle.com/tungsten-rings.htm
Megan, Mr. Cherry Pie is right in that TC rings can be cracked off. You may be thinking of Titanium though, which is harder to cut than TC is to crack–however, most ambulances and emergency rooms are now equipped with the tools needed to remove both metals.
jma19–platinum is well-known for developing a unique patina as it ages. Ti will also “age” (scratch) though not as fast as gold or platinum because it is very hard.
Cool! it’s good to know so many people are choosing tungten. Mr. Cherry Pie and I are glad for the feedback and the resources. We checked out the article by the patent maker and Mr. Cherry Pie likes his work a lot, so I think we are going to head down to E.E. Robins (an engagement ring store in Seattle) to check them out!
Suzanne, you can email me at cherrypie@weddingbee.com.
My husband has a tungsten carbide ring just like ‘halo’ and he loves it. 4 years into wearing, it’s been great and remained pristine unlike my e-ring that needs attention at least every 6 months
We bought his tungsten carbide ring from a seller on ebay–one of the only places we could find a celtic pattern on TC in his size…though with us it was finding a 13! He’s been wearing it for several months now with no problem at all-and he’s hard on jewelry. highly reccommend Vanzy’s Jewlery!
My Hub and I have a jeweler friend who did everything for cost. We both wanted Platinum but when we found out how much that would cost (!!!!) she suggested titanium for him. So instead of his ring being an $1,000 platinum ring, he got a $50 (Yes I said $50) titanium ring that looks exactly the same. And I’ve read up on them online, you can cut them off in an emergency if needed. And I still got my platinum…woo hoo!
I like 4 and 5. My guy likes gold, I don’t. But I am looking for something with gold in it for his band.
My fiance wanted a plain yellow gold band to match mine. Since mine was so much smaller, it ended up being crazy cheap. He decided he wanted to split the cost of them both, instead of having me pay for his more expensive one. And, I think the symbolism is nice. Go him!
My good friends husband has a tungsten ring and actually shattered it into a million pieces while banging on the glass at a Flyers game. They didn’t mind that much since it was so cheap to begin with but I wouldn’t be so worried about the ring not being able to be removed from a finger and losing the finger
My husband’s ring is this one, very similar to #4:
http://www.tungstenworld.com/Tungsten-Carbide-Ring/MATTINO-8mm-Matted/
Their sizes go down to 6 on that band, don’t know about the others.
Well, I wish I had known…seriously, all of the jewelers that we visited told us the same horror story so when the designs on those rings caught my eye (they have so many more options it seems) I would look away. Thanks for clearing that up!
Mr. Radish got himself a tungsten ring (because it was the cheapest one he liked and he’s a thrifty guy).
And then he lost a few pounds and now it doesn’t fit him and it can’t be sized. So… he has to wear it on his middle finger so it doesn’t fall off.
It probably also had something to do with that when he tried it on in the store it was hot and his hands were probably a little swollen.
But regardless, the damn thing doesn’t fit him right now and it can’t be changed.
So if Mr. CP ever gains or looses weight, he might have to get a new ring. I think some manufacturers offer a size exchange once or twice, but ours doesn’t.
Just something to keep in mind.
My FI got a tungsten carbide ring similar to #5, from ArtCarved. They have the program that Mrs. Radish talks about, if FIs ring size changes, we just have to take in his current ring, pay approx $25 and they send it to the manufacturer and we get a brand new one in his size. The only downside to this is if you somehow decide to get the ring engraved….
We like tungsten best too! I love the “rugged” quality, the unique designs, and the price doesn’t hurt either! One question though…are tungsten rings too hard to be engraved? I feel like I read somewhere that they were.
My husband liked his #5 style ring so much, he bought two! (he lost the first ring) Seriously, we both love the ring. My boy is an electrician and needed something sturdy and durable, and he definitely found that in the tungsten ring. And I happen to think it looks great on his finger! 
i have a spare brand-new never worn brushed titanium 6mm comfort fit men’s wedding band purchased from Blue Nile for sale. It’s a size 7, so if anyone is looking for one, let me know!!! It’s very modern and classic, but I ordered the wrong size for my husband and passed the 30 day mark for returns. It would be a great men’s engagement ring too!
Pictures available upon request… comes in original Blue Nile box. Paid $90, asking for $50 OBO I’ll post this in the classifieds board too with pictures.
[...] last you heard from me about Mr. Cherry Pie’s wedding band, I was considering a tungsten carbide ring. Because EternalTungsten.com didn’t make rings in Mr. Cherry’s size, we went down to E.E. [...]
We bought a tungsten ring #3 from from http://www.eternaltungsten.com in a size 8 but found out it was a little too tight so my husband needed a 8.5. We emialed them about our problem and they gladly exchanged the ring for free and gave us free shipping. I recommend visiting them if you’re in the market.
@Megan: @Megan: @Megan: @Megan: @Megan: @Megan: @Megan: @Megan: Glad to hear about accidental cracking. A while back, some websites — not auction sellers — selling these rings didn’t know of the removal problem and had no solution.
Now it is commonly known that you can crack them off by using locking vise pliers till the ring cracks off.
Also, because the rings can’t be resized, it’s good if they have a “resizing replacement warranty.” Otherwise, if your weight changes, you may be stuck with the wrong size ring.
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Miss Cherry Pie, Seattle/Polebridge, Montana
Age and Occupation: 25, Marketing Communications Specialist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Nurse Practitioner
Engagement Date: August 26, 2006
Wedding Date: September 2008
Blogging Since: April 1, 2008
Venue: A tiny town just outside of Glacier National Park
About Me: I think of life as a journey and I love the places it's taking me! I went to school to study Magazine Journalism, ended up with a second major in Japanese language, and now work at a company that makes software for libraries. I love writing, computers, photography, and the great outdoors. I spend most of my time playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band or geeking out online with Mr. Cherry Pie. I'm happiest when I'm on the road, especially traveling abroad, or just nesting quietly at home with my sweetie, who is a fabulous cook and bakes a delicious rendition of a certain cherry-filled dessert!
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