Why is tungsten carbide jewelry more expensive than other specialty metals?
In order to manufacture a perfectly crafted piece of tungsten carbide jewelry, it takes the skill and knowledge that only a handful of companies have mastered. It cannot be carved from a wax or simply machined from metal tubing. To make a ring that is virtually indestructible, tungsten with carbon and other elements are ground into a powder and then compressed with high pressure dies to form a ring blank. The blank is then fired in an oxygen free furnace at an astounding 6,200 degrees Fahrenheit. This process called sintering creates the hardest metal used for making jewelry. The ring is then cut and shaped using very expensive diamond tools with approximately 30 steps required for completion. The cutting and shaping of a tungsten ring is similar in many ways to the cutting and polishing of a rough diamond. Tungsten carbide rings inlaid with gold, silver, or platinum are created by grinding a channel in the center of the ring and precisely “swedging” the metal into the channel under ex
