| When your parents went to look for gold or silver | | | | coating or protective plating, so any retailer that |
| rings, they either knew what they were looking | | | | offers these options may be worried about their |
| for, or got advice from their parents as to what | | | | inferior product showing signs of wear or tarnish - |
| they ought to be looking for. The quality | | | | things that never happen to true titanium |
| standards for those precious metals have been | | | | jewellery. |
| around for a long time. But what do you look for | | | | Another way to detect fake titanium jewellery is |
| in the best titanium rings? | | | | by the settings and sizing offered by the jeweller. |
| When you're talking about titanium, you aren't | | | | Titanium is a very hard metal, meaning that |
| talking about karats, like gold, or percentages of | | | | certain styles of settings cannot be created. Also, |
| purity like silver. And while your titanium ring may | | | | this hardness means that a ring cannot be sized |
| have diamonds on it, you can't just judge a ring | | | | up or down. |
| by the rock it's attached to. | | | | The other way to test the purity of your titanium |
| So, how do you judge the quality of a ring? What | | | | ring is to hold a magnet to it. Titanium is a |
| should you be looking for, and what should you be | | | | paramagnetic metal, which means, in simple |
| looking out for? | | | | terms, that it is far less magnetic than cheaper |
| Unlike diamonds, color is not an indicator of | | | | steel alloys. |
| titanium's value. In its natural form, titanium is an | | | | Weight is another good way to judge whether |
| off-white or bright gray color, but rings are | | | | your titanium ring is truly made of its advertised |
| available in many different colors, including blue, | | | | metal. A titanium ring should be lighter than a |
| black and gold. These different shades do not | | | | similarly-sized counterpart made of white gold or |
| indicate a higher or lower quality of metal, | | | | stainless steel. |
| however. They are simply cosmetic differences in | | | | As for cost, the raw materials that go into a |
| the appearance of the ring. | | | | titanium ring are comparable to a lower karat of |
| Unlike silver, the percentage of purity is not a | | | | gold, but due to the extra costs incurred in the |
| consideration in your titanium jewellery. Most | | | | creation of the best titanium rings, the final price |
| titanium rings will be 99% pure titanium or higher, | | | | will be comparable to a high quality gold ring. The |
| so anything advertised as lower than that should | | | | difference, rather than financial, will be in durability, |
| be viewed as suspect, as it may not be true | | | | weight and originality - the last one, impossible to |
| titanium. Titanium does not require any sort of | | | | put a price tag on, but incredibly valuable. |