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Obligatory plug for titanium / non-precious rings. My Ti band was $20 on Amazon, and on the other side of the spectrum, my wife had a beautiful Ti ring, includ

by jlebar 12y ago

Obligatory plug for titanium / non-precious rings. My Ti band was $20 on Amazon, and on the other side of the spectrum, my wife had a beautiful Ti ring, including a tension-set lab-grown sapphire, milled to her specifications for < $500. But not conforming in this small yet significant way takes a certain kind of person.

robin_reala 12y ago
The only problem with Ti rings is that if you run into an accident where the ring needs to be cut off it’s almost impossible for standard hospital equipment to do it.
- mcmancini 12y ago
  It's true that Ti rings are harder to cut, but the equipment to cut them is standard in American ERs. It still takes longer though. Even worse are the newer cobalt chrome rings, those take forever to cut off even with the right equipment. Safest of the alternative materials is probably the tungsten carbide or ceramic rings, since those can be fractured off with a pair of common vice grips. Don't know what happens when you're traveling in an area with a less developed medical system. If you aren't at risk for anaphylactic swelling, don't work with your hands, and don't travel in undeveloped areas, the risk of this sort of situation might be low enough to not worry too much about. A more practical problem with alternative materials is that they can't be resized (some jewelers will resize Ti a little, but it's challenging). The alternative materials are cheap enough that you can buy a replacement that's the right size, but if you're sentimental (and a wedding band seems like something one might be sentimental about) it's a problem. There's nothing wrong with alternative materials, it's just that sometimes the drawbacks are overlooked while being dazzled by the advantages.
- gregpilling 12y ago
  The equipment is not expensive for hospitals, under $500 for everything. Most have tools like these to take off rings of all sorts of materials. Many Ambulances even carry them now. Cutting Stainless, Titanium rings: http://www.loupe-magnifier.com/electric-ring-cutter.htm http://www.loupe-magnifier.com/electric-ring-cutter.htm Cracking Tungsten rings : http://www.loupe-magnifier.com/tungsten_finger_ring_removal_tool.htm http://www.loupe-magnifier.com/tungsten_finger_ring_removal_... UCSF Fresno PDF on "Emergency Hard Metal Ring Removal" http://www.loupe-magnifier.com/snowdenposter2010.pdf http://www.loupe-magnifier.com/snowdenposter2010.pdf
fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
Solid silver wedding bands reporting in. No stones. We have two pair. We've travelled a bit and never been afraid of being mugged for our jewellery. Cost was cheap enough that I can't even remember. Very happy that we weren't hoodwinked into giving large sums away to diamond retailers.

by jlebar 12y ago

robin_reala 12y ago

The only problem with Ti rings is that if you run into an accident where the ring needs to be cut off it’s almost impossible for standard hospital equipment to do it.

mcmancini 12y ago
It's true that Ti rings are harder to cut, but the equipment to cut them is standard in American ERs. It still takes longer though. Even worse are the newer cobalt chrome rings, those take forever to cut off even with the right equipment. Safest of the alternative materials is probably the tungsten carbide or ceramic rings, since those can be fractured off with a pair of common vice grips. Don't know what happens when you're traveling in an area with a less developed medical system. If you aren't at risk for anaphylactic swelling, don't work with your hands, and don't travel in undeveloped areas, the risk of this sort of situation might be low enough to not worry too much about. A more practical problem with alternative materials is that they can't be resized (some jewelers will resize Ti a little, but it's challenging). The alternative materials are cheap enough that you can buy a replacement that's the right size, but if you're sentimental (and a wedding band seems like something one might be sentimental about) it's a problem. There's nothing wrong with alternative materials, it's just that sometimes the drawbacks are overlooked while being dazzled by the advantages.
gregpilling 12y ago
The equipment is not expensive for hospitals, under $500 for everything. Most have tools like these to take off rings of all sorts of materials. Many Ambulances even carry them now. Cutting Stainless, Titanium rings: http://www.loupe-magnifier.com/electric-ring-cutter.htm http://www.loupe-magnifier.com/electric-ring-cutter.htm Cracking Tungsten rings : http://www.loupe-magnifier.com/tungsten_finger_ring_removal_tool.htm http://www.loupe-magnifier.com/tungsten_finger_ring_removal_... UCSF Fresno PDF on "Emergency Hard Metal Ring Removal" http://www.loupe-magnifier.com/snowdenposter2010.pdf http://www.loupe-magnifier.com/snowdenposter2010.pdf

fnordfnordfnord 12y ago

Solid silver wedding bands reporting in. No stones. We have two pair. We've travelled a bit and never been afraid of being mugged for our jewellery. Cost was cheap enough that I can't even remember. Very happy that we weren't hoodwinked into giving large sums away to diamond retailers.