When I first handled titanium in Ernst Pfeffinger’s  Sydney jewellery workshop I was impressed with the wonderful colours that he could get from heating the metal.  He explained to me that the metal was hard to get and that he loved working with it.

Some years later, I bought a titanium ring and when I first picked it up I simply giggled.  It was so light I thought … I love this stuff.  Normally, I would wear a heavy ring but this was a new dimension, a ring that you almost didn’t know you were wearing.

Titanium is very light but strong and those are great qualities to have in a ring, particularly a gents’ ring.  It doesn’t scratch like gold and it doesn’t tarnish or lose its luster like silver.  It displays a white or silvery colour.  In jewellery it looks great with a brushed, sandblasted or satin finish.  I t can be engraved with your special words.

The metal is alloyed with iron and aluminium and often used in paints and other items such as toothpaste and correction fluid as well as for aircraft and ship building.

Titanium is virtually corrosive resistant when used in jewellery.  It is resistant to most acids, even hydrochloric  and diluted sulphuric acid so body or skin acids will not tarnish it.

My father-in-law likes it so much he had a surgeon use a saw to cut out his left hip bone and replace it with titanium.

As far as jewellery goes it can be made into rings, bracelets, cufflinks bangles etc.  There is a downside in that resizing is difficult.  It cannot be easily resized like gold or silver.  To resize a ring it needs to be enlarged from the inside of the ring by removing some of the metal.

It is classified as hypoallergenic which means it won’t cause you a rash like some metals.  It is ideal for those people who have trouble with other metals because their occupation exposes them to water, salt water, acid and other form of corrosion .  Because it is so tough it is excellent for men and women doing manual work. Some manufacturers offer a free service to refinish the surface anytime and some offer a mind blowing lifetime guarantee.  That indicates to me that noting is ever likely to go wrong with that ring.

Above all, for jewellery I think it lends itself to such a modern look that it surpasses gold and silver for some designs.

Author: Gary Hocking