The Best Metal for Your Ring
A Vast Palette of Colors
Why settle for a pre-made ring when you can have the ring of your dreams, in a metal color that suits your skin and your style. Your ring deserves to be handcrafted from the right metal. Pick the colors youself or let the team at Krikawa help you select the perfect metal, whether it is for your unique engagement ring or wedding band. Unsure what is going to look best with your skin tone or stone? We'll provide advice from our decades of experience, photograph your colors together, or ship your stone and metal samples together for you to see in person! Together, we’ll create the ring for a lifetime. Call 1-888-KRIKAWA or email us today.
What Metal Will You Choose?
Your choices in precious metals offer you a range of colors. Your choices go beyond light cool gray to yellow. You’ll explore the possibilities in color from copper to a light green, yellow or white. Krikawa artisans and goldsmiths will work from this broad palette to create your ring. You’ll be amazed by our ability to "paint with metals," creating the masterpiece you’ll love.
At Krikawa, your ring will be handcrafted and made-to-order with the precious metal of your choice. Choose from precious metals such as: Let us help you choose the metal to compliment your skin tone. You can talk to us about a metal’s durability based on its unique composition and hardness. With our guidance, you’ll understand how a metal’s hardness will offer you different levels of resistance to dents. You can be confident knowing how your ring will hold up over time without wearing down.
White Metal. Right Metal?
Want to know how to choose the right white metal for your ring? In deciding on the right metal, let us help you consider important elements such as:
- color
- hardness
- wear resistance
- maintenance
Whether this is your first piece of fine jewelry or a new piece to your collection, our designers will help you make the most of every detail. You’ll recognize the level of expertise and craftsmanship in every Krikawa ring. You’ll understand why a Krikawa ring is the ring you’ll wear for a lifetime.
Comparative Qualities of Krikawa Precious Metals
| Alloy* | Approximate Composition |
Specific Gravity |
Melting Temp. (° F) |
Color | Vicker's Hardness |
| 950 Platinum | 95% Pt 5% Ru |
21.45 | 3235 | light cool gray | 130 |
| 18k Palladium White Gold | 75% Au + Pd | 14.6 | 1730 | light cool gray |
210 |
| 14k Palladium White Gold (Krikawa Standard) |
58.5% Au +Pd |
13.7 | 1710 | medium warm gray | 150 |
| 14k Nickel White Gold (Upon Request Only) |
58.5% Au
+Ni
|
medium warmsih gray |
170
|
||
| 18k Yellow Gold | 75% Au | 15.6 | 1700 | rich yellow | 125 |
| 14k Rose Gold | 58.5% Au +Cu |
13.4 | 1520 | copper | 125 |
| 14k Green Gold | 58.5% Au +Cu |
bright yellow | |||
| 10k Green Gold | 41.6% Au +Ag |
11.7 | 1480 | light green yellow | 170 |
Gold and Platinum Color Chart for Wedding Bands and Engagement Rings
Keep in mind, your ring will be much smaller than shown above! See this scaled chart for another reference. You can see here why, with our decades of experience in making custom rings, we recommend platinum and 18k yellow gold, or platinum and 14k rose gold for two-tone designs.
Ways to help differentiate the two metals include matte and brushed finishes, and broken surfaces (such as a groove between the two colors.
Alternative Metals?
Are you thinking of choosing an Alternative Metal for your wedding band?
In the past we've worked in multiple alternative metals, and from that experience, our preferred choice for wedding and engagement rings continues to be precious metals in the golds and platinum. The ability to repair and size precious metals, in addition to creating a custom creation in a metal that holds value are the dominant reasons why, over time, we resonate most with the beautiful precious metal options.
If you're going to go the route of a non-gold band, here is some information to think about when considering alternative metals. Even if we can't do it, we want to help you make an educated choice!
Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver is the whitest of all the metals. To be marketed as "Sterling" it must be 925 parts silver (or 92.5%). It is traditionally alloyed with 7.5% copper. Fine silver (99.9% silver) is generally too soft for most jewelry applications.
Sterling silver is a relatively soft metal and may be suitable for substantial designs such as large men's wedding bands, that do not have stones. Shy away from silver for any delicate ring designs because they would would not withstand daily wear. If you want your stone to stay safe for a lifetime, sterling silver is not the answer for that.
Tungsten Carbide
We get a lot of requests for tungsten carbide. It is a very hard, dark gray compound made by the reaction of tungsten and carbon at high temperatures. It is used in making engineering dies, cutting and drilling tools, and other similar items. It has also been a much-advertised metal, and for some mysterious reason, guys really respond to having the "hardest" ring available. Is tungsten carbide hard? You bet! It's so hard that it shatters when dropped. Krikawa has decided that we don't want our clients investing in a symbol of their love with something that is so hard it breaks if dropped. Just like a good solid relationship, there needs to be some yielding.
So, do you want a metal that is so hard and unyeilding it will drop when shattered, or do you want a ring that will truly last a lifetime? You make the choice.
One jeweler demonstrates the shattering truth about tungsten carbide in his youtube video here:
Black Zirconium
Before coming into vogue for wedding rings, Zirconium alloys have typically been used in exotic applications ranging from nuclear reactors to incendiary munitions. Black Zirconium rings are cutting-edge and masculine-looking, however, they don't hold stones and cannot be used for delicate designs or engagement rings.
Titanium
From the aircraft runway to fashion runway, Titanium is both lightweight and super strong. Titanium has the highest strength to density ratio of any metal, making it ideal for use in products ranging from golf clubs to naval ships, and from racing engines to spacecraft. With that durability and strength, aerospace grade titanium alloy Ti6Al4V rings will last a long time.
Titanium is medium-dark gray in color, and a suitable choice for modern, unusual and masculine-looking rings. some Titanium rings can be customized with stones, precious metal inlays, or patterns. The value of Titanium pales in comparison with precious metals, and not every design can be cast. It is best for simple bands.
Cobalt Chrome
What metal is harder than steel, gray like platinum, and is biocompatible? You guessed it, cobalt chrome! Cobalt Chrome is harder than stainless steel (and that's saying a lot). It gives off a shiny gray sheen that is similar in color to platinum. It is renowned in the metals industry for its wear resistance, and used for artificial joints and dental implants. As such, cobalt chrome is biocompatible and hypoallergenic!
Cobalt Chrome is an alloy composed of Cobalt, Chromium, and Molybdenum. If you were ever to sit at a jeweler's workbench to sand and polish a cobalt chrome ring, you'd end up the day with destroyed sandpaper, files and tools, yet not a single mark on the ring. You could drop them and they won't shatter. You could hammer them and they won't really dent.
Image Source: Jordiferrer
All of this is to say that while Cobalt-Chrome has an incredible luster after high polish, it does, however, have certain limitations in jewelry making. It is very difficult to drill holes, set stones, or size cobalt chrome rings. Stones are typically glued in place. The best use for this metal may be simple pendants, earrings, cufflinks, necklaces, or bracelets. In other words, jewelry that doesn't require sizing and metal heavy pieces with no stones.
