Wedding ring: Encyclopedia II - Wedding ring - Materials

Wedding ring - Materials

Most religious marital ceremonies accept a band of any material to symbolize the taking of marriage vows, with unusual substitutions permitted in marriages under unusual circumstances. When people cannot obtain or adjust a metal ring of appropriate size, substitutions such as rubber bands may be used.

To make wedding rings, jewellers most commonly use a precious yellow alloy of gold, hardened with copper, tin and bismuth. Platinum and white alloys of gold, equivalent to or superior than gold, are also used. Titanium has recently become a popular material for wedding bands, due to its durability, affordability, and gunmetal grey colour. Tungsten carbide, often with gold or platinum inlays, is recently being used as well. The least expensive material in common use is nickel silver for those who prefer its appearance or cost. Silver, copper, brass and other corroding metals do not occur as frequently because they stain the skin. Marrying couples seldom use stainless steel, which does not count as a precious metal. Aluminum or poisonous metals are almost never used.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Materials", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki