Know What Really is Black Tungsten Carbide, Be Informed
Posted on May 28th, 2008 by admin
As I am writing this I just had an email from one of the online retail store of Tungsten Carbide Jewelry. I was obviously asking them how long will the black plating on the Tungsten Carbide last. Of course I know that there is no such thing as a real, genuine, authentic whichever word you use about a Black Tungsten Carbide. The Tungsten Carbide used might be real but the color isn’t. Why? Because the natural color of Tungsten Carbide is gray almost the same as Titanium and Stainless Steel. How do I know all this? Because I have a friend that’s working as a production manager in one of the biggest Steel Company in China that produces Steel Jewelry such as Tungsten Carbide. I was just so stunned at how a lot of advertisement claims Genuine Black Tungsten Carbide and does not in any way mention if it’s plated Black or if it is Black Titanium infused or coated Tungsten.
A lot of this advertisements and online store does not even dare inform us; the unknowing buyers that what we are really buying is plated Black or is Black Titanium infused Tungsten. Very misleading indeed! Even when I browse around ebay I can see some who would advertise Genuine Black Tungsten Carbide, 100% Genuine Tungsten Carbide or just Black Tungsten Carbide. Intentionally omitting the most important part that a buyer should know so we are able to care for our ring properly. Of course if it is just plated the black color would last approximately 1 to 2 years only. That is if the manufacturer use vacuum electroplating while the rest might not even reach a year. Of course some buyers would not mind because you can always bring it to a jeweller and have the black plating re-done just the same as gold plated Tungsaten Carbide rings. It’s just the principle because for one a lot of this retail store are selling them expensive and it is the sellers responsibility to at least inform us buyers of what we expect from the product. We paid right so we should expect that what we paid for is right as well. But no, we are being mislead by their advertisement. Even their product description only shows what will lure us into buying and nothing else. Another method that is use to make Tungsten Carbide black is by infusing or coating it with Titanium. This is so, because it is far easier to gain a real Black color in Titanium and expect it to last longer than plating. Titanium is also unscratcheable but it is the principle we are talking about here. They are claiming Genuine Black tungsten Carbide and we are actually receiving not what we are expecting. It’s saddening a lot of the online store that sells this product were describing it in a misleading way. Genuine Black Tungsten Carbide, Solid Black Tungsten Carbide, 100% Black Tungsten Carbide etc. etc. Now you know, when you see this kind of advertisement and look into the product description and find nothing then you know you are being mis-informed.
Thanks for the useful post, I’ve been having some difficult nailing down precisely what black tungsten is.
Hi there,
While doing some research on the competition, I stumbled across this website, thought I would clear some things up for you. First of all, let me just say that I have been in the tungsten industry for a few years now, and I am definitely familiar with what you are referring to, but you have some of the information wrong.
You are correct in that consumers should be careful of a lot of the tungsten carbide retailers, mainly because of the fact that tungsten is not a precious metal, and nearly 100% of the value is in the manufacturing, labor and warranty. However, you are confusing the “black” in the name. The referencing of the name “black tungsten” is a little confusing, but the “black” aspect of this is supposed to be an adjective, not the proper noun status that you are placing upon it in the article. “Genuine Black Tungsten Carbide” is literally a shorter version of “Genuine Tungsten Carbide that is Black” when used as an adjective. We have the same problem with the name of Comfort Fit, wherein it is meant to be a noun, but is sometimes interpreted as an adjective (the reverse case of yours). Although there actually are un-educated and mis-informed retailers/jewellers out there, the advertisement of “Black Tungsten Carbide” still remains applicable as black is the description, similar to “Polished Tungsten Carbide” or “Brushed Tungsten Carbide”, or “Black Tungsten Carbide”.
The thing to look for, to distinguish legitimate companies from the masses, is for the small indicators. This will ensure that you are buying something of value, not a mis-represented piece, as admittedly this can occur more often than not. The foremost is to make sure that they have an all-inclusive lifetime replacement policy. That way, if you ring size changes, you can get a new ring (tungsten rings cannot be re-sized). Sometimes a website’s product description will say “this ring will not scratch under normal wear and tear”, and then their warranty will state (sometimes verbatim) “we do not cover abuse or neglect” So, if the ring is damaged, it must have been abused or neglected as it would not have been damaged under normal wear and tear, so there is no warranty. Also, ask them who makes the rings. If they say they do, it is a lie (manufacturers make more money distributing, not retailing, and do not compete against their distribution accounts (retailers). If they say a manufacturer’s name, google the manufacturer. If the pic of the ring online does not have a manufacturer’s label, or it is photo shopped, get off the site. These retailers utilize whoever is giving them the cheapest price that day and you are literally using a “grab bag” mentality of you-never-know-what-you-are-going-to-get. The legit sites will tell you the manufacturer’s name, or they will offer some info and say the rest is proprietary.
Lastly, there is no such thing as Black Titanium, or Black Titanium infused tungsten. Here, you are actually using black titanium in a way that you shunned earlier regarding black tungsten. Titanium is a vital material used in making all tungsten carbide, it is part of the alloy formula. I have no idea where you got this from, but it makes no sense. Black titanium is made the same way as black tungsten (PVD BP/IP plating), neither is made of the other. Only a very small portion of the ring (1%-3%) is titanium though, and the ring is never coated with it. Titanium has about 25% of the scratch resistance of tungsten carbide (check you Moh’s hardness scale). I understand the sentiment in your article, you just need a little help with the facts. Especially when you are ripping into someone else for not properly researching and representing what it is they are writing about.
Joshua Soeten
Sales Manager
a tungsten carbide company
a.k.a. God’s gift to tungsten
Thanks for that information. Well I would say the writer is writing from the point of view of the consumer and not from the point of view of the manufacturer. You are right Joshua in saying that the use of the adjective and noun is a problem. But you have to admit that there are a lot of retailers that are confused with this terms. If the retailers are confused how much more the consumers.
I for one have asked one jeweller and they say that their black tungsten carbide is coated with black titanium. That is probably what was referred to by the writer as titanium infused tungsten. I have also seen and actually asked a jeweller about a tungsten carbide that is infused with titanium. This one has titanium inside and the outside is tungsten carbide. Now how do you call this now where would this be classed? Especially if in their description it says nothing about the ring being plated of colored. I believe the sentiment of the writer is for consumers like us who don’t know anything and merely look into the description of the products we are buying. Thinking that it is genuine black tungsten carbide and the black will not fade because the description does not say anything about it being plated. I believe some jeweller must do their research or seminar as well regarding the products that they are selling.
i would resally apprciate it if you, joshua soeten, could give me some legitimate websites of people who sell the best quality black tungsten carbide rings.
thanx in advance, rob
Hi there,
wish I knew this before I bought our wedding rings (black tungsten). I’ve been wearing it only for a week and there are already few visible scratches (and all that advertisers claimed it was unscratchable). Well, if you want to buy your wedding rings from black tungsten, please don’t do it. I can guarantee your dissapointment.
Hi Tereza,
If Tungsten Carbide is what you have bought then it is really scratch resistant; however, if you are seeing visible markings then please take a look closely because it might be because the black electroplating, IP or any other coating the manufacturer use to color the Tungsten Carbide black has been scratched or marked. It might not be the actual Tungsten Carbide ring itself that is scratched rather it might be the plating.
Cheers
Tereza and others:
I bought a black tungsten carbide ring three years ago. When I nought it it was VERY clear to me that the black color was a sort of coating or plating, because the website showed other tungsten carbide rings, and the description CLEARLY said that tungsten carbide is a grayish metal.
So I for one had NO QUESTION that the black color is a plating or coating sort of a process. I am no metalurgical engineer so I am not sure what the correct word is.
After a few months, the color began to chage. The surface had NO MARKINGS – just as I expected since ONLY DIAMONDS are harder than tungsten carbide and are able to scratch the surface. But the color was going bad.
I called the seller and they replaced it with no hassle! Two years later, the next ring is going through the same fading, although it took much much longer and the fading is much more graceful, not in patches like the first one.
I still love that ring and am considering now either another replacement (I did get a lifetime replacement guarantee!) or finding some local place where I can get it replated with black carbon.
As for the titanium: It is a metal that is much more bright in color in the natural state than tungsten carbide alloy. This information is almost always on websites i visited and looked around. Black titanium does not exists, and if you get a ring like this, know that it was coated/plated with some carbon deposits in some electrochemical process. I don’t care what the jeweler said – they are a lousy source of chemistry information. (I never ask my grocer or bus driver for advice on brain surgery for the same reason – people, please use some common sense!)
Joshua Soeten – yes, PLEASE post some names of tungsten carbide manufacturers. I spoke with the owner of the business where I bought my ring and he said they manufacture these babies as a pipe of some length and some diameter (size 10, 10.5, 11, 11.5 etc. each is a separate pipe.), then cut the pipe with a laser to the width 6mm. 7mm. 8mm. etc. Then they use lasers again to finish the edges and do a large part of the polish, then utilize some diamond grinding, then, for the black tungsten carbide, they use some electrochemical process to deposit the black color (which is carbon in a near gas form, BTW.)
By the way, if you look on the inside of the ring VERY VERY carefully, you may be able to find a tiny line, much much less than a hair’s thickness. This line is not plated. This is where the ring was resting on something while it was being plated. You will probably have to use a strong magnifying glass for that. If you haven’t such a line, then the process was a chemical bath where the ring was inside a little “cage” submerged into a bath that was electrolized somehow and the carbon deposited that way. The batchs are shaken constantly so all the surface is coated. But supposedly the bath is a less durable method. i do not know that for sure.
If anyone knows some names of businesses that do plating, post it please this is interesting information to know!!!
Chagri Lama