[Jewelry making - Article 00209] - Re: [Orchid] Removing wedding ring without cutting it

[Doug Dreyfus]

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    Regarding how to remove titanium & tungsten bands: 

    I was speaking to a manufacturer of tungsten rings and asked him
    this same question--what happens if I sell a ring and later a
    customer can't get it off? If it can't be cut off, could I end up
    being liable for any resulting problems? 

    He replied that although it is true that it's very hard to cut
    tungsten, it's not hard to break it. He advice was to put the ring
    (and the person's finger I suppose) in a vice, tighten the vice
    against the ring, and then slowly tighten the vice until the ring
    cracks. I haven't experimented with this solution yet, but it makes
    sense in an emergency situation. 

    Regarding the comment / suggestion that titanium &/or tungsten not
    be used for jewelry: 

    When I was in Tucson this past February I was on a shuttle bus &
    some people were discussing the increasing popularity of steel,
    titanium, and tungsten jewelry. One store owner made the comment "I
    own a jewelry store, not a hardware store, and it'll be a cold day in
    hell before you find any of those metals in my store!" 

    My feeling is "to each his own" and if a person doesn't like, or
    doesn't want to sell, alternative metal jewelry than that's their
    perogative. IMHO, however, some of the stainless and titanium designs
    coming out now are really nice. Check out Spectore Corporation's
    designs if you want to see what I mean. (And BTW--I don't buy from
    them, so no conflict of interest here). Then again, I'm just a lowly
    sterling silver retailer, so what do I know? As far as tungsten goes,
    men love the fact that it absolutely does not scratch! 

    Is anyone suggesting that there are some materials that are
    acceptable for use in manufacturing jewelry but other materials that
    are not? By what standards or whose criteria? Where can I buy this
    list? 

    What is jewelry, anyway? Different cultures use all different types
    of crazy materials to adorn themselves with and to create wearable
    art, i.e., jewelry. 

Doug
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