The huge surge of new materials used in the creation ofjewelry today has given customers more choices of fresh products that bring instyle. But the surprising thing about the impact of these new products is theincreased interest of men to accessorize.

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Though there are men who do love to dress up with necklaces,bracelets and pendants, most male customers prefer to buy signature rings astheir main jewelry. Titanium, tungsten carbide and stainless steel jewelryapparently are now directly competing with silver and platinum. The affordableprice and same appearance of alternative metals make most men think twice aboutspending thousands of dollars on precious metals.

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But even in the alternative metal jewelry arena, competitionis also tight. Because the price point is nearly the same with each type ofalternative metal jewelry, tungsten carbide jewelry and stainless steel jewelryappears to be further fragmenting the market. Designers and consumers are nowdebating whether tungsten carbide or stainless steel jewelry is better when itcomes to men's wedding bands.

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Tungsten carbide has always been marketed as a tough andvery durable metal. Because of this perception, sales of tungsten carbide ringssurged and are now estimated to be between 300,000 to 500,000 wedding bands ayear. But some industry experts and designers are arguing that tungsten carbideis not as indestructible Tungsten Weight as what customers were led to believe.

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Actually, tungsten carbide is not really a metal but a metalmatrix composite. It is a very tough material with hardness that is comparableto sapphire. But because it is not a true metal, wedding bands crafted fromtungsten carbide cannot bend or tolerate sharp shocks, like getting dropped ona marble floor. Tungsten carbide rings (though this is subject to the qualityand design of the jewelry) has the tendency to shatter, crack or chip.

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With the creation of a new breed of stainless steel jewelryin the form of cobalt chrome alloy, many advocates and fans of this alternativemetal argue that customers will likely benefit more by buying cobalt chromewedding bands instead of tungsten carbide rings.

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Cobalt chrome is a member of the stainless steel jewelryfamily and carbide rods is considered to be an innovation of the industrial alternativemetal. It has luster that is comparable to platinum but four times as hard.Like stainless steel jewelry, cobalt chrome rings can withstand corrosion,scratches and sharp shocks. Also, unlike tungsten carbide rings, cobalt chromebands can be resized.

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Compared to 316L stainless steel jewelry, cobalt chrome isfairly new. As of the moment, the types of cobalt chrome jewelry that isavailable are limited to statement rings and wedding bands due to therestrictions in the manufacturing process, though this may change in the comingyears.

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As more men get enticed to improve their style with jewelryand accessories, retailers should analyze what are the best products that theycan offer to tap this new market. Tungsten carbide and cobalt chrome rings havetheir own pros and cons, thus, the best way to go is to give the decision tocustomers on which kind of wedding band is better.

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