Can You Engrave Tungsten Rings?
Written by Annabelle
May 1, 2019
Tungsten is notorious in the jewelry industry for being difficult to work with; the toughness of the metal prevents people from sizing it or altering it. The question is; is tungsten ring engraving even possible? Read on to find out.
The Engraving Process
Jewelry engraving is done in three ways: hand, rotary, and laser. Hand engraving involves manually etching the inscription on the item, while rotary engraving utilizes a machine-controlled bit. Laser engraving is the most modern method, and uses an adjustable laser beam to blast the surface.
Out of the three types of engraving, laser is the most effective at penetrating tungsten's resilient surface, with stunning results.
Types of Tungsten Ring Engravings
- Inscriptions: The most common type of tungsten ring engraving. People love writing meaningful sentences or phrases on their jewelry, including dates such as anniversaries and birthdays. Special fonts and different languages can be requested as well.
Tungsten ring engraved in Star Wars font: “The Force Is Strong With Us.”
- Monograms: A fancier kind of engraving, monograms are old-style initials in special font. This kind of engraving takes more work, and tends to be pricier.
This ring was engraved with a rose center and two monograms on the sides.
- Images: The engraving laser can also engrave images as long as a JPG file is sent to the jeweler! Keep in mind that the size of the engraving depends on the amount of space on the ring; if the ring is fairly small in width, the laser will scale the image down accordingly.
These inlay tungsten rings were engraved with a constellation and Green Lantern symbol.
Engraving on Plated Tungsten
Tungsten in its natural form is a silvery or gunmetal shade. However, it can be plated with gold or rhodium in different colors, and oftentimes our customers ask if it's possible to engrave on these pieces without affecting the look of the ring. The answer is yes! Laser engraving is highly concentrated and precise, so it will not melt or disturb any coatings on the ring.
This blue tungsten ring was engraved with a long inscription- note that the process did not affect the ring's interior coating.
Removing Tungsten Ring Engravings
An engraving was removed off of this ring, but left behind highly visible marks and porosity.
While it's possible to engrave on tungsten, it is very difficult to remove engravings from this metal, and the result can leave behind noticeable marks and porosity. Make sure you know exactly what you want to engrave and type it correctly before you send it off to the jewelers!
Now you're all set to get a tungsten ring engraving! Check out our engraving service below.
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