Cobalt Men's Rings: The End of Precious Metals As We Know It?

There certainly has been a lot of hype generated over the latest innovation in men's rings. Cobalt men's rings have suddenly arrived on the scene in jewelry stores and websites all over the world and taken the industry by storm. While some shoppers are still trying to figure out what cobalt even is, others are choosing more and more to purchase this new type of metal over the other "traditional" metal types. So...what is cobalt? What are the pros and cons? Are cobalt men's rings some new fad bound to be wildly successful for a few years and then fade out? Are you going to be stuck with some short-term trend on your finger for the rest of your life? Why should you even think about buying a cobalt men's ring? These are all questions that even Google has a hard time answering, but you can find all the answers right here.

First of all, let's just clear up the myth that gold, platinum, and any other ring made of precious metal are doomed to extinction. With inflation worries all around the world and commodity prices surging, the prices of gold, platinum, palladium, and silver have surged to record highs, thus making those types of rings incredibly expensive (can you just hear your parents now? "Back in my day, gold was only $25 an ounce!"). Ceramic rings, titanium rings, and now cobalt men's rings have all come into the picture as quality mens rings as an attractive alternative to and at a a fraction of the price of gold and platinum, which has dealt a significant blow to the number of precious metal men's rings sold.

There will always be a market for precious metal rings, just like there is always a market for caviar and yachts; some people simply don't care about price. Many others are savvy and like to save money, but don't want to sacrifice quality for it. This the perfect setting for the cobalt wedding ring. Cobalt is a metal that has been used for thousands of years in early sculptures and jewelry, and for the last 70 years in medical devices. Only recently has it been designed and crafted into men's rings because it is a very low cost alternative to gold and platinum (which can cost as much as 5-10 times as much). So you're saying, "what's so great about that? Tungsten and titanium rings are a fraction of the cost of gold and platinum, and they've been around for years." This is true, but the appearance of the cobalt men's ring, and the durability of the ring is what is attracting so many buyers to it.

Cobalt men's rings are designed to have the shine and luster of a platinum ring, the relatively light weight of a gold ring, and the nearly the scratch-resistance of a tungsten ring. Just as white gold rings were created to provide a less expensive alternative to platinum rings, cobalt rings have now been created to provide an even lower-cost alternative, but looking just like a white gold or platinum ring. In fact, when one jewelry retailer performed a blind test on his customers to choose which of the ring styles looked the best (between cobalt, platinum, and white gold rings), they would choose the cobalt men's rings the majority of the time. Not only are they a great deal in terms of value, but they have that same attractive luster that platinum and white gold rings have, instead of the light or dark grey color of tungsten and titanium rings.

Other good things? Well for starters cobalt is about 5 times harder than gold, simply meaning that it's about 5 times more difficult to scratch the stuff. You think about a diamond, and only another diamond can scratch it because it is that hard. Cobalt is much closer to the hardness of a diamond than either gold or platinum, so the ring is going to look amazing for a 500% longer time than a gold ring. Simple right? This means much less polishing and maintenance over the lifetime of the ring. Some stores like Allmensrings.com will even provide free maintenance for life, so you won't ever have to worry about it. You also avoid any rhodium plating costs (rhodium….what?). As I said before, white gold rings are less expensive than platinum rings and look just as great, but that's because they're coated with rhodium, a platinum-looking material that bonds to the gold. This wears off after a year or two, leaving the ring looking dull, and so you have to fork out $20-$30 to "re-dip" the ring, or replace the rhodium. You never have to worry about that with cobalt either!

So let's sum it all up. While the traditional precious metals make great-looking rings and there will always be people who buy them, cobalt men's rings look just as amazing as white gold and platinum rings, are sold at amazingly low prices compared to white gold and platinum, last 5 times longer than gold before needing a polishing, and require no other maintenance for the lifetime of the ring! So is this just a new fad in the men's wedding ring industry? Hardly. In fact I bet that with the wild success cobalt has already had and with all of its benefits, we'll all be seeing a lot more of these rings all over for a long time to come.