Cobalt Men's Rings: What's the secret?

Cobalt rings are an attractive and affordable alternative to traditional platinum and gold wedding bands. It can have a hammered textured design and bevel edges. Other rings can be engraved with interesting designs that are vaguely Celtic or abstract. These designs can be laser engraved, and given the size of a ring, the craftsmanship must be very meticulous and precise.

Other cobalt men's wedding bands can have an interesting inlaid channel of carbon fiber. Other rings can have small diamonds set into it them in a burnish setting, which means that the jewel is flush with the metal, or slightly beneath it, a look that’s very masculine and modern. Three small diamonds, maybe adding up to .16 carats in total, can even be set in a channel on the face of the ring.

A man’s wedding ring looks especially pleasing if the metal is brushed or hammered with polished bevel or rolled edges, or a polished channel running around the middle of it.

Cobalt wedding bands are crafted to be beautiful, hypoallergenic and safe. Pure cobalt is a radiant, silvery gray color, much like platinum, and resists oxidation and corrosion. The metal is just soft enough for finely detailed designs to be easily engraved on the ring. The cobalt ring, like other valued jewelry, should be protected from scratching. 

Care
Cobalt wedding rings should be cared for the same way as any other precious metal. It should be cleaned with mild soap and water, then gently dried with a soft cloth. If it’s very dirty, a jewelry cleaner might be used. The owner should ask a jeweler what sort of cleaner is appropriate to use with cobalt. The cobalt ring, when not worn, should be placed in a pouch or wrapped in soft cloth by itself. Also, it shouldn’t be worn in a chlorinated pool or when the wearer has to work with harsh chemicals. Cobalt should also not be exposed to sulfur or halogens like iodine.
The ring should be treated with even more care if it’s set with diamonds.

A Bit of History
Cobalt is an element and a metal. It’s never found in its pure state in nature but as part of a compound from which the pure metal has to be separated through smelting. It’s mostly found in nickel and copper mines. It’s magnetic and has a hardness of 5.0 on the Mohs scale, which means it’s softer than titanium but harder than platinum and much harder than gold or silver. Cobalt has traditionally been used to give glass and ceramics a beautiful, deep blue color. Now, it’s used in wedding rings.