Titanium, jewelry for the fashion conscious.

Titanium is becoming very popular form of jewelry. It is used in many different forms of jewelry, most notably rings, necklaces, chains and pendants and increasingly smaller objects of desire such as cuff links. Using titanium for jewelry is becoming more and more fashionable as people look for alternatives to the more mainstream silver and gold. Titanium is fashionable among younger jewelry buyers, it is also becoming the standard to wear a titanium barbell for fans of tongue piercing. A titanium barbell reduces the risk of infection and allergic reaction that can be found in other forms of jewelry.

Personally, my favourite pieces of jewelry made from titanium are rings and cuff links. They seem to have a more regal shine to them than their silver equivalents. Titanium jewelry also makes a perfect substitute for those people that unfortunately suffer from allergic reactions that is sometimes common in gold and silver.

Whilst becoming more popular with fashion conscious jewelry buyers, surprisingly little is known about titanium in general. This article has been written to provide a clearer picture of the history of titanium.

Titanium was discovered by an English clergyman by the name of William Gregor. A keen amateur chemist, he found a sand like element that he could not identify. At around the same time and independent to Gregor’s discovery, a famous German chemist called Martin Klaproth also made a similar discovery. Klaproth was credited with providing the name titanium. In mythology, Titans were famously the first sons of the Earth.

It was not for another one hundred years that the discovery of pure titanium happened. Unsure of its hidden potential, titanium was largely ignored until the mid 20th century. William Kroll from Luxembourg demonstrated that titanium could be affordably and widely produced as a metal, therefore creating the titanium metal industry almost overnight. Further scientific experiments recognized the inherent strength of titanium as a result it was put to use where steel and aluminium could not provide the necessary strength. Most notable of uses was in the airline industry, health care industry and many others.It was comparatively recent that titanium was first used for jewelry. With more jewelry being purchased and collected than ever before, it seemed only a matter of time before creative designers recognized people’s desire for individuality. Although the end product is often stunning, it is actually very difficult to create titanium jewelry, this is because as a metal it is very hard. This results in jewelry tools wearing down very quickly. Due to the difficulty in production, titanium jewelry is often priced similarly to gold, often higher in some cases.

Whilst gold and silver and other traditional metals which are used for jewelry will always be popular, there is a growing market that is always on the look out for something different and something new. Titanium satisfied this requirement, titanium jewelry is both beautiful and exclusive, this is the most popular criteria used for selecting modern day jewelry.

Titanium is has a long life, this lends itself very well to jewelry. It is also incredibly light compared to gold, similar sized gold and titanium rings will have very different weights. When used in jewelry, titanium is 99% pure.