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When wedding time comes the question of what jewelry to buy arises!
Between all metal comparisons for wedding rings and wedding bands, a popular one is titanium vs sterling silver.
It is easy to get confused between these two because they look very alike.
- Should we buy titanium or silver wedding bands?
- Which one is better: silver or titanium wedding rings?
These are just 2 of the frequent questions people ask before weddings.
While similar, in many ways, there are distinctive differences that you should know about before making your purchase.
Here are the most important facts about titanium and sterling silver. These will help you make the best-informed decision and choose the right one for your personal style and taste!
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What is Titanium?
Titanium is a metallic element with the symbol Ti on the periodic table. Its atomic number is 22.
This gray silver color metal was discovered back in the late 18th century, in 1791. It is named after the Titans of Greek mythology.
Titanium is a wonderful option for jewelry as it is lightweight, hypoallergenic and very durable.
What is Sterling Silver?
Silver is a precious metal with the symbol Ag, short for the Latin Argentum. Its atomic number is 47.
It has been used as money, in the form of silver coins and bars, for centuries. Even today, central banks hold gold and silver bullion as reserve.
Silver is also used in households as silverware and, as jewelry.
It carries a natural shine which few metals can come close to.
Silver has a lustrous white color which caches the eye.
Unfortunately, it is a soft metal which is not fit for jewelry in its purest form.
That is why it is mixed with stronger metals to elevate the hardness levels.
Its most popular alloy is sterling silver, aka 925 silver.
This version of silver has 92.5 percent silver in its composition. The remaining part comes from base metals like copper.
Sterling Silver is denser than Titanium
Both metals share a silver-gray color, similar to platinum, palladium or white gold.
In their purest form, silver is more dense than titanium.
This means that if we take the same volume of silver and titanium, the weight of the silver piece will be heavier than the titanium one.
Actually, it will be more than twice the weight of titanium because silver’s density is 10.5 g/cm3 while titanium’s density is 4.5 g/cm3.
While you can tell the difference when picking up both materials, it may not be all that important when wearing the ring. However, if you are considering a thick bracelet, you might take weight into account.
In addition, for a titanium ring, you have one interesting alternative: black-coated titanium jewelry.
This coating opens the door to different designs and gives the item a glossy finish. It also provides protection from scratches and increases durability.
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Titanium is harder than Sterling Silver
Despite titanium is very light, it is considerably harder than silver. Thus, it shows better endurance against everyday wear and tear.
Small impacts that can scratch sterling jewelry, is not a problem for strong titanium pieces.
However, this high durability may be disadvantageous in some situations. One downside case is its hardness also means that titanium is more brittle. It can not be bend easily like sterling.
On the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, titanium gets a 6, while silver is rated around 2.5-3.
While this does not mean you can easily break a titanium ring: it does mean that it has less flexibility compared to the softer sterling silver.
Sterling silver pieces have less scratch resistance than titanium pieces. Thus, with daily wear physical impacts with harder objects will add up faster on its surface than titanium rings or jewelry.
This is also true for clashes inside your jewelry box.
You should pay extra attention to sterling pieces in your jewelry box. You can’t just throw them over other jewelry because they might get easily scratched.
The best solution is to keep them in separate soft pouches or ziplock bags to prevent contact. You can also use separate compartments for individual pieces.
However, separate bags are better as they will limit air and humidity too.
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Sterling Silver May Tarnish
Tarnish is the name of the black spots that form on the surface of certain metals. These result from various types of oxidation.
In the case of sterling silver, these can form by 3 main ways: oxidation with oxygen, humidity and sulfur-containing compounds.
The latter should get most of our attention, without neglecting the first two.
In this case, sterling silver’s surface gets covered by a layer of silver sulfide. This reacts with other airborne agents to form black, crusty spots.
Tarnish leads to loss of finish, but it does not corrode the metal. The process is self-limiting. It does not continue towards the inner parts. After it has formed on the outer layer, it prevents any further formation.
The presence of copper also means that sterling silver rings tend to tarnish, which means that you will need to do some cleaning and maintenance to keep the silvery white sheen.
If you want silver without the tarnish, meet Argentium silver. This is a silver alloy which has high tarnish resistance thanks to its formula including germanium.
Check our post on Argentium vs sterling silver for more on this tarnish resistant alloy.
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Does titanium tarnish?
Titanium does not tarnish and it has high corrosion resistance.
Thus, titanium rings need little effort to maintain their appearance.
As it does not need any care for removing tarnish, your titanium wedding ring can maintain its beautiful look for a very long time.
And when it starts to lose its shine, just ask your local jewelry store for a polish, and you’ll have it bright and shiny as before!
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Titanium is a hypoallergenic metal, and safer choice
Some jewelry metals may cause irritation for people with sensitive skin. This is called hypersensitivity.
Rashes, itching, color change and blisters are known symptoms of allergic contact dermatitis.
It may be initiated from not only jewelry but coins, zippers, eyeglass frames which have allergenic metals like nickel, lead, or alloys including them.
The signs do not show off immediately after initial contact. They become apparent after a sufficient time has passed and a threshold level of absorption by the skin is reached.
Happily, we have metals that are considered safe name hypoallergenic metals.
While they do not guarantee nullifying allergy risk, they are the best options.
These safe choices include gold, palladium, platinum, surgical level stainless steel, rhodium, silver, titanium, and others.
Titanium is very safe: it is one of the purest metal options for allergy-free jewelry.
But, there is more to the case for 925 silver.
As sterling is an alloy, it may contain trace amounts of nickel or other allergenic metals which may initiate skin allergies.
Make sure your sterling pieces are made of high quality nickel-free silver to avoid any allergic reactions.
Prices Can Vary
One thing we know for sure is that in jewelry, prices do vary – a lot!
The weight of precious metal and other materials used, the gems, the design, the brand all add up to the price.
And there are times when commodity markets are rallying to take prices to extreme levels. Just as in 2011 when one ounce of silver saw $50. That very ounce of silver was at $10 in 2008, and came back down to $15 in 2017 after seeing a 400% gain in 2011.
It quintupled and then made a 70% drop from the top!
Titanium can also show extreme price volatiliy. From its 2003 lows around $6,500 , it skyrocketed to $16,700 and came back to $4,100 in 2016. That’s a 2.5x and 75% crash in 13 years.
Silver vs Titanium: The Verdict
While they look very similar, there are significant differences between sterling silver and titanium.
There are both pros and cons for titanium and sterling in luster, ease of maintenance, hardness, weight, hypoallergenic property and price.
Sterling silver requires more care and maintenance as it is softer and a more delicate material. It can get scratched more easily than titanium and it does tarnish.
On the other side the titanium ring is more durable and asks for little maintenance.
It is much lightweight and harder than 925 silver.
If you are comparing titanium and sterling for engagement rings, you should beware that titanium is hard to resize.
If your finger size changes, the ring may no longer fit your finger. If you choose sterling rings, they can be easily resized to your new finger size.
If you desire a ring that requires less maintenance, you should consider titanium.
It is cool and fashionable especially with those trendy black color designs.
Titanium is hypoallergenic while you’ll have to make sure that your sterling silver does not include any allergenic metals like nickel.
If you want a ring that is softer and more flexible, then sterling silver is your choice assuming you do not mind the additional maintenance.
Where to buy titanium and sterling silver jewelry?
You can check designs and prices of titanium
and sterling silver jewelry on Amazon.
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