With the Holidays quickly approaching many people are beginning to shop the internet for ideas on what to buy the special people in their lives. The top internet searching criteria consist of clothing, toys and electronics. Another top category is jewelry. With the economy taking a turn for the worse many people are looking to get high quality, fashionable jewelry at prices they can afford. This does not typically include the expensive diamonds, gold and platinum. With this in mind many are seeking out alternative metals as an affordable choice. Alternative metals typically consist of silver, titanium and tungsten carbide. Among these 3 metals tungsten carbide has the best lasting quality. While silver and titanium are great metals they can scratch over time. Tungsten Carbide can also scratch however it is very hard to do and this particular metal is popular among those that work with their hands for its lasting quality. Some new jewelry trends popular for the 2012-13 season consist of following below.

Heritage Rings: Heritage ring consist of typically Irish and Greek rings. Tungsten rings companies manufacture many heritage rings in a large array of styles including symbolic designs, knot work ring and rings with unique phrases on them. Many tungsten ring manufacturers can even laser engrave personalization for a small fee.

Wide Width Rings: Wide width ring are popular to wear as a fashion ring or wedding band. Wide width tungsten rings consist of any width beyond a 9mm width. Many tungsten wedding band companies can manufacture to a 12mm width, some manufacturers design rings even wider, at times to a 16mm width. Anything wider can become too large and heavy and could crack under severe force.

Black Tungsten Rings: Colored tungsten rings consist of a black and gold plating coating a tungsten ring. Tungsten retailers suggest that colored tungsten be used as fashion purposes only due to the fragility of the outer coating. Black and gold plated rings can fade and slightly scratch over time, happening even quicker with those that work with their hands.

Carved Tungsten Carbide: Carved tungsten carbide rings is a fairly new technology, only being found at a few retailers. Carved tungsten is unique and the intricate designs are carefully carved into the metal. Many Celtic rings are found in a carved design, where the detail is more prominent. Carved tungsten tends to be sold at a slightly higher price point due to the detail that goes into manufacturing one ring.

Tungsten Jewellery Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.tungsten-jewellery.com
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Why Tungsten Carbide Jewelry?
What is Tungsten? Tungsten is a metal found in several ores and has robust physical properties. It has the highest melting point of all the non-alloyed metals and is second to carbon of the elements.

Tungsten carbide is one of the most durable and scratch resistant jewelry available.
What gives Tungsten Carbide it's hard, scratch resistant property?

The way tungsten carbide is made is so interesting. Tungsten, carbon and other elements like cobalt or nickel are ground into a powder. They are compressed with high-pressure dyes to form a round blank (for rings). The blank is then fired in an oxygen free furnace at 2400 degrees Fahrenheit to form an extraordinarily hard ring. Rings are then cut and shaped using diamond tools with approximately 30 steps required for completion. The cutting and shaping of a tungsten carbide ring is similar in many ways to the cutting and polishing of a rough diamond. The rings can then be inlaid with gold, silver, platinum, Mokume, or Shakudo. The inlay is created by grinding a channel in the center of the ring and compressing the metal into it under extreme pressure. The ring is then polished with diamond polishing tools and wheels. This creates a permanent luster and polish that is not possible with other metals.

There are many different kinds of tungsten carbide jewelry. Tungsten carbide can be changed significantly within the carbide manufacturers sphere of influence, determined by grain size, cobalt content, dotation and carbon content. Some people have shown an allergy to cobalt. Thus, many of the tungsten carbide Jewelry manufacturers have cobalt free jewelry replacing the cobalt with nickel.

So why Tungsten Carbide?

Tungsten Carbide is the only rare and exotic metal that can promise a permanence in polish and finish that will endure as long a the wearer bears it. Rings made from gold, platinum, and even titanium all become significantly less attractive over time. The patterns and design in many gold rings will all but disappear after several years. For me, it didn't take several, but two years for the brushed finish on my gold wedding band to rub off. I take it back and get it re-brushed every few years so that it looks like it did when my wife gave it to me.

Tungsten carbide jewelers are able to guarantee that their ring's shine for life. The reason why? The chance of it ever getting scratched or dulled is extremely low. Tungsten Carbide rings will and do maintain a lasting, beautiful, shiny finish. To the wearer tungsten carbide jewelry speaks of commitment and security to the couples who choose Tungsten Carbide for their wedding bands due to it everlasting nature.

What Mokume Gane and Shakudo? I mentioned a few inlays commonly used in Tungsten Carbide rings, Mokume Gane and Shakudo. These two inlays are really the same thing just with different metals used in the manufacturing process. Mokume Gane (moh-ku-may Gah-nay) is ancient Japanese metalworking developed in feudal Japan by master sword smiths. This is a technically difficult and time-consuming process. The process begins by stacking layers of different colored metals and heating them to 1400 degrees under extreme pressure for 10 hours. This allows the atom from gold and other metals to fuse together, forming distinctive patterns. The metal is then forged and rolled to set the crystal structure. Finally the Gold and other metal ate manipulated by twisting and curving to expose the multiple layer, thereby forming unique ring patterns. No Mokume Gane or Shakudo rings will look alike!

Mokume is usually made with white Palladium and either silver or 18k green gold. Shakudo usually has 90-95% copper and 5-10% pure gold, layered with either sterling silver or 14k yellow Gold. Shakudo tends to have a darker and more deliberate pattern than Mokume. However, both of them are equally gorgeous!
 
  from http://www.ehow.com

Tungsten Jewellery Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.tungsten-jewellery.com
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Both tungsten and fluorescent lighting are widely used in professional photography. Each has unique characteristics that enhance the image output with color temperature ranging between 3200-3500K. However, there are a few differences between the two, the specifics of which are beneficial to know if you are practicing or learning photography.

Light Color
The most obvious difference between tungsten and fluorescent lights is their color; at first glance, photos using these lights turn out with yellow or blue casts. This is because tungsten light shifts the light spectrum towards red, which comes out as yellow or orange, while fluorescents shift light towards blue.

Lifetime and Wattage
Another difference between tungsten and fluorescent is their efficiency in terms of lifetime and wattage. In this regard, fluorescent lighting may be considered more effective as it only consumes an average of 85 watts, compared to tungsten which consumes about 500 watts. In addition, fluorescent lights' lifespan extends up to 7500 hours while tungsten bulbs only last for an average of 50-60 hours.

Temperature
Tungsten is referred to as "hot lights" because it emits a red, warmer look which varies depending on the voltage. On the other hand, fluorescent lights are known to be cooler and skewed towards the blue end of the spectrum. Although the temperature differences are not that great, during long working hours fluorescent lights prove to be a lot cooler, which is beneficial those working with them. Similarly, using tungsten lights for long photography sessions may make it uncomfortably hot for the people you are photographing.

Operational Cost
When it comes to operational costs, tungsten and fluorescent lights may differ depending on your usage requirement. In terms of energy efficiency, fluorescent lights, being cooler, have many benefits over tungsten, especially in a small-to-medium sized studio. Tungsten emits more heat than light energy -- at a ratio of 95:5 -- in comparison with fluorescent lights, which emit more light than heat energy at a 5:95 ratio.

Power
Tungsten lights are more powerful than fluorescents and may be a better lighting option for larger photo studios. Also, some flash photography effects come out better with tungsten than fluorescent lighting. For shorter photography sessions that require powerful lighting, tungsten is a better choice.

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Wedding bands are traditionally created out of gold of varying purities. Platinum has often been an alternative, albeit a more costly one due to the difficulty in working with the metal, while silver has also been an alternative but not as favorable due to the softness of the metal. Another alternative wedding band material that has emerged is tungsten, but one must consider the pros and cons of this metal before choosing it for a wedding band.

Durability
Tungsten wedding bands are very strong and show a resistance to bending that gold, silver, platinum and titanium can not come close to attaining.

Tungsten rings actually do not bend under pressure, instead it takes an extreme amount of pressure to shatter them. For this reason this metal is viewed favorably by those who perform manual labor since the rings do not wear during heavy loads. Scratch resistance is another advantage for tungsten rings as it takes a material with an abrasion capacity near that of a diamond to put a scratch in tungsten.

Resizing
Since wedding bands are intended to be items with a lifetime usable capacity, it is important to be able to re-size these rings as a person's weight can fluctuate throughout his life. It is nearly impossible to re-size a tungsten wedding band which is a disadvantage of the material for this application.

Engraving
Many people elect to have a special sentiment or date engraved on the inside of their wedding band to solidify the sentimental nature of the item. Due to the strength of tungsten engraving is not optional. A jeweler can attempt to engrave the band but these markings will be faint at best.

Maintenance
Tungsten is a popular choice for wedding bands as the metal does not require polishing to keep its original luster. Oils from the skin and outside chemicals do not have an effect on tungsten's sheen so it is a popular choice for those who desire a low maintenance band.

Allergic Reactions
Some jewelers use cobalt in the tungsten alloy for their bands. Many people are allergic to cobalt and experience rashes as a result of exposure. To negate the risk of this happening it is advised to buy a tungsten wedding band that uses nickel in its alloy composition. When nickel is used in tungsten alloys it actually becomes hypoallergenic, even to those who suffer from nickel allergies.

Tungsten Jewellery Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.tungsten-jewellery.com
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