Black Zirconium Rings UK. What is Black Zirconium?
Zirconium, often confused with it's sister metal Titanium, is a refractive metal typically used in industrial applications and more recently, jewellery.
It's natural colour is similar to Titanium but then, by heating it, a black, ceramic like Zirconium oxide layer is naturally formed.
It has a soft, silky feel in its polished black condition similar to how a mug would feel when you touch it. The insides of our rings are polished this way with a comfort (curved) fit as standard and then we add different textures to the outside of the ring which could be satin, polished, hammered or coarse linished.
It's an ideal material for people with skin allergies because it is virtually a pure element containing none of the irritants that can be present in some other jewellery materials. It's similar to Titanium in that way and also very lightweight but being fractionally heavier than Titanium.
Black Zirconium is extremely durable, it won't shatter like tungsten, it won't bend out of shape over time like precious metals can do and the surface is not a coating but simply a transformation of material into the oxide layer Zirconia, which is part of the actual material itself, so it's never going rub off or change colour over time.
Black
Zirconium Hardness
The Black Ceramic like oxide layer is equivalent in hardness to a Sapphire, is extremely resistant to scratching and easy to cut off in case of an emergency.
The colour of Zirconium is stunning in it's natural form but black gives it a whole new character from glossy jet black to satin tones that reflect light with an almost translucent graphite effect.
Because the surface of Black Zirconium is so hard (typically around 8 on the MOHS scale or the hardness of Sapphire and Ruby), if the ring comes into contact with a softer material such as precious metals, the softer metal will transfer onto the surface of the Black Zirconium. This can resemble a scratch on the ring but please, don't panic! The transferred metal can usually be removed with a scouring pad, kitchen cleaner and warm water. If you have trouble with this we can easily do it for you.
Although the surface of the ring is extremely hard, it is a hard surface on top of a softer natural, durable material, therefore it is possible to damage your ring when worn under harsh conditions, for example , gardening, rock climbing or in the gym where it can come it to contact with metal barbells so, care should be taken and, if in doubt, take it off. Following this advice will prolong the lifetime of your ring before refurbishment becomes necessary.
As with GETi Titanium rings, engraving of Black Zirconium is undertaken with the use of lasers. Lasering the ring before heat treatment produces a white engraving when blacked and engraving after heat treatment produces a darker engraving.
We buy so many mass-produce things but of all of those things we believe your wedding ring shouldn't be one of them and it doesn't have to be because we handcraft each of our items one at a time for our customers and customise them to their needs. Mass production is a part of everyday life and Black Zirconium rings are no exception. If you choose a Black Zirconium or Titanium ring from GETi you can be assured that the ring has been made and hand crafted one at a time to your requirements and inspected for quality at over 5 stages in its manufacture before final inspection prior to delivery, as opposed to being just plucked off a shelf and shipped out.
Sizing your finger correctly is important due to the hardness of the surface material. It isn't totally impossible to resize a black Zirconium ring in the future but it is time consuming so watch those doughnuts to avoid disappointments! :-)
