What Do They Mean By Carbide & Its History?

Tungsten Mine at Wolframite Mountain

Carbide is the nomenclature used to describe tungsten that is alloyed with other trace elements and a binder (Nickel) to make it more scratch resistant metal. This process is similar to the process iron goes through to become steel. All tungsten rings are actually tungsten carbide, it is just that most people prefer to refer to it as simply "tungsten".

After the discovery of a heavy mineral termed "tung-sten" (Swedish for heavy stone), there followed the isolation of tungsten trioxide and the reduction of the mineral wolframite to tungsten metal in the 1700s. 

The first attempts to produce tungsten steel were made in 1855. However, the high price of tungsten metal was prohibited for industrial application. The launch of high-speed steel by Bethlehem Steel in 1900 at the Paris World Exhibition led to the first industrial application of tungsten in the alloying and hardening steels. 

The application was followed early in the 20th century by the manufacture of ductile tungsten wire, influential in the development of the lamp industry, and the invention of hardmetal (cemented carbide), which has grown to be tungsten's main application before tungsten was revolutionary used for creating fine jewelry. Tungsten carbide rings went through another revolutionary leap with the introduction of carbon fiber inlay-ed tungsten carbide rings and laser etched custom design tungsten carbide rings. No wonder these latest design are such a turn on.