Titanium is a brilliant white metal in its pure form and is the ninth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust. Obtained from rutile, ilmenite and sphens, as well as vitanites and many iron ores, titanium is lighter than steel but just as strong. For this reason, titanium is used widely in the aerospace industry. It can be alloyed with aluminum, vanadium, molybdenum, iron and manganese. It is also used in equipment by the chemical, paper and pulp, and oil and gas industries.
Titanium is extremely durable and strong. Titanium is more resistant and has the highest strength to weight ratio of ANY known element, which is why 85% of the Space Shuttles structure is titanium. In fact, Spectore brand titanium carries a lifetime warranty. In jewelry applications, titanium’s strength allows for design capabilities that were otherwise impossible. For example, tension set rings made with titanium provides maximum security for the stone. Softer materials such as gold, silver and platinum cannot make this claim! In fact, even the softest forms of titanium start with over 30,000 psi tension, much more than platinum. Titanium can be worn throughout active and demanding lifestyles without concern for the excessive wear and tear that would be exhibited by gold and platinum.
Titanium is inert. It’s the most bio-compatible element known to man, and therefore the material of preference in the medical world for surgical tools, implants, pacemaker cases, and other internal casings. It will not react to ANY chemistry other than Hydrofluoric acid. (That means its completely unreactive to salt water, chlorine, detergents, alkaloids, or body acids…… not any, not ever!!). Pure titanium is 100% hypoallergenic. It won’t react with any part of the body, making it a great choice for even those persons most sensitive to other materials. And, unlike silver, titanium will never tarnish!
Titanium is exceptionally lightweight. Only slightly heavier than aluminum with the strength of steel. Today, “light” is the quality standard in all fields. With jewelry, titanium’s light weight translates to comfort. Platinum, gold and silver must sacrifice style and function to reduce weight and costs.
Titanium is proven. Titanium is the fastest growing category in jewelry history. Without exception, titanium has
dominated each and every market arena it has entered. From sports products like bicycles, tennis rackets, and golf clubs, to marine hardware, computer cases, and jewelry, titanium symbolizes the new standard for excellence. Even the term “titanium” has come to represent the highest standard of excellence and quality. (example: titanium credit cards)
Titanium is pure. Spectore’s gray titanium is 99+% commercially pure. No other conventional material can boast this claim. The Black-Ti ™ material is Spectore’s our own patented alloy and process. Black-Ti™ possesses all the same qualities for compatibility as Spectore’s gray titanium. Spectore’s black Cable series is made from a “memory metal” used extensively throughout the medical industry for angioplasties and stints. This titanium alloy has extraordinary resilience and bio-compatibility.
Titanium is a noble element. It is the first new element to enter the noble metals arena of platinum and gold in over 3,000 years.
Titanium is leading edge. The technology used in working with titanium has significantly and positively impacted manufacturing methods throughout the entire jewelry industry. Titanium is the perfect marriage of art and science.
Titanium is virtuous. Many say that had titanium had been discovered before platinum and gold, it would be the leading jewelry material in the world today.
Titanium is fashionable. Titanium provides the stylish rich grey tones of platinum at a much more attractive prioe point.
Titanium sponge metal was produced in the United States in 1995 by two companies in Nevada and in Oregon, while titanium ingot was produced by those two plus nine additional companies, one of which discontinued sponge output in 1992. In 1995, approximately 65 percent of titanium metal was used in aerospace applications, including jet engines, airframes and missile components. The remainder was used by the chemical processing industry, medical equipment manufacturers and other nonaerospace industries including, for the first time, a significant application by manufacturers of golf club heads. U.S. sponge consumption rose 25 percent to 21,500 tons compared with 17,200 tons in 1994, according to the Office of Minerals Information of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Imports of sponge for consumption rose 38.8 percent last year to an estimated 8,980 tons vs. 6,470 tons in 1994. Domestic sponge production isn’t reported because, with only two major producers, that information is considered highly proprietary. Industry stocks of sponge at year-end 1995 were up slightly to 5,600 tons from 5,570 tons at the end of 1994. Leading import sources for sponge for the years 1991-1994 were Russia (67 percent), Japan (18 percent), China (6 percent), the United Kingdom (3 percent), Ukraine (3 percent), the remainder of the former Soviet Union (2 percent) and others (1 percent). Last year, the titanium industry recycled about 20,000 tons of new scrap.
“As new technologies have developed, titanium, an element once considered exclusive to the aerospace industry, has
emerged as the premier material for a rapidly increasing number of consumer product markets.
Titanium has, in an amazingly short timeframe, become the standard of excellence for almost every market that it has entered. For example, in the field of recreational sports, who wouldn’t prefer titanium golf clubs, tennis racquets, camping gear or mountain bikes? The medical world has been vastly improved with the inclusion of an elite new choice of titanium implants, surgical tools and equipment. Renowned architects now turn to titanium for structural and aesthetic values in modern construction.
Now, as titanium has been introduced to the jewelry and accessories industry, all indications point to a similar distinction of superiority. Possessing such attributes as an unparalleled strength to weight ratio, tremendous tensile capacity, and a myriad of finish and anodizing capabilities that can be achieved without compromising its complete hypoallergenic quality, titanium is truly the perfect choice as a jewelry material.
Retailers can also appreciate titanium from an economic standpoint. With a surprisingly low cost matched with a high
perceived value, titanium allows retailers to price the merchandise for high turns while still recognizing higher profit margins. Also, because titanium looks great with other precious metal and stone combinations, retailers are able to find product that maintains the necessary price points that match with their customer.
Exciting new technologies are allowing manufacturers to break barriers that will not only affect titanium goods, but will greatly benefit the way jewelry is produced in other, more traditional materials such as gold and platinum. For fine jewelry, just like the other industries exposed to its remarkable qualities, titanium is here to stay.”- World Titanium Council.
Imagine a material with the strength of steel, yet whose weight is comparable to that of aluminum. A material completely inert and non corrosive, making it hypo-allergenic and safe for virtually any application, even to the point of medical implants and surgical tools. A material that holds refractive properties which allow for extraordinary color options through proper manipulation. This material is titanium, a natural element that possesses these amazing traits and more.
Billions of years ago, a star in our vicinity spent its dramatic finale in a burst of light that gave birth to the element titanium. Titanium can only be created by the largest of cosmic explosions: the supernova. Its momentous origin underscores its superiority as a metal and foreshadows its undeniable allure.
One cannot simply stroll along the beach picking up specimens of this noble wonder of nature. In fact, it has taken decades of research and technology coupled with billions of dollars in equipment and testing to bring titanium to the forefront of metallurgy. A trace element commonly used in locating diamonds, titanium is typically found in the form of ores such as rutile and ilmenite. Before titanium can be used to create the huge array of products that have vastly improved our lives, it must first endure a costly and difficult process to extract the pure material from its ore state. The most common way that this is achieved is through a procedure called the Kroll process.
To produce a useable form of titanium, the basic ore, usually rutile, is converted to sponge by charging the ore in a chlorinator, then passing chlorine gas through the charge. This results in titanium tetrachloride. The oxygen is removed as CO or CO², resulting in a colorless liquid form of TiCl4 crude that is purified by continuous fractional distillation. It is then reacted with either magnesium or sodium under an inert atmosphere to yield a metallic titanium sponge and magnesium or sodium chloride. The chloride is then reprocessed and recycled.
The next stage of the process requires the titanium sponge to be crushed and pressed before being melted in a consumable electrode vacuum arc furnace at extreme heat. The melted ingot, each weighting as much as 12,000 lbs, is not poured but solidifies under vacuum conditions in the furnace.
Titanium was not discovered until the late 1700's. Remarkably, it wasn't until the early 1900's that it was isolated and named for the powerful mythological first sons of the universe - the Titans. Only within the last few decades has technology provided the means of extracting titanium from the Earth. Although it remains a costly and difficult process, the effort has provided a far greater positive impact on mankind than any material in recorded history. From the depths of the ocean to the far reaches of space, from the smallest medical implants to the largest passenger planes, titanium has become an indisputable part of human triumph. Its applications have spread throughout sports and automotive industries, industrial design and architecture. Ancient monuments were accented with gold. Today, many of our most modern architectural marvels, including the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain are clad with titanium.
Once proclaimed to be the "metal of the future", titanium has seen that edict arrive and even evolve to the point of becoming an icon for uniqueness and superior quality. The explosion in demand for smaller more intricate products has given rise to development of new technologies based on modification of existing large format methodology for manufacturing processes.
Virtually every industry in which titanium has entered, has seen this remarkable material quickly become that industry's standard of excellence. Titanium is now taking this notable achievement and revolutionizing an industry that has remained practically unchanged for thousands of years - the fine jewelry industry.
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What is Titanium?
