Titanium - Material & Color Information

Titanium was first discovered in the UK, at the end of the 18th century. It was named after the Greek mythological Titans, the ruling deities of the Golden Age - the first of the five ages of Man – that were defeated by the Olympian gods. Titans were extremely strong, and that’s the reason titanium was named after them, as this metal is extremely strong, durable, resistant to corrosion and hard to work with.

Titanium is used in aerospace, in automotive, in medicine (orthopedic and dental implants, heart stents), in architecture, in sporting products and in the computer industry among others.

Titanium in Jewelry

Due to the difficulty in working with titanium, titanium was first used in jewelry in the late 90’s, when more advanced technology allowed jewelers to elaborate it.

Titanium is extremely suitable for jewelry, mainly for the following reasons:

• It is strong but lightweight (for instance it is as strong as steel but 45% lighter than that).
• It is bio-compatible – so hypoallergenic.
• It is corrosion-resistant, making jewelry pieces last for longer.

Coloring Titanium

Titanium can be colored because its surface if properly prepared is reactive upon exposure to certain conditions. Titanium’s surface forms a series of colors similar to rainbow colors due to the development of an oxide film. This film is highly resistant to a wide variety of corrosive substances that would affect other materials. Colors are permanent and if the oxide film is thick enough, it will not fade or tarnish.

There are actually two techniques for coloring titanium : by heat, which is more difficult to control and by electrochemistry (anodizing), which with proper controls allows exact, predictable color results. All pieces in our Titanium Collection are colored using the anodizing technique.