Titanium was discovered over 200 years ago by Reverend William Gregor in Cornwall and its original name back then was 'Menachite'. Titanium got its current name given to it by a German chemist named Dr. Martin H Klaproth who named it after the Titans in greek mythology. It took klaproth years to industrialise his new found element because the technique of isolating the titanium from its ore was unknown.
The first successful isolation took place in 1887 by Lars Nilson and Otto Pettersson who managed to obtain a product that was 95 percent titanium. It was Matthew Hunter who finally isolated titanium at a purity of 99.9% in 1910. In 1948 the Titanium industry exploded with USA funding the manufacture for projects such as missiles,aircraft and spacecraft - starting from a mere 2 tons in 1947 to a massive 1000 tons by 1953!
Titanium is manufactured mainly in Russia and the United States but is also produced in Japan,England and China.
These days titanium can be used for a whole variety of uses including: aircraft,bicycle frames,watches,surgical implants,jewellery and many more besides. Titanium is used in jewellery because it has an extremely high strength to weight ratio,is hypoallergenic, and looks extremely beautiful when polished.
Faq:
Q.) Can Titanium Rings Be Resized?
A.) Titanium rings are extremely difficult to resize after manufacture and as a general rule can only be stretched to a maximum of half a size larger, this is due to the sheer strength of the metal and also the high wear that it causes on equipment being used.
Q.) Does Titanium Scratch? A.) Although titanium is extremely strong and durable, like all metals, if it is subject to daily wear then you may obviously see the odd scratch coming through, although not as much as you would on say for instance silver. If you are wearing a titanium piece daily we reccomend that you have a 'matte' finish instead of polished as this will help to protect the ring alot better.
Q.) Im allergic to most metals - Will Titanium be ok for me to wear?
A.) Titanium is hypoallergenic which means for a high percentage of people any jewellery made from titanium will not cause a reaction.
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