Metal rings scratch things. Yours has probably already left a mark on something you'd rather it hadn't: a car door, the back of a phone, another ring sitting next to it in the drawer. A harder, tougher metal won't fix that. A soft one will.
What to wear if you don't want scratches
Wear a soft silicone wedding ring. It's softer than paint, glass, lacquer and every metal, so there's nothing for it to scratch. Any metal band can mark those surfaces, tungsten included, despite its reputation. Keep the metal for the times you're not putting your hands near anything precious.
Why does a metal ring scratch?
It comes down to hardness. The harder material always wins, and a wedding ring is harder than most of what it meets: clear-coat, guitar lacquer, phone glass, a wooden worktop, the gold of an older ring. Tungsten is the one that catches people out. It's prized for being hard, but hard is exactly the problem here. Silicone sits at the other end. It gives instead of biting, so it slides across a surface without leaving anything behind.
What a metal ring can damage
- Guitars and instruments. The neck, body and scratchplate all mark, and the ring clacks against the strings. See wedding rings for guitarists.
- Cars. Clear-coat swirls at the lightest touch, and so do dashboards and gloss trim.
- Phones and watches. Glass and coatings pick up fine scratches against a hard band.
- Other jewellery. A hard ring rubbing a softer gold one wears the gold down over the years.
- Worktops and furniture. Wood, laminate, anything painted.
- Barbells. The knurling chews up the ring, and the ring scores the bar back.
Does tungsten scratch things?
This trips a lot of people up, so it's worth pulling apart. Tungsten resists getting scratched itself, which is a genuine selling point. But that same hardness means it will happily scratch anything softer, your car and your phone included. So work out which question you're actually asking:
- Want a ring that won't get scratched? Buy tungsten. It shrugs off years of daily wear.
- Want a ring that won't scratch your things? Buy silicone. Nothing else is soft enough.
The silicone range
Our silicone wedding rings start at £14.95, with free UK delivery. They're light, waterproof and skin-safe, and comfortable enough that you'll forget you've got one on:
- Silicone Slim Court, the slimmest option and the one most players and lifters reach for.
- Silicone Beveled Edge, if you want a sharper, more defined look.
- Silicone Embossed, with a bit of texture and extra grip.
Sizing is the only thing to get right, and our ring sizer sorts that.
Which guide fits you
Depending on what you're protecting:
- Musicians: rings for guitarists.
- Car and garage: rings for car enthusiasts.
- Powerlifting: rings for the barbell.
- The gym generally: silicone for work and the gym.
- Trades and electrical work: rings for electricians and trades.
Most people wear both
You don't have to pick a side. Wear silicone when your hands are on something you'd rather not mark, and keep a proper metal band for the rest of the time. If you're weighing the two up, we go through it properly in silicone vs metal wedding rings. Or browse the full silicone range and every other ring we make.