So, you’ve done your research, considered your budget, and have found some choices for your ideal wedding band. You decided you want to go the tungsten carbide route, not only because of its look, but also because of its affordability in comparison to silver, platinum, or gold.
However, you feel your best option for getting a true feel for your prospective tungsten carbide ring is to go to your local jeweler. Unfortunately, this strategy may not be as good an idea as you once conceived. The reason: many jewelers reluctantly carry only a few styles of tungsten wedding bands because they do not really want to sell you tungsten, despite the fact you may be heading there specifically for tungsten. They will carry them as a fall back, in case they cannot change your mind and convince you to go a gold or platinum route. However, the markup and profit margin is significantly lower on tungsten carbide than on gold or platinum; so, jewelers prefer to sell you something more expensive
While it is completely true that tungsten carbide is a cheaper metal and is less rare than gold that does not mean that people do not want to buy tungsten carbide. Couples nowadays do not want to spend a ton of money on their wedding bands and have them damaged rather quickly and then be stuck with another significant cost of fixing or replacing their wedding band.
Tungsten carbide rings, while admittedly cheaper and not made from a rare metal, have the advantage of durability. In your research, you have undoubtedly come across the fact that tungsten carbide rings are extremely tough and scratch resistant. In the long run, this means little care and maintenance for your wedding band, which will remain beautiful.
Like any other business, jewelers need to adapt to a changing industry and heed the customer demands. By hiding customers from what they are searching for and not adding to or changing their product selection to reflect customer demands, many jewelers are ensuring that they will lose sales.
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