What is the cheapest metal for a wedding ring?

Which wedding ring metal costs the least?

Titanium. Across our range the least expensive rings are titanium, then black zirconium, then anodised zirconium, then a gold inlay set in titanium, then solid 9ct gold. The cards on this page show the lowest priced ring in each, with its current price.

Cheap here does not mean poor. Titanium is light, kind to sensitive skin and never needs replating. Black zirconium has a surface harder than steel. They cost less because the metal itself is not a precious metal, not because they are made with less care.

Titanium rings: Light, silver grey bands that do not tarnish.

Black zirconium wedding bands: Black zirconium, grown black rather than plated.

What is the cheapest precious metal for a wedding ring?

9ct gold. It is 37.5% gold against 75% in 18ct, so roughly half the gold for the same ring. It is fully hallmarked, any jeweller can resize it and it is the harder of the two golds, which suits a ring worn every day.

Sterling silver costs less again, but it is the softest of the precious metals and it tarnishes, which is why it is rarely chosen for a wedding ring. Platinum and 18ct gold cost the most.

What is 9ct gold?: What 375 means and how 9ct wears.

Silver or gold: Why gold wears better every day.

Why the price changes so much from one metal to the next

The price of a ring follows the value of the metal in it and how much of that metal there is. Gold and platinum are priced by weight, so a wider or heavier band costs more. Platinum is the densest of the ring metals at 21.4g per cubic centimetre.

Titanium is the opposite: at about 4.5g per cubic centimetre a wide titanium band is still light. The metal is not priced like gold either. That is why a 10mm titanium band can cost less than a 2mm gold one.

Ring weight calculator: What a band weighs in each metal, width and size.

How to spend less without the ring looking it

Choose a narrower band in gold, since less metal costs less. Or put the gold on the face: a precious inlay ring sets a line of solid, hallmarked 9ct gold into titanium or black zirconium, for much less than a band made entirely of gold.

If you are buying both rings, a matching pair costs less together: both rings of the same set take 10% off. Any two rings take 5%. The budget planner shows how a total splits between the rings and everything else.

Inlay wedding rings explained: Solid gold set into a harder metal.

How much to spend on a wedding ring: What couples spend and where the money goes.

Budget planner: Split a budget between the rings.

Is a cheaper metal a sensible choice for a wedding ring?

Yes, if it suits how you live. Plenty of couples choose titanium or black zirconium because they want a ring that is light and hard wearing, not because of the price. What a cheaper metal gives up is the hallmark and the value of the metal itself. Some are also harder to resize, so settle the size before you order.

Unsure of the size? The ring size finder works one out at home. The try-on shows the ring on a photo of your own hand.

Do wedding rings have to be gold?: What else works and what you give up.

Which rings can be resized: Resizing by metal.

Ring size finder: Find your UK size at home.