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Which metal is best for your wedding ring?

Titanium for light, 9ct gold for traditional, platinum for a white that stays white, black zirconium for black that lasts. Answer six questions and you get one recommendation, a runner up and the metal to skip, with the reason why.

1. What do your hands do most days?
2. Have you worn a ring every day before?
3. How should it feel on the hand?
4. Does jewellery ever irritate your skin?
5. What should it look like?
6. What are you comfortable spending?

Metal questions

What is the best metal for a wedding ring?
It depends on what you want the ring to do. Titanium if you want light and hard wearing for the least money. 9ct gold for a traditional hallmarked ring any jeweller can resize. Platinum for a white metal that stays white and feels substantial. Black zirconium for a black ring whose colour is grown from the metal rather than plated on. The six questions above pick between them for you.
Which ring metal is hardest wearing?
Zirconium, for scratches. Its oxide surface is about Mohs 8, against 6 for titanium, 4.5 for platinum and 3.5 for 9ct gold. Hard is not unbreakable: a sharp knock against stone or steel can still mark any ring, and black zirconium is refinished by our maker, depending on the damage. Gold and platinum mark sooner, and polish back.
Is gold a bad choice for a wedding ring?
No. Gold is the traditional wedding ring metal and the easiest to look after over a lifetime, because any jeweller can polish and resize a plain gold band. At Mohs 3.5 for 9ct and 3 for 18ct it picks up fine marks in the first year. That softened look is normal, it polishes out, and 9ct is the harder of the two.
What is the lightest wedding ring metal?
Titanium, at 4.5 g per cubic centimetre. That is under a third the weight of 18ct gold and about a fifth of platinum, which matters a lot if you have never worn a ring before.
Which metals are safe for sensitive skin?
Titanium, black and anodised zirconium, platinum and palladium are all hypoallergenic, so they are the usual choice for skin that reacts to cheap jewellery. White gold is the one to think twice about if nickel has bothered you, because some white gold alloys contain it. The ring allergy guide goes through each metal.
Can black rings be repaired if they scratch?
Usually, yes. A pale line on black zirconium is often metal rubbed off something else, and it cleans away. Deeper damage to the oxide is refinished by our maker, depending on the damage. Black plating is different: it wears through with time, and the black plating guide explains how to tell the two apart.

Sources for the wear advice: our maker's black zirconium guidance and GIA on hardness and toughness. Reviewed 9 September 2026.