ForMatter/Materials/metal/Tungsten (Pure / Tungsten Carbide)
mat_tungsten_pure

Tungsten (Pure / Tungsten Carbide)

refractory metal / hard-metal jewelry · W, tungsten carbide, WC, wolfram
highlast updated 2026-04-28

Tungsten — the densest engineering metal in common use, 70% heavier than lead — and tungsten carbide, the ceramic-metal composite the jewelry market actually sells under the name "tungsten ring." Almost diamond-hard, scratch-resistant in a way no precious metal is, and brittle the way ceramics are: drop a tungsten-carbide ring on tile and it can shatter. The material that wears longer than the wearer.

Pure tungsten: BCC structure, density 19.25 g/cm³, melting point 3422 °C — the highest of any element. Tungsten carbide (WC + Co binder, the actual jewelry stock): hardness Vickers 1300–1700 HV (~9 Mohs, harder than corundum). Brittle by design; the alloy fails by fracture rather than ductile yielding. Cannot be sized with conventional jeweler's mandrel work. Generally machined in green-state (powder-pressed pre-sinter) or ground from sintered blanks.

mechanical

  • tensile_strength_mpa_pure_annealed1510
  • hardness_vickers_pure360
  • hardness_vickers_carbide1500
  • density_kg_m3_pure19250
  • density_kg_m3_carbide14800
source: ASM Handbook Vol. 2; Kennametal hard-metal datasheets

thermal

  • melting_point_c_pure3422
  • thermal_conductivity_w_mk_pure173
source: CRC Handbook

Sustainability

  • embodied carbon kg co2e per kg27
  • sourceEditorial estimate from ICE / Granta CES EduPack class databases — industry mean, with cradle-to-gate boundary unless otherwise noted. Embodied carbon for any specific product depends on supplier mix, recycled content, and energy grid; verify against a primary source before using these numbers in a sustainability claim.
  • recyclabilitymoderate-high — closed-loop tungsten-carbide reclaim is mature for industrial scrap; jewelry scale variable
  • biodegradableFalse
  • certifications—
  • localityprimary mining concentrated in China; alternative supply from Vietnam, Russia, Australia
visual
dark gunmetal gray as polished, with the telltale lower-warmth cast that distinguishes a tungsten ring from a stainless one across a counter
tactile
the heaviest ring most customers have ever held
weight perception
very heavy

PBR starter values

finish · metallic — open for table, JSON, host snippets, downloads

Principled BSDF defaults derived from the sphere metallic finish. Reasonable seed for Blender, Substance, Keyshot, Rhino — tune per material. Or grab the whole library at once: ForMaterials library →

# finish:                   metallic
albedo                      #3a3a40
metallic                    1.00
roughness                   0.25
ior                         1.45
transmission                0.00
clearcoat                   0.00
sheen                       0.00
anisotropic                 0.00
copy as JSON 
{
  "albedo": "#3a3a40",
  "metallic": 1.0,
  "roughness": 0.25,
  "ior": 1.45,
  "transmission": 0.0,
  "clearcoat": 0.0,
  "sheen": 0.0,
  "anisotropic": 0.0
}
Blender 4.x Python 
# Blender 4.x — Principled BSDF
# Tungsten (Pure / Tungsten Carbide) · finish: metallic
import bpy
mat = bpy.data.materials.new(name="mat_tungsten_pure")
mat.use_nodes = True
bsdf = mat.node_tree.nodes["Principled BSDF"]
bsdf.inputs["Base Color"].default_value         = (0.0423, 0.0423, 0.0513, 1.0)
bsdf.inputs["Metallic"].default_value           = 1.000
bsdf.inputs["Roughness"].default_value          = 0.250
bsdf.inputs["IOR"].default_value                = 1.450
bsdf.inputs["Transmission Weight"].default_value = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Coat Weight"].default_value        = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Sheen Weight"].default_value       = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Anisotropic"].default_value        = 0.000
KeyShot Python (lux) 
# KeyShot 11+ — lux Python API, Generic material
# Tungsten (Pure / Tungsten Carbide) · finish: metallic
# Run from Window → Scripting Console
import lux
mat = lux.createMaterial(name="mat_tungsten_pure", materialType="Generic")
mat.setProperty("diffuse",      (58, 58, 64))   # 8-bit sRGB
mat.setProperty("metallic",     1.000)
mat.setProperty("roughness",    0.250)
mat.setProperty("indexOfRefraction", 1.450)
mat.setProperty("transparency", 0.000)
mat.setProperty("coatingWeight", 0.000)
Substance pbrMetalRough 
{
  "_format": "Substance Designer / Painter \u2014 pbrMetalRough constants",
  "_about": "Tungsten (Pure / Tungsten Carbide) \u00b7 finish: metallic",
  "baseColor": {
    "r": 0.0423,
    "g": 0.0423,
    "b": 0.0513
  },
  "metallic": 1.0,
  "roughness": 0.25,
  "ior": 1.45,
  "opacity": 1.0,
  "anisotropyLevel": 0.0,
  "_notes": "Channels listed are the standard Substance pbrMetalRough output. Drop into a Uniform Color node per channel, or as the constant input on a layered stack."
}
glTF 2.0 Metallic-Roughness 
{
  "asset": {
    "version": "2.0",
    "generator": "ForMatter"
  },
  "materials": [
    {
      "name": "mat_tungsten_pure",
      "pbrMetallicRoughness": {
        "baseColorFactor": [
          0.0423,
          0.0423,
          0.0513,
          1.0
        ],
        "metallicFactor": 1.0,
        "roughnessFactor": 0.25
      },
      "extensions": {
        "KHR_materials_ior": {
          "ior": 1.45
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}
USD Preview Surface 
# USD Preview Surface — UsdShade.MaterialLook prim attributes
# Tungsten (Pure / Tungsten Carbide) · finish: metallic
def Material "mat_tungsten_pure" {
    token outputs:surface.connect = </mat_tungsten_pure/PreviewSurface.outputs:surface>

    def Shader "PreviewSurface" {
        uniform token info:id = "UsdPreviewSurface"
        color3f inputs:diffuseColor = (0.0423, 0.0423, 0.0513)
        float   inputs:metallic     = 1.000
        float   inputs:roughness    = 0.250
        float   inputs:ior          = 1.450
        float   inputs:opacity      = 1.000
        float   inputs:clearcoat    = 0.000
        token   outputs:surface
    }
}
↓ download glTF material
ProcessCNC Milling · Sandblasting (Abrasive Blasting)
Substitutes
Titanium Grade 5 (Ti-6Al-4V)
Stainless Steel 316L

Second life

repairabilitylow — tungsten is brittle, hard, and very difficult to weld; mechanical fasteners or replacement standard.
recyclabilityhigh — high-value scrap; specialty recyclers route tungsten back to lighting and tooling industries.
disposal pathspecialty refractory-metals recycler.
typical longevity200 years (typical)
failure modes
  • brittle fracture under impact
  • oxidation at high temperature in air (above 400 °C)
  • creep at very high temperature in inert atmosphere

ASM Handbook Vol. 2; Plansee / H.C. Starck tungsten technical literature.

Citations

Further reading