Moh's Hardness of our Rings

Scratch resistance of our rings

The Mohs scale of hardness is a test that determines the scratch resistance of a metal to give you an idea of how it will stand up to scratches and abrasions in wear. The higher the number, then the more scratch resistant a metal would be.

A higher number will scratch a lower number, so diamond at 10 will scratch glass at 5.5, but glass will not scratch a diamond.

This should not be confused with malleability which is the likely hood of a metal bending, or how a metal would react with an impact. For instance, silver (Mohs hardness of 2.8) will not shatter or break if dropped, but glass which is harder at 5.5 certainly will break under impact.

It is true to say that rings will scratch in wear, it just depends how quickly, and how resistant they are. You should remember that scratch resistant does not mean scratch proof.

It is true that the first scratch is the worst on your new shiny ring, however over time these scratches build up to find their own equilibrium. Have a look at someone’s wedding ring that is a few years old to see how settled it now looks.

We have included the Mohs hardness values for each of our materials below for your information.