Scott Kay introduced his new SK Cobalt line to the trade press
yesterday by way of educating folks on how it came to be. He helped
develop a new metal alloy that answers a need in the marketplace for
affordable wedding rings that is superior to tungsten carbide --the
cost effective darling of the bridal business for the past few years
that is promoted as lasting, strong and durable yet shatters easily. See photo below of a wedding ring dropped on a marble tile.
He is very passionate for our industry and full disclosure and not
misleading the public -- these videos show his heartstrong debate of the
use and promotion of tungsten. He's not against the material only it's use as wedding rings ("sacred" rings that are promoted as durable and lifetime guaranteed even though that means replaced not unbreakable).
Scott heard from many of his retailers about their disappointment in replacing so many tungsten carbide wedding rings. “When I go on the internet and read that tungsten rings are
indestructible, unbreakable, durable, and strong, I have a real problem
with that,” Kay says. “I have a problem with tungsten carbide for a
wedding ring without 100% disclosure that it breaks when it falls on
the floor.”
The new cobalt alloy called bioblu27 will be available at a later date to all via manufacturer Spectore Corporation which developed the alloy with Kay (who holds the exclusive to the patent for now) and metal supplier Carpenter Technologies. SK Cobalt is the brand name for Kay's bioblu27 creations.
You can see the bulk of the press conference in these videos (also on my youtube channel, JewelryBizGuru) and hear for yourself what makes Scott Kay so mad. And what he thinks the solution is to an affordable wedding ring option. "If gold was a $100 an ounce we wouldn't be bothering with this," he said. But with precious metals being so volatile there is a great need in the industry for contemporary metals.
Photo by jewelry journalist Cheryl Kremkow -- her blog post gives you her view on this issue.
I can't help but to gaze on jewelries. All my life jewelry has been my passion!
Posted by: jewelry making | February 04, 2011 at 10:17 AM