Gym’s are great for personal fitness but a gym will kill your rings. Some of the most destroyed pieces of jewellery i have ever seen come from avid gym trainers who wear their jewellery at the gym. If you want to protect your ring and increase its life expectancy, then here are some things to avoid the gym killing your rings. 

5 ways the gym will kill your rings

1. Metal on metal

Gold and platinum are still soft metals compared to that of the steel bars and dumbells at a gym. The crisscross serrated pattern will cut into your ring like butter, or leaved a hammered like appearance on the metal. While this can be polished out, every time you have to polish a ring, it takes of a fine layer of gold – prematurely wearing the ring down.

2. Distorting the rings shape

When you lift weights or anything of substance it puts an uneven pressure on two sides of the ring, causing it to be pushed out of shape and have an oval appearance when placed flat on a table. The more times a ring is moved out of its centre position the more brittle it becomes. This will cause the ring to crack at its weakest point, which is usually the solder join at the bottom of the ring. While this can be repaired, if it is done to often it will wear down your ring.

3. Causing diamonds to come loose

A second factor of the ring being pushed out of shape is that it causes the top setting of your ring to open and close. This flexing motion will gradually make the stones of your engagement ring loose, which will require more trips to the jeweller for regular maintenance to have the stones tightened.  

4. Dermatitis

While working up a sweat at the gym is a great goal if you are looking to tone up, sometimes it can cause dermatitis if the moisture becomes trapped under your rings. This is generally made worse in the lower carat golds such as 9ct, as there are more minor alloys that can react with your skin. 

5. Rhodium plating

If you ring is made of white gold, then it most likely has a surface rhodium plating applied to it. While this process is normally redone every 2-3 years with normal wear and tear. Wearing your rings at the gym will speed up the deterioration of the rhodium. 

Solutions to stop the gym killing your ring

1. Put your ring in your locker

Putting your rings in a lockable locker is perhaps the most secure option for your rings as it will avoid any metal contact. Depending on the gym that you go to, this may not be possible. For some ladies it is also a trust issue. After all your engagement and wedding ring are very sentimental, and you wouldn’t want it to be misplaced. If you are at all worried about this there is one final option.

2. Wear your ring on a chain

Choosing a metal carat that is the same as your ring is the best option. So if your ring is 18ct white gold, choose an 18ct white gold chain. Likewise if you have a platinum engagement ring or wedding ring choose a platinum chain. 9ct chains are to be avoided if you can help it. Because the 9ct is so much more brittle it is a lot more prone to snapping, which could result in the loss of your rings. The best style of chain for hanging a ring on is a Foxtail chain. It has three links reinforcing each other, so will be able to carry even the heaviest ring. 

3.Try choosing a Platinum600 wedding band.

It is regular platinum wedding ring combined with Tungsten. Which means that not only can it be resized, it is twice as hard as 9ct, and even 20% harder than normal platinum. 

If you do go to the gym regularly and have another solution i would love to hear it. Please email me your best gym ring saving tips.