Black ceramic rings are the most scratch resistant, second only to tungsten carbide. Jet black all the way through the ring, black is its color not a surface coating. It is permanent and will not fade, corrode, is scratch resistant and is hypoallergenic. This incredible material is lighter then tungsten, heavier then titanium and has a very smooth surface finish and has the appearance of metal. The fossil used to craft this black ceramic ring was cut from a 10,000 year old woolly mammoth tooth fossil. A tremendous amount of labor and skill go into handcrafting and cutting this 10,000 year old fossil, the craftsman not only carefully chooses each fossil and cuts with precision to assemble this ice age fossil.