10. The Brittle Trade-Off and the Security of Lifetime Warranties While the extraordinary hardness of tungsten carbide is its greatest asset, tungsten bands this same property creates its single most notable drawback: a characteristic known as "brittleness." Hardness and brittleness are often two sides of the same metallurgical coin; unlike malleable metals such as gold, which will bend, dent, and deform under extreme impact, tungsten bands carbide may chip or crack if subjected to a sudden, excessive force. For example, wedding rings a heavy steel hammer blow or a hard drop onto a sharp granite corner might compromise the ring's structural integrity, causing it to break, whereas a gold ring would simply flatten or bend. It is a critical distinction that the ring is immensely scratch-resistant and will never bend, but it is not completely shatterproof. However, this is largely a theoretical concern for most wearers, as a ring must be struck with an improbable and substantial amount of force to break.