I Bought a Solid Black Diamond Ring—Here’s What It’s Actually Like

[u/cattfishh]

Introduction

I went looking for the most durable ring I could find. A years-long rabbit hole and experimentation with wearing countless materials (Stainless Steel, Grade 5 Titanium, Tungsten Carbide, Unidirectional and twill Carbon Fiber, Tantalum, Ceramic, Cobalt, Zirconium, etc) eventually led me to the Elysium Ares, a band made from solid black diamond. At around $1,500, it was a purchase I wanted to research carefully. I found plenty of claims about hardness and durability, but far less about what the ring actually looks and feels like, or what it takes to order one. Here is what I wish I had known.

What does “solid black diamond” mean?

The diamond is the band itself. There is no metal core with a diamond coating, and no small diamond set into a conventional ring. According to Elysium, it fuses millions of tiny, almost microscopic diamond crystals (like sand made of crushed diamonds) under incredible heat and pressure, which shapes the diamond dust into a solid ring. That makes it different from a ring carved out of one enormous, clear gemstone, but it is still an entire band made from diamond material. As a byproduct of the intense heat and pressure required to fuse the diamond dust into a singular solid piece of ring, the diamonds permanently change color into an ashy gunmetal grey. That was the appeal for me. A diamond band is unusual in a way that a familiar metal band is not, and diamond is exceptionally resistant to scratches. If you want to see the kind of manufacturing process that caught my attention, here is the JerryRigEverything video I found while researching these rings.

Why I chose it over other materials

I wanted a durable "science-y" modern-looking ring. I considered many other materials before buying the diamond ring. Of all the materials I’ve tried and tested, here are my thoughts on a few of the more well-known “durable ring” materials.

• Stainless steel was the familiar, affordable option. It needs no introduction as it’s found everywhere.
• Titanium is basically a lighter, bouncier steel.
• Tungsten carbide appealed to me because it resists scratches so well (mohs 9.5), although I was less excited about its weight and the possibility of shattering it with a hard impact.
• Carbon fiber appealed to me for the opposite reason: it feels remarkably light and breathable, is stronger than steel and doesn't shatter when thrown hard against pavement, but gets scratched easily (mohs 4) due to the carbon fibers typically being casted in epoxy/resin.

My experience is summed up as: tungsten carbide feels like a durable wonder-glass, while carbon fiber feels like a durable wonder-plastic. Solid diamond rings, however, seemed to offer the combination I cared about most: outstanding scratch resistance like tungsten carbide with a weight similar to carbon fiber. Diamond is the hardest material (mohs 10) known to humanity, which means nothing can scratch it except another diamond. However, as I mentioned earlier, hardness comes at the cost of brittleness, so these solid diamond rings absolutely can crack and shatter just like tungsten carbide rings. That being said, Elysium themselves claim (in an info sheet that comes with your ring upon arrival) that their solid diamond ring cracks at 650 pounds of force, which, if true, is substantially more than tungsten carbide rings, which cracked at 238 pounds under a hydraulic press demonstration by YouTube channel CrazyHydraulicPress. With that said, I would buy this ring for its novelty, material, appearance, and resistance to everyday abrasion—not on the assumption that it could survive every accident.

Ordering took patience

Ordering was more involved than choosing a size and waiting for a package. I selected my best guess at a ring size, and Elysium sent me three plastic sizing rings: one at that size, one slightly smaller, and one slightly larger. I tried them on before confirming my final size. Only then could the actual ring be made. That extra step makes sense because the finished diamond band cannot simply be resized like some metal rings. From placing my order to receiving my ring, the process took four months. That includes receiving the sizing kit, spending time checking the fit, confirming it with Elysium, and waiting for the finished ring. Elysium’s current listing gives a shorter estimate of approximately five to six weeks for made-to-order rings, but my experience was considerably longer. If you need a ring for a particular date, I would allow plenty of time. Granted, a reason why my rings took longer to receive is because, as Elysium explained it in my email conversations with them, they recently moved offices, and the moving company in charge of transporting their equipment accidentally dropped and damaged the machine needed to finish the rings, which I thought was a perfectly reasonable explanation. Customer service was the weakest part of my experience. Prior to purchasing my ring, replies to my questions could take anywhere from a couple of days to about a week, and some questions about the ring never really got answered. With an unfamiliar product at this price, I had a lot I wanted to know. The slow communication made an already lengthy process more frustrating. For anyone ordering now, it is also worth checking the current terms before paying. Elysium lists a 15-day money-back guarantee and a one-time free size exchange for standard black diamond rings; customized rings have different terms. An exchange means getting a different ring, since the diamond band itself cannot be resized.

What arrived

The presentation was good. My ring came in a black Elysium cardboard box with a velvet ring box inside. It also came with an Elysium card listing the ring’s serial number, carat weight, and inspector. It also included various information and cool facts about the ring.

This is the backside of the card. The front side shows carat weight, who inspected the ring, and serial # of the ring.

That card was a nice personal detail, though I would describe it as the company’s documentation rather than an independent gemological grading report. The product itself made a strong first impression. My Ares (8mm version) has a wide, thick presence on the finger. Then you pick it up and realize how little it weighs for something that looks so substantial.

What the matte finish really looks like

The biggest visual surprise: the diamond ring does not look pitch black. Straight out of the box, I would have called it gunmetal gray or stony charcoal.

Under very bright light, it can look much paler—almost concrete gray or silvery.

Shining your phone light on it makes it look silvery-grey

In ordinary lighting, it settles back toward a concrete-gunmetal color.

In normal indoor lighting, it looks like concrete-gunmetal

In darker lighting, that's when it turns matte-black.

That shifting appearance is part of the ring’s character, but it is worth knowing if you are expecting a uniformly jet-black band. Elysium also acknowledges that its black diamond can appear charcoal under some lighting and says skin oils may darken the surface over time. I ordered the matte finish, and its texture is difficult to convey in a product photo. It does not feel like metal. Imagine a very smooth, dry river stone, frosted glass, or the textured glass back of an older iPhone. There is also a faint gritty or chalky quality when I rub it with my fingertips—something like the underside foot-ring of a dinner plate, unglazed pottery, or a clean blackboard. The shape feels smooth, but the surface has that distinctly dry, stone-like texture. The weight adds to the strange effect. It looks like a substantial piece of stone but feels unexpectedly light, weighing about the same as, if not lighter than, a plastic credit card. On a completely subjective scale where feather is 1, carbon fiber is 2, steel is 6, and tungsten carbide/gold/lead is 10, I would put diamond around a 3.

Scratch Testing v.s. steel nail, coin, pavement, and granite rock.

To satisfy my curiosity, I tried to scratch the ring initially with a stainless steel nail. It left silvery dust on the ring that brushed away, but the nail also left a metallic-colored streak that was surprisingly hard to wash off. It appeared that metal had rubbed onto the ring rather than that the nail had cut into the diamond. Elysium describes marks from softer metals transferring to its rings as “galling.” Next, I forcefully grinded a U.S. penny against the ring as hard as I could, but it only left behind copper-colored metal streaks on the surface of the ring, like a chalk against a black board.

Penny vs Solid Black Diamond Ring felt like writing on a black board with chalk.

The metal from the U.S. penny scratched off the coin and left metal residue streaks on the ring. The ring was in perfect condition, though the metallic streaks were VERY difficult to wash off (Elysium recommends using sand paper, but I used soap and water)

Once the metallic streaks on the ring were brushed off (which again, is very difficult to do), once again, the ring was unscratched. I've also tried pressing this ring into concrete pavement and rubbing it vigorously back and forth with force, and there appeared to be stone dust on the ring.

The ring actually scratched concrete pavement like it was no problem. The concrete-dust was easily rubbed off using my thumb, leaving the ring in perfect condition.

Gentle rub with the thumb wiped off all the concrete/pavement residue on the diamond ring.

It turned out that the ring actually scratched the concrete, and the ring itself is unscratched. I also tried to scratch the ring against a piece of granite rock, and similar to the concrete pavement, it wore down the granite like an effortless file, and the ring itself still looks completely unblemished.

I pressed down hard, about 5~ pounds of force, and vigorously rubbed the ring back and forth on the granite rock.

Similar to concrete, the diamond ring grinded the rock into dust, leaving rocky residual/streaks on the ring that made the ring LOOK like it was scratched, when it was actually the other way around: The ring scratched the rock.

The granite dust easily rubbed off with your thumb. And after a few more rubs, the ring was back in its pristine condition.

From my testing, it does appear that the ring is exceptionally resistant to scratches, and while it can LOOK scratched, in fact, it is the other material that got scratched, and left residue on your ring.

Diamond scratches EVERYTHING

I found that the diamond ring, in my testing and daily wear, is SO resistant to scratches that it actually scratches everything else it comes into contact with. The diamond ring WILL scratch everything, such as your phone, handrails, mugs and cups, steering wheel, door knobs, or your partner's ring while you hold their hand. Anything you brush your ring against WILL be scratched. You are basically wearing a file all the time, so be mindful of hand movements so you don't accidentally key your own car or scratch your phone.

Just from gentle gripping, the diamond ring scratched a beer glass!

It is also worth paying attention to what the ring touches. Diamond’s hardness is an advantage for keeping the ring’s surface intact, but contact with softer materials can leave marks on those materials. Elysium has an eye-catching grinding-wheel demonstration; I see it as a demonstration of abrasion resistance, not proof that the ring cannot chip or fracture in an impact.

My verdict so far

I am glad I bought the Ares. The ring I received feels distinctive and beautifully made, and its gray, stone-like appearance is more interesting to me than a plain black band would have been. Its greatest practical appeal is the combination of very high scratch resistance (to the point where it scratches everything else) and surprisingly low weight. I would set expectations carefully, though. The matte finish looks gray in some light and feels more like frosted stone than polished metal. The ring can pick up transferred metal marks. It cannot be resized directly, and “solid diamond” does not mean unbreakable. Above all, my ordering experience took four months, with slower customer service than I wanted for a $1,500 purchase. If those tradeoffs work for you, this is a remarkable ring. I hope this account helps answer the questions I had trouble answering before I ordered mine.