Iridium Ring Detail

Our 24 carat (99.95%) iridium ring prototype has just just been etched (RWMM  Ir .9995  0001) with the last four digits being a serial number which will be unique to each ring as they are with our metal ingots. We've taken several high detail pictures of it in varied magnification and lighting conditions. This prototype weighs 7.57 grams and is a US size 9. The band is 4.6 mm wide and 1.2 mm thick. We anticipate our first batch will be ready in late May or June and we'll have the most common men's sizes of 8 through 12 inclusive, in 1/2 size increments. Custom orders will be considered but will take up to 6 months to fulfill. These rings cannot be resized owing to the physical properties of iridium and the usual operating parameters of jeweler's equipment, but we will accept returns of undamaged rings for up to 30 days for any reason including a sizing issue. It should be noted that this ring has very shallow surface pitting, something we are working on having better controlled on future batches but will probably not go away completely. It is essentially invisible to the naked eye, but is very noticeable when viewed under a jeweler's loupe and on the magnified pictures below. It has been attributed to the casting process of pure iridium. A solution would be to alloy it with a softer metal such as platinum, palladium, or tin which of course would diminished the purity of the ring. That is something we weren't willing to do. Though perceived as a negative by some, we think of it as a nearly invisible quirk that gives this ring an identifying feature when viewed under magnification, much like the inclusions in a diamond and thus something that cannot be duplicated exactly. We are even investigating metrology techniques that might afford a recordable "fingerprint" of these surface imperfections that could be included on our certificate of authenticity for each ring. Something that also is not noticeable to the naked eye but which our camera picked up on the edge shot is a subtle iridescent pattern. Though we're not quite sure what to attribute it to as iridium's iridescence, while a well know trait for which it was named after the Greek goddess Iris, is attributed to its salts and not the metallic form. It was not a planned effect but we feel if we're going to disclose nearly invisible pits we ought to tout the rainbows too. Own and wear what is rare!