Another Half Persian... This time, in Titanium

By now, I must have made at least half a dozen Half Persians, be it 3-in-1 or 4-in-1. I'm glad they all found good "homes":-) But I still don't have one for myself.... until now, after a tough (and bloody) battle with these "Rings of the Gods!"

Just for the body of the bracelet, this HP 4-in-1 took me over 6 hours of hard labor, all because of these little stubborn titanium jump rings. They are not kidding about this material is not for beginners. Titanium rings are tough, brittle, very springy. Aligning the ring ends is nothing compared to trying to close the gap. Good thing with HP, half the rings can be pre-closed before starting the weave. Can't imagine doing a JPL with these rings....

Specs:
Rings are saw cut titanium from The Ring Lords, 18 ga, 7/32" ID; I measured them to be 1.2 mm thick, 6.1 mm ID, exactly as listed on their website. Body of bracelet is 6 1/2"; about 13.5 RPI; total length including closure is just under 7 1/2". The little butterfly toggle is store bought, a good buy from San Gabriel Bead Company's last quarterly sale! Don't know what material it is... probably not anything silver-ish, but very cute, and just the right weight and tone to go with titanium's light gray finish.

So, what have I learned about titanium jump rings? They are damn hard to work with!!! And they are light weight, yet very strong, corrosion resistent, no worry about scratches, won't tarnish, but cost more than twice of stainless steel rings, almost half of niobium rings. So why titanium rings (other than the "cool" factor)? I'd say, if I want some muted colors on the rings, Ti is the less expensive way to go than Nb. Otherwise, I'd probably stick with stainless steel or silver.