All of our rings ship from Southern California. Our rings are deep cleaned (sanitized) before shipment in a cleanroom. Our engravings are 100% permanent and are produced with a state-of-the-art laser engraving machine. All diamonds/gems used are triple a-graded cz (cubic zirconia). All gold used is 18k gold plating, and all black metal used is black rhodium. Tungsten carbide is an extremely scratch-resistant metal known for its durability. It ranks a 9/10 on the Mohs scale of hardness, ranking it above almost all other materials and right under diamond.