The history of tungsten carbide goes back to the 17th century. Tungsten was discovered in 1758 by Axel Fredrik Cronstadt; in 1781 Carl Wilhelm Scheele isoldated a tungsten oxide, and in 1783 the Spanish chemists Fausto and Juan Jose de Elhuyar first separated tungsten from the mineral wolframite. The word tungsten denotes a substance of high density and is derived from the Swedish language, "tung," meaning heavy, and "sten," meaning stone.
Important deposits of tungsten occur in California, Colorado, South Korea, bolivia, Russia, and Portugal. China is reported to have about 75% of the world's tungsten resources. Lately, tungsten carbide is the latest cutting edge metal to reach the jewelry market.