It’s shiny. It’s white. It’s strong. It takes a high polish or a matte finish equally well. And it costs a dollar or two per kilogram, rather than hundreds of dollars per ounce.

Stainless steel isn’t a precious metal by anyone’s measure—from cars to cans, steel’s history is one primarily of industrial usage. But in the right hands, steel offers a beautiful and appealing alternative to traditional jewelry metals.

Stainless steel is particularly popular in men’s jewelry, where its industrial roots contribute to its masculine appeal. “From the total guy view, there’s something very sexy about stainless steel,” says jewelry designer Pat Pruitt of Paguate, New Mexico. “It’s got its own unique characteristics. It can take on a very nice machined form, and it’s extremely durable. It’s kind of a bullet-proof material.” Designer Chris Ploof of Chris Ploof Studio in Rutland, Massachusetts, was drawn to steel for its durability and affordability. He frequently works in Mokumé gane, bonding precious metals, but he says that Damascus steel allows him to offer rings with equally beautiful patterns, high strength, and a price tag that may be nearly half that of a precious metal ring.

“If I ask what you do for a living, and you say you sit in front of a computer and develop computer games, I’m not worried about the mokumé ring,” he explains.

“But if you say you’re a smoke jumper in the National Forest Service, I say take a look at the Damascus.”

Working with steel requires a different set of skills than working with silver and gold, however. Steel is harder and less malleable, and is less forgiving of mistakes. “The biggest thing is that it is so much more difficult to work with because of its hardness,” says Jim Binnion of James Binnion Metal Arts in Bellingham, Washington. “You have to learn a whole new set of rules for how you work it.”

“I think the best piece of advice I could give any jeweler who wants to get into stainless steel is to take a machining class at a community college or Voc Tech school,” says Pruitt.

“That will give you the basics of how metal working is done in the field and really allow you to expand on working with stainless steel.”