Star’s Tag
Update (July 10, 2023)
The Sterling Pet no longer ship their tags to the UK due to the introduction of onerous import requirements.
If you live in the UK and would still love one of their tags, you can use a parcel forwarding service like Shipito.
TL;DR
Star’s tag is from The Sterling Pet. Chosen for its exotic tungsten carbide material and lifetime guarantee, it’s the most scratch-resistant pet tag in the world. The ultra-polished finish and lay-flat design make it look like a stunning piece of jewellery. Star’s pet tag in the photo is over three years old and still looks brand new.
Why The Sterling Pet?
The Sterling Pet are a division of a fine jewellery company which immediately sets them apart from other pet tag companies. Their pet tags are crafted like jewellery with great care, attention to detail and quality of craftsmanship. This expertise allows them to create pet tags from more exotic and more durable metals, like tungsten carbide.
Their tags feature a small ring which interconnects the pet tag with the keyring to create a lay-flat design, so it actually lays flat against Star’s fur. It is a small attention to detail that most pet tag manufacturers overlook. Without it, the tag would hang at an angle, which doesn’t look as nice.
Star’s tungsten carbide tag has an ultra-polished mirror-like finish and looks like a stunning piece of fine jewellery. Thanks to tungsten’s unrivalled scratch resistance, it’s still as pristine as the day she got it, even after three years of adventuring in the Scottish Islands.
The Sterling Pet stands by its pet tags with a lifetime guarantee. When Star’s first tungsten tag broke, they sent her a new one. The only time a new pet tag needs to be purchased is when her details need updating. She now has a small collection of their tungsten carbide and titanium pet tags due to relocating a few times. Each one looks as brand new as the day she got it.
Star has been wearing their tags for a decade and will never wear any other pet tag. The outstanding quality and durability mean they are so much more than just a pet tag, but a lovely keepsake and memorabilia that will last a lifetime and be cherished forever.
How it was chosen
The search for a better pet tag was born out of frustration with typical pet store tags. They’re usually very cheap aluminium with a poor-quality finish and engraving, providing a poor cost-to-durability ratio. They scratch easily, and the engraving quickly becomes intelligible with minimal wear.
Stainless steel pet tags are a step above aluminium tags but are heavier and just as prone to scratches. So for a puppy husky, it wasn’t an ideal option.
In the UK, where Star lives, an antiquated law requires that pet tags contain the owner’s name and address at a minimum. Including a phone number would result in at least three lines of engraved text. Surprisingly, very few pet tag engravers can accommodate more than two lines.
The search began by looking for a superior metal, and titanium was the clear winner. It’s significantly lighter than steel and not much heavier than aluminium, but vastly more durable than either. Finding a titanium pet tag was challenging, however. The Sterling Pet, a division of a fine jewellery company, was one of only a few companies that craft such pet tags. Their large size allowed for three or four lines of text to accommodate the information required to comply with UK law and a phone number.
The Sterling Pet’s titanium tag was the pet tag Star wore for many years; it was superb. When they launched a new material in an ultra-polished finish that boasted superior scratch resistance, even over titanium, it was a very tempting upgrade. Their tungsten carbide tag is the tag she has worn ever since.
A small caveat
Tungsten carbide, whilst incredibly durable, is slightly more brittle than other metals, particularly in extreme temperatures. That means it can shatter if it hits something hard enough. For this reason, The Sterling Pet do not recommend wearing them with other tags attached.
Star’s first tungsten tag shattered whilst on a cold nighttime walk in Winter several years ago. The lifetime guarantee covered this, so The Sterling Pet sent a replacement tag for free.
Although it has not happened since, Star has a backup titanium tag, just in case. Their titanium tags are also fantastic and backed by the same lifetime guarantee.
Why is Star’s name on her tag?
The short answer is that Star is equally likely to respond to Pikachu as she is to Star.
The slightly longer answer is that although many will advise against engraving a pet’s name on their tag, it’s not necessarily the objectively best practice. It’s still widely debated with reasons both for and against it. For Star, it’s really about why pet tags exist in the first place. They’re for protecting against loss, not theft, and it can be a comfort to a lost and frightened dog to hear a familiar word.
In the Journal
