Jewellery News and Reviews

Of all symbols on the planet the wedding ring has the most strength and power. Not only does it stand for commitment but trueness too be it a plain or diamond band ring. Wearing a diamond band ring does not mean you are more feminine if you are a male, as there are lots of men out there that just want a single diamond in their bands just like some woman do. For some female keeping it simple is still the good.

There is no need to walk around with prodigal wedding bands specially if all your fingers already have plain rings on them too. A diamond band ring could be the one that disagree from the rest, symbolizing the wedding band. It’s not quite the traditional wedding set but if it makes the person happy to wear a diamond band ring then fine.
 
For the busy woman who likes to get dirty still in the workforce, it would be simpler for her to wear just a plain flattish diamond band ring, nothing that will hook on or hurt everything else she touches, or feel like her finger is being ripped off.
 
Depending also on the shape and colour of you hand, there will come a time when you would have to decided what looks good on it. Does the giant glamorous ring or the simple diamond band ring suite your hand better, or does both make your hand look odd and seem like it doesn’t belong there? This is where the choice could be yours but is not according to your taste or wish.
 
It wouldn’t be fair if every diamond band ring looked the same for men and woman. At least the designers kept the female diamond band ring more feminine and the men’s diamond band a lot more masculine.
 
Masculine Or Feminine?
 
The men’s band would probably have a rectangular flat top to make it seem larger than the female’s band, with maybe a small diamond set in a corner of it. The female’s band would also have been fashioned with more soft curves in them to soften the impression.
 
There is nothing worse than looking at anyone’s hands and seeing an array of glamorous rings that don’t even suite the hand never mind make it look like an extravagant knuckle duster. So if your choice is to dress every finger on your hand, stick with the simple and plain rings, they don’t make your hand look as if they are budging either or lost in the jewelry. 

Judging custom wedding rings is to a large degree, admittedly, a subjective affair. You either like the look or you don’t. But when adding in factors of cost, durability and the like, it’s helpful to be aware of some objective criteria used by the pros. You’ll want your personalized ring choice to be a good one. Fine personalized jewelry is not something you want to buy uninformed.

WEIGHT

Gold is measured in karats (not carats). It’s a measure not of size or weight, but of purity. Rings made of 14k gold actually consist of 14/24 pure gold which makes it about 58% pure. The purity of platinum (denoted Plat or Pt) is measured on a scale from roughly 900-950 out of 1,000. That means a 950Pt band is 95% platinum.

Note that the remainder is often comprised of chemically similar though equally valuable metals. While lower numbers can be found, they won’t be found in fine jewelry wedding rings.

A diamond, by contrast, is measured in carats (ct), ranging from near zero and up. 1 carat = 200 mg, a measure of mass. Anything less than about 1/8th of a carat (sometimes 1/4 ct, by some experts) is considered a ‘chip’. Partly, the reason is the difficulty of faceting and polishing such a small stone in order to bring out a diamond’s effects.

A diamond that isn’t fully faceted or properly shaped is known as a “chip.”. They can result from accidents or the crystal structure that makes cutting and polishing nearly impossible. This becomes more difficult the smaller the stone. So, most chips are in the range stated.

The Cullnan diamond, weighing in at about 3106 carats, is the biggest individual gem-quality diamond ever discovered. It was cut down into the egg-shaped stone that sits in the scepter of England, itself about 525 carats.

But there are many other factors that influence the cost and look of a fine diamond intended to sit in an engagement ring or wedding band.

CLARITY

A diamond is judged by professionals on how ‘clear’ it is, and the stone is then placed into a category.

FL, IF – Flawless, or Internally Flawless represents the highest grade in this area. Such stones are extremely rare and hence invariably very expensive.

VVS1, VVS2 – These ratings represent a diamond which is only ‘very very slightly included’. ‘Included’ means, essentially, occluded or cloudy. Inclusions of non-diamond material or structure are responsible for lack of perfect clarity. Despite the ominous sounding word, these gems are very high quality. The flaws can only barely be seen under 10x magnification.

VS1, VS2 – Very Slightly Included ratings represent high quality stones. No flaw is visible to the naked eye.

SI1, SI2 – Slightly Included gems contains flaws that are visible under 10x magnification and may just barely be seen by those with very sharp eyes. Beyond having good eyesight, though, one needs to know what to look for. Generally, non-experts won’t notice much of anything.

I1, I2, I3 – These are mediocre quality stones that may still look very nice. But they have visible flaws when one looks closely that will reduce the brilliance of the stone’s appearance.

COLOR

Clarity is actually a separate measure from color. Diamonds are usually considered a colorless stone, but diamonds come in a wide variety of colors. Fashions change and in one era what might be considered a flaw will be highly valued by the next generation. Color in a diamond is actually created by the impurities that mix with the diamond’s carbon structure.

A 200-carat blue diamond in the Smithsonian (the Hope Diamond), for example, is valued not only for its unusually large size. Its rare and pure color is also a significant factor.

Blue, pink and yellow are among the most common colors found in ring stones.

D stones are completely colorless and correspondingly rare.

E diamonds are also considered colorless. Any impurities are in trace amounts detectable only by experts with special tools. Still very rare.

F are also graded colorless, but a slight color may be seen by an expert.

G-H are near colorless. Non-experts can detect some shading if they look closely, but these can still be high quality diamonds.

I-J Near colorless diamonds in which the color is slightly detectable. Still a very good value.

K-M are stones in which the color is highly noticeable. Observe, though, that these ratings are for diamonds that are ranked according to how little color they have. As a result, many will find a yellow diamong quite beautiful.

What’s important is to have the color be uniform. Small spots of color are still considered a flaw by most everyone. Of course, that too is simply a matter of taste and some future trendsetter may decide such diamonds are worth even more.

CUT

One factor that is difficult to rank in terms of price or quality is how the stone is cut. That’s because, to a very large extent, which cut is better is a matter of taste. The different cuts – round, oval, square, princess – are all equally beautiful and choice simply depends on personal preference. Other common shapes are the Marquise (a type of elongated stone), the Pear, Emerald cut, Trilliant (a wedge shape), Radiant, Cushion and Heart shaped.

Naturally, experts will have more specific criteria – involving the angles and number of facets. The Radiant, for example, has 70 facets while the Trilliant has 25 on the crown and 19 on the pavilion. But these details need not concern wedding ring buyers.

When choosing your designer wedding rings, you will want a ring for the bride that will complement the engagement ring she is already wearing. Often, well decorated designer wedding rings may look good on but detract attention from the engagement ring so you may need to try a number of designer wedding rings to see which suits it best.

The vintage engagement ring with its circular form exemplifies eternity; this is the ideal of any marriage, when two people commit to living their entire lives together during good times and bad. Traditions vary of course but many have present giving between the couple prior to the engagement, culminating with the engagement ring. Some people have replaced this older custom with a more modern version where an ‘eternity’ ring is given to symbolize an everlasting marriage.

If you and your husband really want to personalize your vintage engagement rings, why not have them engraved with a personal message; something that means something special to you both. Often plain vintage engagement rings just don’t suit the personality of the owners so if this is the case why not have both you and your husband’s engagement rings given a unique style by having the edges engraved. There’s really no wrong answer as to what style of ring you should choose.

You must never forget how important your vintage engagement ring and do not treat it like another piece of jewelry as it will not often leave your finger. Therefore, never accept anything but the best quality rings you can afford or find. Buying your vintage engagement ring cheaply will ultimately demean its significance over time and probably won’t wear that well either.

Assuming that you are spending a healthy sum of money on your vintage engagement rings it is important you ensure that they fit correctly. So when you choose your vintage engagement rings, have you and your husbands fingers measured professionally and don’t leave it to guesswork. Having the engagement rings made to measure ensure that they are not too tight to put on or so loose they fall off.

Ordering the ring and any adjustments should be one of the first things on your engagement agenda as ensuring your vintage engagement rings have a professional re-sizing carried out takes some time and shouldn’t be left until the last minute. So don’t waste any time, as soon as you know when you are to be married, choose your vintage engagement ring and allow as much time as possible (at least a couple of months) to have any adjustments or other work to be carried out.

Having an extensive choice of styles and designs for your vintage engagement rings is good but it can take quite some time to choose which suits you and your husband the best. Follow your instincts with the look and design of your vintage engagement rings, while asking yourself if it will be a design you’ll be comfortable wearing every day and will endure the test of time and not fade out with the fads. The most important thing to remember is that your vintage engagement rings are symbolic of your everlasting love. Your engagement rings will be a reminder of this statement and you should both feel pleasure in wearing them every day.