Beautiful Wedding

Choosing the right wedding ring is an extremely important decision. After all, this is the wedding ring that will grace your finger for the duration of your marriage and let the world know that you are taken and off the market. Not to mention the fact that wedding rings are traditionally the subject of much competition and conversation, at least among us ladies; that is! While traditional and classic designs in wedding rings will most certainly never go out of style, many couples today want unique wedding rings that are just as unique as their relationship and love for one another. If you have decided that unique wedding rings are the right choice for you, take a look at the following trends in unique wedding rings.

One way to obtain unique wedding rings is to go with a different finish that the ever popular yellow gold. Platinum and titanium have become very popular for wedding rings and are significantly different than the wedding rings our parents and grandparents selected generations ago.

The most popular stone for both engagement rings and wedding rings is still the diamond, but if you want something slightly different you might consider using a different gemstone. Sapphires and rubies are very complimentary as well as unique and a step away from traditional diamonds. Sapphires and emeralds are also taking center stage in unique wedding rings settings. Pearls, which had traditionally been thought to bring bad luck, are making a slow appearance in wedding rings and can be quite stunning.

Antique wedding rings are also becoming popular choices for couples who admire the sentimentality and romanticism of the past. Couples who are looking to stay within a wide range of budgets can find antique weddings rings to suit their individual circumstances. Estate sales are a great place to look for antique wedding rings. Depending on high the bidding goes, you may be able to find really great and unique wedding rings for not much money.

Many couples are opting to provide a tribute to their cultural heritage with Claddagh and Celtic wedding rings. Not only is this a sentimental choice, but they are also rather unique wedding rings. There are multiple styles and designs available in Claddagh and Celtic wedding rings, so you can be sure your wedding rings won’t look like anyone else’s.

Still yet, other couples want to make sure their wedding rings are truly unique. Handcrafted and customized wedding rings allow couples to design their own rings featuring many personalized choices. Most professional jewelers can either handle the job of handcrafting wedding rings or point a couple in the right direction to finding a jeweler who specializes in this craft. If you happen to be a bit on the creative side, you can even draw a picture of what you want your unique wedding rings to resemble and have the jeweler fashion them. A number of couples are re-using the metals and jewels from family jewelry to create customized unique wedding rings that are also quite sentimental. So, if your great-grandmother’s rings are just sitting around gathering dust, this may be a great option for you.

There was time when only women dreamed of a beautiful diamond wedding band. When you really think about it, it’s almost a tradition for a woman to receive a wedding band infused with a diamond. It is not often you will see a woman sporting a basic wedding band. For the most part, it is true when they say a diamond is a girl’s best friend. But, times have changed, and it seems more and more men are beginning to prefer a diamond over a basic wedding band. Men’s minds are changing as to how they view wedding bands. It has come to pass that now diamonds are a man’s best friend, as well.

Interestingly enough, not only do men prefer diamonds, but it has been duly noted that many men prefer the well respected metal, platinum. Both men and women prefer platinum because the metal is an undying material that can be worn in almost any industry, from the board room to the boiler room. Diamonds and platinum will exceed the life of their owners.

One thing is for sure, you won’t find very many men wearing elevated diamonds in their rings. The diamonds will more than likely be embedded in the ring itself. This is where the boundary is set for most men. It may even be preferred that a series of diamonds frame the circumference of the ring, like begets. But, you will hardly ever see a raised diamond above the band.

So, if you go to a wedding, don’t forget to observe the bridegroom’s hand while he is waiting for his wife-to-be to stroll down the aisle. Chances are you might see that perfect diamond on his left hand. Smile and remember where you learned about it first.
So, move over ladies, and share the wealth. Men, it seems, love diamonds too.

Searching for that special wedding band that represents the anticipation of love and commitment can be fun.  But, depending on the type of band you choose, you may have to dig deeper into your pockets. For many people platinum is the metal of choice.  But, it can be very expensive and can hit your budget hard.  We will discuss three different types of wedding band metals:  Titanium, Palladium, and Tungsten.  Learning more about these types of metals will help you choose the right ring for you and your budget.

The Hard and Light Side of Titanium

Titanium is a very strong, yet light metal that can be set with diamonds and stones.  This type of metal is available in greens, blues, black and grays.

Palladium:  Platinum’s Cousin

Palladium is related to platinum, sporting the same natural, shiny appearance.  It does not need to be plated.  Palladium is light in weight and on your wallet, by about 25 percent of the cost of platinum.  The benefit of choosing this band is that it has the same 9k white gold karat standing, but does not need to be rhodium re-plated.

Tough Tungsten

Made from one of the hardest metals in the world, Tungsten metal is virtually indestructible.  It is 10 times harder than a gold wedding ring and four times the strength of platinum and titanium.  Try and bite that!  Its weight is about the same as platinum, but cannot be resized or altered in any way due to its rigid and solid material.  So, if you want to set diamonds in this band, don’t buy it.  It won’t work. Although, you can get is lasered with a design of your choice.  Tungsten wedding bands comes in colors like dark gray, shiny metallic, and white.

The most expensive metal of the three mentioned above is the Palladium metal, because of its close kinship with Platinum.  Yet it is still cheaper than platinum.

There!  You are now an educated consumer on alternative wedding band metals!

So you want to buy a diamond, but you do not know much about diamonds. You do know, you want a quality diamond that is in your price range. You have heard something about the 4 Cs. But you’re not sure if you remember what the 4 Cs are. Well, never fear. You are about to get a quick and easy overview on diamonds. So when you began to shop for a diamond, you can feel confident, you will get the diamond that’s right for you.

What is a diamond? A diamond is a form of carbon that crystallizes over hundreds of years, hundreds of miles underneath the earth’s surface. Through volcanic eruption, diamond bearing ore is brought to the surface. After the magma cools, it solidifies into blue ground. There is a long, tedious refining process that pulls it from the ground. Eventually, diamonds are cut and make their way to a jeweler.

What are the 4 Cs? There is a criteria used by laboratories to grade a diamond’s qualities. The four grades that are important to know are Cut, Clarity, Color and Carat Weight. The Cut refers to a diamond’s reflective qualities (not shape) and is probably the most important quality factor. A good cut gives a diamond its brilliance. A well cut diamond will allow light to enter through the table (top) of the diamond, travel to the pavilion (base) where it reflects from one side to the other before reflecting back out of the table. The Clarity of a diamond refers to the ability to see some inner flaws or inclusions in a diamond that occur during its formation. Diamonds are graded for clarity with ranges from flawless (completely free of blemishes) to Include 3 (a lot of blemishes and inclusions that are visible to the naked eye). The Color of a diamond refers to the presence or absence of color in white diamonds.

Color is the result of composition of the diamond and does not change over time. Colorless diamonds allow more light to pass through them. To grade ‘whiteness’ or ‘colorless’, most jewelers refer to GIAs professional color scale. The highest rating is a D for colorless and goes down the alphabet to Z. A Carat is the unit of weight by which a diamond is measured. One carat is equal to 200 milligrams or 0.2 grams. Large diamonds are found less commonly than smaller ones. So, they are priced higher. Deciding on carat size may be about finding a balance between size and quality. If you prefer larger jewelry and are working in a budget, you may want a diamond that is graded slightly lower in terms of color and clarity.

Once you have a budget, spend time exploring your diamond ring options. Set you standards based on what you feel comfortable spending and what type of grade you want to buy. Then, you will have the best chance of buying the diamond that is right for you. Your love can not be measured by how much you spend on a diamond, but maybe, by the thought behind it.