a quick guide to wedding ring design

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A Quick Guide to Wedding Ring Design Are you looking for a wedding ring that is utterly special and unique to you? Many couples these days are educating themselves about wedding ring design in the hopes of creating their own bands. While this can be an exhaustive and often costly process, it can also make your wedding band or bands that much more memorable and precious. Whether you are looking to design your own ring or buy one off the shelf, here are some interesting and useful facts about wedding ring design. Start with an idea. In order to begin with your wedding ring design, you are going to want to get started with an initial idea or concept. If it’s difficult to fully visualize or explain your wedding ring design, look at other rings that you like and figure out what elements appeal to you most. Try to define your style in general while you’re at it: are you more of a traditionalist, or do you love modern design? If you can also figure out what kind of metal you would like (more on this in a minute) as well as any additional decorations, even better. Obviously, the wedding ring design process is hugely different for men’s and women’s wedding bands. Most women’s engagement rings and wedding bands utilize at least one large gemstone (usually a diamond). On the other hand, men’s rings may not have as many design elements but can be more adventurous when it comes to material options and band color. If you are designing both bride and groom rings, you will need to strike a balance between your own individual and personal styles. Know that wedding rings aren’t just limited to platinum and gold anymore. It used to be that purchasing a wedding ring meant making a sizeable investment in a gold or platinum band. These days there are an increasing number of contemporary and alternative materials that allows consumers to have high quality wedding rings at a fraction of the price of traditional precious metals. Palladium is a precious white metal that is becoming increasingly popular in the modern jewelry market. Formerly primarily used as an alloying metal for white gold, palladium is part of the platinum group metals yet is significantly more affordable than platinum. Contemporary materials like titanium, tungsten and ceramic offer a distinct visual difference from traditional metals, as well as price points that are accessible to virtually all budgets. Other alternative materials like cobalt chrome and Argentium silver have the look of precious metals with the benefits of contemporary materials like increased durability, biocompatible properties and more economical price tags. If you are planning on doing your own wedding ring design, you will want to do your research on the different materials available to you. Some contemporary materials are not able to be worked into more intricate designs due to their strength or decreased malleability, while some precious metals will not factor into all budgets. Wedding rings offer different interior fits. It’s not just the outward appearance of your ring that’s important in wedding ring design. While virtually all shoppers know about the different sizes that

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Page 1: A Quick Guide to Wedding Ring Design

A Quick Guide to Wedding Ring Design

Are you looking for a wedding ring that is utterly special and unique to you? Many couples these days

are educating themselves about wedding ring design in the hopes of creating their own bands. While

this can be an exhaustive and often costly process, it can also make your wedding band or bands that

much more memorable and precious. Whether you are looking to design your own ring or buy one off

the shelf, here are some interesting and useful facts about wedding ring design.

Start with an idea. In order to begin with your wedding ring design,

you are going to want to get started with an initial idea or concept.

If it’s difficult to fully visualize or explain your wedding ring design,

look at other rings that you like and figure out what elements

appeal to you most. Try to define your style in general while you’re

at it: are you more of a traditionalist, or do you love modern

design? If you can also figure out what kind of metal you would like

(more on this in a minute) as well as any additional decorations,

even better.

Obviously, the wedding ring design process is hugely different for

men’s and women’s wedding bands. Most women’s engagement

rings and wedding bands utilize at least one large gemstone

(usually a diamond). On the other hand, men’s rings may not have

as many design elements but can be more adventurous when it comes to material options and band

color. If you are designing both bride and groom rings, you will need to strike a balance between your

own individual and personal styles.

Know that wedding rings aren’t just limited to platinum and gold anymore. It used to be that

purchasing a wedding ring meant making a sizeable investment in a gold or platinum band. These days

there are an increasing number of contemporary and alternative materials that allows consumers to

have high quality wedding rings at a fraction of the price of traditional precious metals.

Palladium is a precious white metal that is becoming increasingly popular in the modern jewelry market.

Formerly primarily used as an alloying metal for white gold, palladium is part of the platinum group

metals yet is significantly more affordable than platinum. Contemporary materials like titanium,

tungsten and ceramic offer a distinct visual difference from traditional metals, as well as price points

that are accessible to virtually all budgets. Other alternative materials like cobalt chrome and Argentium

silver have the look of precious metals with the benefits of contemporary materials like increased

durability, biocompatible properties and more economical price tags.

If you are planning on doing your own wedding ring design, you will want to do your research on the

different materials available to you. Some contemporary materials are not able to be worked into more

intricate designs due to their strength or decreased malleability, while some precious metals will not

factor into all budgets.

Wedding rings offer different interior fits. It’s not just the outward appearance of your ring that’s

important in wedding ring design. While virtually all shoppers know about the different sizes that

Page 2: A Quick Guide to Wedding Ring Design

wedding rings are available in, not all of them realize that there are also different interior fits.

Traditional fit wedding rings are an older style of band that have a more squared off interior profile. A

more recent innovation, comfort fit bands utilize additional ring material on the interior of the band for

an increasingly rounded fit that applies less pressure to the finger.

Find the jeweler that’s right for you. When creating your own

wedding ring design, finding the right jeweler or metalsmith

becomes of the paramount importance. In addition to working

with your budget, using high quality materials and understanding

your design ideas, you should feel a connection to their previous

creations. Someone who designs items that don’t fit in with your

general style will likely have a difficult time creating the wedding

band of your dreams.

Interestingly enough, after researching wedding ring design a

significant number of couples end up purchasing rings “off the

shelf.” For many, the cost of creating their own wedding ring

design becomes simply too expensive, especially if trying to

incorporate particularly detailed design elements. Fortunately, there are still a number of customization

options available to couples purchasing ready-made rings, including personalized engraving and choice

of gemstone color.