10 Factors to consider when choosing a Wedding Ring

The size of your hands really influences the the type of jewelry that suits you.

Women often have a good idea of what suits them and what they like but i am often told by friends how the ring they chose was not the one they thought they were going to choose. It can be a real surprise when you put a much wanted piece of jewelry on your finger and it doesn't look at all as you were sure it would.

I don't believe there is any real rule of thumb ( excuse the pun) here . You just have to try rings out. My husband felt he didn't want a large band just the simplest one available. But after trying them on he found he had to get a wider band than he origionally thought, thinner ones didn't suit his hands at all.

Conversley a very large pear shaped diamond ring was calling out to me in a shop one day, i thought it was fate!!! but when i put it on it looked silly and didn't suit me at all. Then my friend put the same 4 carat whopper on her tiny little hand and it looked exquisite!

So try on lots of rings before you decide on design, because what you want and what suits you could be very different things.

Many people love to have jewelry that is not only beautiful but carries a special meaning. And us ladies love to have a story to go with our jewelry. We are well able to sit around and talk about our jewelry in the same ways as guys can stand around a motorbike or car and discuss the spec!!

There are many ways that you can add meaning to jewelry,

• Birthstones, including a birthstone in the design of either the ring or engagement ring can add individuality to the ring. You could also swap it around and have each others birthstone included in your ring.
• An old piece of family jewelry. This is a lovely touch if you have an old piece of jewelry to re use.
• An enthnically relevant design. depending on your ethenicity you can opt for a full ancient ethnic design such as A claddagh ring from Ireland or include an element of ancient symbolism into the design such as Celtic Knot work such as the Trinity knot symbolising infinity
• A religious design,
• A stone or design from the place the couple met. If you don't wish to include birthstones or are not that fond of your birthstone you could research the Stones from the spouses country or from the country where you first met

examples

Australian opals

burmese ruby

indian ruby

etc

Many factors influence the Style of Wedding ring or ring set you choose.Will you be choosing matching rings? If yes your partner will probably want to have a say in the style of rings you choose.

do you like ethnic, classic, simple or ornate styles?

how does the ring fit with other jewellery that you wear? Do you wear a lot of silver rather than gold for example. Alternatively choosing platinum may not be wise if all your other jewellery is Gold.

How durable do you need you ring to be? what do you work at and what are your hobbies.

If you use your hands a lot in your work is it reasonable or safe to take your wedding ring or set off every day? If not choosing a harder metal may be a good Idea.

If you wear gloves a lot vey ornate styles may snag in the gloves and make them hard to put on and take off.

Do you wear rings on the fingers next to your ring finger? if yes you need to make sure your wedding band is not of softer metal as the harder metal will wear down the softer one.

My husband is a camera man and is very hard on his wedding band. It has lasted well so far but we chose a good size platinum band for the job!!

Consider how wearable the style of ring you choose is day to day? I mean that in two ways...1 how wearable the ring is in day to day activities and 2 how the style will wear over time.

Very Large rings are popular at the moment but may not be that comfortable. A wide band can cause some skin irritation underneath as soap etc can get trapped there. Jordan aka Katie Price and her Husband Peter Andre chose very large wide diamond studded bands and there are endless comments in the press regarding the state of their marriage every time she is seen without it, though really it is most likely that the ring is not that wearable day to day.

Also consider how the design will wear over time? You May want a statement piece or something unusual and individual... just make sure you will still love it in a few years time. It is a considerable expense.

Cost is a big factor. The obvious thing here is to set a budget and stick to it, shop around Etc Etc.

My personal thoughts are to put more budget into the rings and less into the dresses or canapes...etc

Remember

You will be wearing the rings every day!!

Alternatively a much less sentimental approach is to buy what you can afford now and upgrade later. That might not work in practise if babies follow ...then childcare and schooling has a great way of eating up funds!!

If there has been a big romantic proposal with a ring ...maybe it is too late for this!! unless he is happy to change the ring. But it is worth thinking ahead when you choose an engagement ring do you want a matching set of engagement ring and wedding band. You can of course have a wedding band made to fit around the engagement ring and a wedding ring made to match for the Groom but custom rings take time and money.

But costs will likely be less if you plan head what rings you will buy that suit both of your taste in style and metal and stones and cost!!

Precious metals are all very beautiful especially when they are new and shiny but there is a couple of things you should know about each metal type.

No other metal is as ductile or as malleable as gold. A single ounce of the metal can be drawn into a wire five miles long.

24 Karat gold

Pure gold is marked as 24 karat.

Pure gold has a lovely strong colour but is very soft and not practical for to use as a ring.

18 Karat gold

18k gold is 18/24, or 75% gold.

18k is traditionally used in europe for wedding rings. It is softer than 14k or 10k or 9k

14 Karat gold

14k gold is 14/24 or 58.33% gold

14k is traditional in The USA for jewelry, and will be more hard wearing than 18K

9 Karat Gold

9 Karat gold is 9/24 or 37.5%

9k is used i the UK and Ireland for non wedding jewelry.

it is hardwearing but lacks the strong colour of 18k

So Obviously the lower the Karat the lower the % of gold in the mix therefore the stronger the resulting metal but with a lesser golden hue

Gold Colors

White gold is very popular right now. It can be in 18-karat or 14-karat gold (but not in 22-karat, as it is yellow gold). There are two basic types of white gold alloys: white gold mixed with nickel and white gold mixed with palladium. Nickel can be mixed with gold to create a white or gray color, but some people have an allergy to nickel. Palladium is another metal used to create white gold. Palladium is better but it costs more.

Copper creates pink and rose tones in gold.The more the copper, the deeper will be the effect.

Platinum

Its heavy weight and durability make platinum a metal that will not wear away with constant use.

Jewelry that contains at least 950 parts per thousand of pure platinum may be marked or described as "Platinum"

more info on platinum alloys:

http://jewelry.about.com/od/platinumjewelry/a/platinum_faq.htm

Titanium

Titanium is the only element possessing the strength of steel, yet with a weight comparable to aluminum. So it is strong but very light weight.

Most titanium jewelry products being sold are some type of alloyed titanium - not pure titanium.

Titanium provides the stylish rich grey tones of platinum at a much more attractive price.

http://www.titaniumkay.com/titanium-facts.aspx

October 9, 2008

1 Grams of 100 % Gold == 28.88512 US Dollar

1 Grams of 100 % Silver == 0.37670 US Dollar

1 Grams of 100 % Platinum == 30.99646 US Dollar

You may not have considered allergies or skin type as factors when you choose your ring type but it is worth giving some thought to.

Some metals are less likely to cause allergy than others. Nickel is the most common cause of contact dermatitis from jewelry.

Yellow gold (above 14 karat) is not likely to cause an allergic reaction. However white gold may. White gold alloys often contain nickel and other "white" metals to produce its silver coloring. One out of every nine people will react to the nickel in white gold.

white Gold made with palladium is not likely to cause a reaction.

Pure Platinum jewelry contains 95% platinum and 5% of a secondary metal typically iridium. This is not likely to cause a reaction.

Sterling silver (marked '925') does not contain nickel and is not likely to cause a reaction.

Titanium is not likely to cause a reaction.

However you may still get a rash or irritaion under your jewelry if (a) the band is wide (b) you have very sensitive skin

Wide bands are more likely to cause rashes underneath where soap or handcream etc can get trapped or even just moisture build up.

If you have sensitive skin it may be wiser to choose a thinner design and make sure you take your rings off when you wash your hands. Also dry your hands and rings thoroughly

If you have sensitive skin it may be wiser to choose a thinner design and make sure you take your rings off when you wash your hands. Also dry your hands and rings thoroughly