A Personal Engagement

When two people decide to get married, there are dozens of decisions that they have to make. What sort of ceremony will be held, what will they wear, who will they invite, and of course, what sort of engagement rings will they exchange? It is this last question which is often one of the hardest questions, traditionally harder for men than women, but both should take care to make the proper choice, as it makes a statement about how well they know their husband or bride to be. One option, for those who believe they know their significant other extremely well, is to design your own engagement ring.

However, while deciding to design your own engagement ring may sound romantic and easy, there are many things to take into consideration. The metal to be used, the style of the band, the style, type, and cut of the stone, each of these things can reflect on your partner, and what you believe and know about them. It’s usually a good idea to ask your partner some questions about their preferences, or to affirm what you know in a subtle way. It’s not as romantic if you sit and design it with them, but there is also less of a chance of you getting things wrong if you include your future husband or wife in the design process.

The choice of metal for instance, can say a lot about a person. Gold or silver are traditional, whereas white gold or platinum are exotic and beautiful. Metals like titanium or tungsten carbide are also stronger than steel, a hefty statement on the commitment that’s being made between a husband and wife. Diamonds made the same statement of forever, whereas rubies may signify passion and love. The cut of the gems, if they’re included, can be done mostly for dramatic flair.

Once your ideas are set out about what you want your ring to say about your partner and your love for him or her, the next step is to seek out a jeweler that can help you turn your ideas into a reality. It may be a little bit more expensive to design your own engagement ring, both for yourself and your partner, but in the long run it will all be worth it to have something on your fingers that each of you know was made after careful thought and deliberation as to what best represents your feelings and your union.

How to Clean your Engagement Ring

Owning a diamond ring is like owning a car it needs to be maintained. After time diamonds will come loose, dirt will get caught underneath the diamonds, and if not properly maintained can cause a stone to loosen and fall out. If you own a white gold ring you will also likely need to bring it in to be re-plated with rhodium (a hard white metal alloy that keeps white gold truly white). Platinum is naturally white but it needs to be re-polished to keep a high polish finish appearance too.

Generally you should bring your diamond jewelry in to be professionally cleaned and serviced every 6 months, no less than annually. You can have it professionally cleaned more often but it is not necessary and can wear down the metal and diamonds of your ring faster if cleaned too often.

A jeweler will professional steam clean, tighten and if necessary re-dip or re-plate your ring with rhodium. They usually will clean your jewelry by soaking it in a gentle cleaner combined with an ultra sonic machine to shake loose difficult dirt and oils. They will then clean the ring under high pressure steam to lift any away remaining grime. They should also tighten all the prongs and make sure each diamond is in place. Make sure they do tighten the prongs as the ultra sonic can shake a stone loose too if there was significant build up.

To care for your jewelry in between visits you can clean your diamond and gold jewelry by soaking it in warm water with a mild non-abrasive detergent (dish detergent or 1 part ammonia cleaner 4 parts water). Let your jewelry soak for about 10 minutes then gently scrub with an old dull toothbrush or other soft brush (eyebrow brushes work well). If heavily soiled repeat, rinse, pat dry with lint free cloth.

To prolong the life of your diamond jewelry avoid perfumes, shampoos, and other harsh cleaning chemicals that can dull or tarnish your jewelry. Make sure to always remove your diamond jewelry before engaging in any vigorous activity such as sports.

Propose With The Right Ring: Engagement Ring Advice

You’ve finally decided that you want to spend the rest of your life with your girlfriend and you’re probably in that state where you’re realizing you have no idea where to begin. Not to worry, though. It’s easy from here on in with some engagement ring advice.

So where to start? Well, first you need to decide on the sort of ring you want to buy. Your girlfriend is not only unique to the world, but special to you and you should find a ring that shows this. The biggest diamond you can find isn’t guaranteed to be a sure-fire hit. Your best bet is to find something that reflects your girlfriend’s personality. Some women like big diamonds, yes, but some want a nice design, some scroll on the band, or even a sentimental engraving. If you’re not entirely sure what sort of jewelry your girlfriend prefers, then start taking her to the store and paying closer attention to what she likes.

Now that you’ve successfully spied on your girlfriend enough to know her taste in rings, you have to face the question of your budget. Yes, I’m sure you knew that was coming. I’ll tell you a little secret, too. It isn’t always about the money. Sure, your girlfriend may be the kind that wants an extremely expensive ring, but if you don’t tell her what you spend then I’m sure she won’t complain. If you’re lucky enough to catch a good sale or even find a reputable pawn shop you can get a really good ring for not that much and everyone has sales at some point, so don’t rule out the name brand jewelers, either!

Sometimes this may kill the excitement for you guys, but it is highly recommend talking to your girlfriend about what she’s looking for in a ring. Try to do it hypothetically without drawing attention to the fact that you’re preparing to propose. There are people out there that want truly unique engagement rings—and these are not always diamonds. Some people have special stones, sometimes even birthstones, that they want beside diamonds or that they want instead of diamonds. If you can’t find what she wants, you could always consider having them specially made, which would add a special touch of uniqueness.

With this engagement ring advice, you can’t go wrong in finding that perfect ring, so get out there and start shopping!

Engagement Rings Don’t Have To Be Diamonds

DeBeers did a great advertising blitz to convince millions of people around the world that diamonds are the stones that should be used for engagement rings.  Therefore the market for diamond engagement rings and the controlled availability of diamonds by DeBeers has had the diamond skyrocket in price over the time DeBeers has been in business.

However popular diamonds are, engagement rings don’t have to be diamonds.  There several other types of stones that can be used for engagement rings for those women who prefer to have an engagement ring other than a diamond.  Stones that can potentially be used for engagement rings are, rubys, emeralds,  and sapphires.  The benefit of using alternative stones is that the stones mentioned provide gorgeous colors.  The ruby is a beautiful red color, the emerald has a great green color and the sapphire provides an incredible blue color.  Some people love the look of color but the majority still love diamonds.  Who knows, somebody could come by to challenge the notion a diamond is forever.

Feathers Are Bad

Feathers are a good thing sometimes.  They provide great material for pillows but in terms of diamonds, feathers aren’t the nice things you’re familar with.  A feather in diamond terms is an inclusion.  This type of inclusion is probably one of the worst types of inclusions that a diamond could have.  The reason why these inclusions are called feathers is because, in the diamond they tend to look like tiny feathers under magnification.  The reason that feathers are the worst type of inclusion is that they can cause severe damage to your diamond.  In worst case scenarios, the feather could splice your diamond if the feather is bad enough.  However, if feathers are not as severe it will not crack a diamond but it may be visible under 10x magnification.

When buying a diamond, be sure to know what the different types of inclusions are and what damage each inclusion can impact the durability of a diamond.  It is critical that you educate yourself on the quality of diamonds so that you know what you’re buying into.

Insurance Policy

You’ve just spent a large chunk of your savings into a diamond ring.  Now what?  The first thing you should do is to get that diamond insured.  Most home owners insurance policies will not cover a diamond ring in excess of around $1500 for the common policy.  There are limitations on this policy as well.  However, if you get a personal articles policy for one particular item, it’ll protect your diamond purchase from loss.  This coverage is great because if anything happens to the diamond, its covered.  For instance, if you lose your diamond ring while on the beach sunbathing and the ring slips off your finger, its covered.  If the diamond falls off the prongs, its covered.  Any that can possibly happen to the diamond, its covered.  Now some insurance policies will also adjust the coverage to inflation.  Meaning, as the policy ages, the amount of the coverages will adjust with inflation.  Therefore if you cover a ring today for say $8000, in 30 years the loss would be adjust with inflation.  Instead of getting back only $8000, you would get something that was adjusted to inflation over the 30 year period.  This way, you can get a diamond that is comparable to the diamond you lost.  There are many places that offer these policies.  One place that I know of is State Farm Insurance. The coverage for a $10,000 diamond with a $1000 deductible will run about $180 a year.  Not too bad to protect something that took a long time to save up for.

Get a Ring

A recent survey says that the biggest mistake that guys make when proposing to their loved one is that they do it without a ring.  Having a ring in hand will solidfy the engagement more than a proposal without a ring.  If you don’t have a ring, you can always try and find a family heirloom that isn’t being used, or something that has been handed down in the family.  Also, you can always get a ring from a retailer but make sure that there is a good return policy.  Don’t make a big mistake and not have a ring during a proposal.  You don’t have to have your fiance and future wife to dig up an explanation as to why you didn’t have a ring during the proposal.  Also, its a story that she’ll want to tell over and over again, so make it a good story.  Get a ring.

Unsure of Style

If you are unsure of the type of setting that you’re fiance is going to like, it may be wise to just get a generic tiffany like setting.  These settings are very common and easy for any jeweler to make therefore it’ll be fairly cheap or included in the price of the diamond.  If you know you’re going to be using the diamond on another setting that she’ll prefer later, this may be the wisest option to save some money.  Settings can vary drastically and pricing on these settings can reach into the thousands of dollars so you don’t want to make a mistake and choose the wrong one.  You may not be able to return a diamond ring to change out an expensive setting.  Some settings are custom made so this may not be an option to return. Once you propose with the ring and its temporary setting, then you can go around and shop for the setting that she’s going to love.

Engagement Ring Designers

When you’re about to make that great decision to propose and you want a ring that is just as unique as your future bride, you’re going to have to do some research. Pretty much all places that sells engagement rings will have an assortment of bands and settings available for you to choose from. However, there is a chance that you’re not going to be happy with the designs that they have available. The good news is that if you have an idea of what you setting is going to look like, the jeweler may be able to design it for you.  Here are some very popular designers:

Simon G Jewelry
Tacori
Tiffany & Co.

Engagement rings are very personal items and therefore you may want a ring that says something about you and not be forced to buy something that everybody else has. The problem is that you’re not a designer, you have certain ideas in a ring but you obviously can’t go and make your own ring. The answer to the problem is that you can get a designer to design a ring for you. Once you have a designer that you’re comfortable with and understands your vision, you can let them know what you’re thinking, what your likes and dislikes are. You can let them know what features in a ring are important to you.

If you have no idea of what kind of ring you’re looking for. There are tons of magazines out there that involve engagement rings. Each magazine will have pictures of diamonds from the best designers in the world. Rings from Cartier, Tiffany and other big names in the industry all have professional designers working for them. You should be able to get a rough idea of what features you like or if you like one particular design, you can have a jeweler make it for you.

Wedding Bands for Her

Wedding bands are not as popular as an engagement ring but you still need a ring to exchange on the wedding day.  Common sense says that you get a wedding band that matches your engagement ring.  Most brides wear them together religiously.  Depending on how often the bride will be wearing the engagement ring, you may want the wedding band to be more ornate.  There are wedding bands out there that have diamonds that circle the entire ring.  However, if you believe simplicity is key, then you may want something less ornate.  Also, if you do need to have diamonds, consider using some gems of different color to spice up the look of the ring.  In any case, choose a ring that you will be happy with for years to come.  It is a ring that you will be wearing everyday so choose something that looks great and something that is comfortable to wear.  If it isn’t comfortable, you’re not going to be wearing it very often.