Antique Engagement Wedding Rings

Custom Flanders-cut Diamond Ring

The brilliance of the Flanders cut diamonds beautifully complements with the cool white of the platinum ring, which is based on our Platinum Promise design.

In our Platinum Promise rings we set the gemstones with tapered prongs that gently sweep upward and outward. The setting reminds us of the opening petals of a blossoming flower. The result is a beautiful, flowing arrangement of diamonds elegantly resting within the graceful setting.

As a surprise, we set two Fancy Violet diamonds between the upper and lower galleries of the center setting. We call these secret diamonds "Hidden Treasures!"

The band of the ring was formed by bringing together two platinum wires creating a double rib. The inside of the band was then polished smooth leaving the rounded contours of the two platinum wires visible on the outside. The shoulders of the band narrow as they sweep upward towards the diamonds. This creates an elegant band that is both graceful and sturdy.

The inside of the ring is as beautifully crafted as the outside. Note the smooth, flowing bridge work beneath the diamonds. The inner surfaces of the ring are beautifully polished and the edges slightly rounded to create a comfortable fit.

No fine jewel is complete without the registered hallmark of the maker and the precious metal marks. In this close up you can see Bijoux Extraordinaire's makers mark ("BEL"). The precious metal mark for platinum ("900PT") is also visible. These marks are your assurance of superior quality design, craftsmanship and materials.

Diamond Rings, Understanding Key Elements Before You Buy

Diamond rings are of course the most traditional way for a man to propose marriage to a woman; however diamond rings can and are given as gifts for many reasons. Diamond rings are very popular as anniversary gifts, bithday gifts and more. It should be noted that in many countries, a man should not give a diamond ring to a woman unless he plans on asking her to marry him, yes right then, or if they are already married. If not, the woman may get the wrong idea! Anyone who is thinking of purchasing a diamond ring should understand the key elements of diamonds.

We all know diamond rings to clearly be the most beautiful. Elegant and classy way to show your love. The famous saying of “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend” may not neccesarily be true, but it reminds us all of just how important diamonds are to most females. It is tradtion and custom that teach women that diamond rings symbolize love and caring, no woman should be afraid to admit how much she loves the idea of a diamond ring. Before purchasing diamond rings, customers should get aquainted with the main facts regarding diamonds and then dwelve a bit into the various cuts that are available.

The name of diamond comes from the ancient Greek word that means invincible. This certainly was a perfect fit. The diamond is, by all scientist and geologist’s agreement, the hardest natural material found on Earth. The only thing that can scratch a diamond is another diamond.

Each year, over one million karats of diamond are minded; this adds up to over nine billion dollars. The diamond may be rare, but there are definitely enough to go around! Diamond rings have been around for many centuries. The use of diamonds in jewelry dates all the way back to the beginning of modern man.

You may wonder where diamond rings come from; the diamonds themselves are mined all over the world however almost half come from Africa. Other countires with major diamond mines are Canada, Brazil, Australia and Russia. Diamonds form very deep in the Earth and the diamonds are brought to the surface via volcanic pipes. It is deep within our Earth that the diamonds are subjected to intense pressure and hot temperature that allow them to form.

Choosing diamond rings can be a big task, howver it helps to understand the cut. Most diamonds are cut with an ideal cut; this means that a crafter will look closely at an individual diamond and decide which cut will best suit the diamond. The cut that is chosen will be the one that makes the diamond stand out, sparkle and look best.

Round diamond rings are very popular, they come in at number one. Diamond rings with a round diamond are classic and elegant. Many feel that the round cuts shows exactly what the diamond looks like and it is easy to see the clarity and quality of the diamond with this elegant, straight forward cut.

Diamond rings can also be found with square or rectangle cut diamonds. An emerald cut diamond will be a square or rectangular one that has clipped corners so that the gem can be set perfectly in the ring. A diamond cut this way will really stand out and is a bit trendier than other cuts.

Oval diamonds are another type of diamond rings and many times an oval cut diamond will be accompanied with other gems, such as emeralds or rubies. Pear shaped diamonds are very classy; some women love this cut and find it unique. Although, one of the most unique cuts will be the marquise diamonds, a very fancy cut usually giving higher prices. With all cuts, one should be careful to avoid areas in the middle of the diamond that look shaded, this can happen if the cutting was done poorly.

New range of bespoke engagement and wedding rings by Kimberley Selwood

Kimberley Selwood's new range of dazzling engagement and wedding rings featuring diamonds from baguettes to princess cut, white gold, platinum and palladium. All rings are made to order giving you the option to customise design, diamonds, gems and materials. You can see more of her jewellery online here.

JudeFrances launch bridal jewellery collection

Luxury jewellery designer brand JudeFrances have launched their first bridal collection. Designers Frances Gadbois and Jude Steele have created a range of 18K gold or platinum diamond bands with a secretely set small blue sapphire in the interior band to represent that 'something blue'. Gadbois already has a strong personal connection to wedding bands - she's constantly changing the settings of her own wedding ring. As for an auspicious start, business partner Steele got engaged just as they decided to create the collection!

Silver Wedding Rings To Remember The Special Day

Looking for a wedding ring, having trouble in deciding which one to buy? Well silver wedding rings is the clear choice as they are elegant, stylish with a lot of designs that you can choose from. Silver wedding rings can be chosen for both, men and women, giving you the opportunity to custom make one by adding a diamond or a gemstone of your own choice. Silver wedding bands are being purchased a lot as silver jewelry is very hip these days which not only looks elegant but gorgeous too. Browse through the internet and choose your favorite silver wedding ring or place an order to have them specially made for you.

Enough with following the same trend, gold wedding rings are old go for silver wedding rings this time to set a new trend. The price that you can get on silver wedding rings is amazing, they are an economical substitute for gold or platinum rings. Sterling silver rings are tarnish resistant as well. Choose silver wedding rings not because they look good but the variety and huge selection of them might make it difficult for you to choose. That is why we are here to help you make the right choice. Some of the interesting and different ideas for silver wedding rings can be:

Crystal Rings: Crystal wedding rings in silver come both in a wedding band and a prong-set crystal engagement ring. It is an excellent way to remember the special day. Shinny and stunning crystal rings will be a great way to say I love you.

Custom Made Rings: If you want to make it very special, then order a silver wedding ring custom made for you. This gives you a chance to show your love for your spouse and let them know how you feel about them.

Text Engraved Rings: Another way to express your feelings is to have a special text engraved in the silver wedding band with your spouse’s nickname or quote you or your spouse always liked.

Deviate Rings: These heavy and bold rings have twists and curves in them which are usually available for men. These brand new deviate rings are available in 9.5 mm wide, 14.6 grams average weight ad 3.1 mm thick.

Designer Rings: These wedding rings are simple and soothing available on the internet made by the designer Nick Mauer. Another ring designed by Nick Mauer is a brand new ring with a brand new look. According to Nick Mauer this special ring is proportional to every finger size and is a comfortable yet heavy weight ring. This is a “Dare to be Different” piece of fine jewelry. Other available designer rings are boston Silver rings and triple zara rings from various designers like Mokume Gane, Memoire Paris, Lazare Kaplan, Scott Kay, Gelin & Abaci, Verragio, Trew Tungsten and many more. Silver Insanity Rings are available for men and women both with diamonds and Zirconia.

Gemstone Rings: Purchase a silver wedding ring with a gemstone set in the setting. Gemstones like Ruby, Emerald, Marquise, Amethyst, Topaz, Zircon and Cubic Zircon give bit of a color and shape to the silver wedding rings.

You can also search for beautiful, stunning wedding rings online and place your order. Many of these online ring shops offer great discounts and reasonable prices that will make you ecstatic. Shop online for a wedding ring now without worrying about expensive shipping rates or quality.

Does recession cause a surge of engagements?

Well, research released today certainly seems to think so. The credit crunch is behind a unexpected flurry of weddings in 2009 revealed a survey from Star Jewellers of Hatton Garden. Backing up the research is data from the Office for National Statistics which has found the national marriage rate actually increases around periods of recession with the biggest surge being during 1940, with 470,549 marriages recorded, which coincided with the early days of WWII and the depression. As people are staying at home more, the survey finds, "couples are spending more time together and relationships are developing more quickly, accelerating to the point of engagement." Lets hope for a set of wonderful.

When in dome: men's dome profile ring with Roman numeral engraving from Joolia

This lovely ring, from Joolia, is made from black Zirconium (a lustrous grey hued metal resembling titanium) would make great his and his rings for a civil partnership. The ring can be engraved with the date of the wedding in Roman numerals... if you're not sure how to convert a date into numerals (who does?!) then have a look at this website.

"Mengagement" ring by H. Samuel

Until 1884, in England, a woman was officially listed as one of her husband's possessions. How times have changed! H. Samuel have just become the first chain in the country to sell engagement rings exclusively for men. The ring available from the H. Samuel website, is called the "Tioro" - a chunky titanium band set with a subtle diamond. Although popular in parts of Scandinavia and Basque regions of Spain they have (until now) been are a rare sight in Britain.

The retailer believes the demand for a male engagement ring is partly down to equality with more women than ever proposing to their fellas, as well as being a clear symbol that the man is "off the market"! As H. Samuel's buying controller Natasha Gregory explains, "the men's engagement ring is a clear message to everyone that the man is going to be married and also works perfectly for civil partnerships". Interestingly she goes on to say "over 60% of our customers think it's a good idea for women to ask men to marry them." Really?! Maybe I'm just a bit old fashioned but I'm not sure I'd want to be the one asking. What's your verdict? Tell us in the poll below!

Wedding rings to make your friends sparkle with envy

If your struggling to find an engagement/wedding ring with a little bit of a difference, then you may be pleased to hear about these new designs by Kimberley Selwood.

The British designer has come up with a range of creations that will help your ring stand out in a crowd, especially if your other friends have decided to get married/engaged at around the same time as you.

We love the bespoke trilogy diamond wedding and engagement set (pictured), which has a beautiful platinum ring, with three diamonds. Underneath it sits a band with tiny diamonds.

Brides that want something that little bit more special can also ask this lovely designer to help them create their own ring including selecting your diamonds or gemstones and setting.

And to the ladies out there who are waiting in anticipation for that special question, we suggest you leave the website open for him when he gets home (yes I will be guilty of doing this). After all we're only showing him what it is we like.

Element Jewellery launches new Wedding and Engagement Designs

If you're newly engaged or getting ready to choose a wedding ring for your big day and want something that little bit different then check out the latest designs from Element Jewellery.

The company has come up with a range of rings with a difference. We love this Paul Finch ring with a diamond between two folds of silver and yellow gold.

Adjustable Rings, One Size Fits All

Sometimes it is hard for men to go out and get the right ring size to fit their wife’s hand. It seems like their hand changes every year because their rings never fit. Well the good news is now there are rings that can fit anyone’s hand. These new rings are called adjustable rings. I know you are saying, adjustable rings are not new they have been around for a long time. This may be true, but now they are making nice looking adjustable rings that are not just made for kids. These new rings look just as good, if not better than, any other type of ring, but they fit all sizes. Now that is a good deal if you as me.

Platinum engraved ring by Novell

Novell's NQP157-6GPCX is a platinum wedding ring that is 6mm wide and is hand engraved.

Novell can customize their designs to your specifications, so that your wedding ring will be one of a kind. Exactly the way you want them. Wider. Narrower. In platinum, palladium, 5 kinds of gold, and more.

The Effect: BOW-TIE

The Bowtie Effect pertains to a darkness that can be seen in some Fancy shaped diamonds. To name few fancy shaped diamonds such as Marquise, Pear and Oval. As the figure entails, the darkness appears like a bowtie, observed crossways the center of the diamond, or east to west when facing down on the diamond’s table. This can have a veto affect on the largely attractiveness of the diamond, but it is not essentially so.

It is in general understood that the bowtie effect is induced by an escape of light in fraction of the diamond. This is only to some extent precise. What really cases the bowtie effect is the screening of light by the human head. By merely facing at the diamond, you will be forgetting some of the light that can go into it and be brought back to your eyes.

The barring of light is however one cause for the bowtie effect. A new reason clarifies why some diamonds have a gloomy bowtie than others. This is where the facet, pavilion and table angles come in to act. When these are all leant and balanced fittingly, the bowtie effect will be curtailed, as the light is pondered and determined within the diamond so as to disseminate the part that is in shadow.