Buying a Diamond Wedding Ring

Buying a Diamond Wedding Ring A diamond wedding ring is one of the biggest purchases that a man can make in his life. Wedding rings cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The quality and size of the diamond itself is the main factor that affects the price of the jewelry.

 Carat Ratings of Diamond Jewelry

Diamond rings are rated by the four "C"s: carat, clarity, color, and cut.

The carat of the diamond jewelry is a fancy way of saying the size of the diamond. 1 carat is the equivalent of 200 milligrams, so basically, the greater the carat, the larger the diamond. Men and women alike love large diamonds. Roughly estimating, a 3.0 carat diamond is about $25k while a 1.0 carat diamond is $5k.

Clarity of the diamond refers to how brilliant the stone is. Professional jewelers rate diamonds on the amount of inclusions in the diamond. The more clear the stone is, the more shine and luminance it will have.

Color is rated on the scale of D to Z. D rated stones are very clear while Z rated stones have more color. Traditionally, D rated stones are more valuable. However, very exotic looking colors like pink diamonds and yellow diamonds can fetch extreme prices because of their rarity. The hottest trend in 2007 by Hollywood celebrities is to buy yellow, pink, blue, and even black diamonds! These jewels are extremely popular among the hip younger generation of newlyweds.

Cut of the diamond refers to the quality of the cut, and is greatly affected by the jeweler who made it.

While gold, silver, platinum, and even cubic zirconia jewelry may look nice and shiny, nothing says "I love you" better than a diamond wedding ring.

Picking a Wedding Band
Once you've decided on the perfect diamond, it is necessary to select the wedding band. 14k and 18k gold wedding bands are popular options. In addition, white gold and platinum wedding bands are also become fashionable jewelry choice.

Diamond wedding rings are strong and durable, which is why many women prefer them. Also, platinum wedding rings do not tarnish as easily. Another reason why women like platinum is that platinum jewelry is usually 95% pure platinum while 18k gold is only 75% pure gold, with other metals mixed in an alloy.

On the other hand, men's wedding rings are usually titanium wedding bands because they are cheaper than platinum, strong, and can easily pass for white gold. Titanium is the same metal used in airplanes. It isn't a very luxurious metal, but it looks good on men and its very affordable.

Platinum or Gold Wedding Ring Bands

The hardest decision when it comes to selecting a wedding band is the color. If your favorite day-to-day jewelry is silver, then you should probably get a matching white gold, platinum or titanium wedding ring. Celtic wedding rings are a hybrid between silver and gold, and they are a popular choice for married people because of the symbolic meaning. Celtic rings have a great history and symbolize a very strong union.

On the other hand, if you usually wear gold anyway, then you should get a matching 18k gold wedding band.

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