Build Your Own Engagement Ring

While there is a large variety of both contemporary and traditional engagement ring designs available, many couples choose to build an engagement ring that specifically matches their tastes and budget. Before building your own engagement ring, however, you must carefully consider each step of the process to be sure you create a stunning ring that will symbolize your relationship for many years.

Choose any gems when you build your own ring.

Many couples confuse the idea of a customized engagement ring with one that they build themselves. A customized ring allows the couple to make many key decisions about the ring, but they do not have as much freedom over the entire design. With a customized ring, the couple may choose:

• Setting style
• Metal used
• Stone size
• Type of stone
• Stone shape

After those decisions are made, the jeweler will create the design for the couple based on their preferences, but they have little control over the more intricate details of the ring, other than to make suggestions or point out existing designs they want to mimic. While this gives quite a bit of design influence to the couple and is sufficient for many distinctive rings, many couples want to build their own engagement ring(s) with a truly unique flair that cannot be met by existing rings.

Before actually designing your engagement ring, you need to make a number of decisions that will influence the final design.

Building your own engagement ring is inherently more expensive than buying a ready-made ring or even using a customized design. While budgets can be trimmed by choosing lower carat weight stones, lower-grade metals, or even substituting colored gems or synthetic diamonds in place of more expensive stones for accents, a couple must be prepared to make their design a fiscal reality. Not only will you be paying for the materials to make the ring, but a truly unique design may take extra labor and more expensive equipment to manufacture.

The type of metal greatly impacts the cost of the ring as well as design possibilities. Titanium, for example, is an extremely durable metal but cannot be formed into intricate patterns, curves or knots, whereas gold and silver are more malleable. A wider ring will also use a greater quantity of metal and will therefore be more expensive.

Naturally, diamonds are the most traditional and most popular stone used in engagement rings. For a more unique appearance, however, many couples choose alternative stones such as rubies, emeralds, or pearls for an elegant design. Even more unusual stones include aquamarine and mystic topaz.

Many engagement rings include embellishments such as side accent stones, engravings, and filigree designs for visual and textural appeal. These accents add significantly to the cost of a ring, but on the other hand, they are less expensive than choosing a larger or higher-quality stone and can add individuality to the piece. Couples may have their initials or wedding date incorporated into the ring’s design by using birthstones or metal detailing.

When building your own engagement ring, you also need to consider the wedding band. While you may not want a designated bridal set, the more intricate and unique your creation the more you will need to coordinate a wedding band with it in order to have a complementary set. By using a similar metal, shape, or accent detail, you can match the wedding band to your distinctive engagement ring to form a cohesive pair.

It can be difficult to find a jeweler to build your own engagement ring. While most jewelers can easily accommodate customized rings provided they carry a similar design, building a completely unique ring is neither time- nor cost-effective for them because it is unlikely that other couples will be interested in such a specialized design. This can add a significant expense to the ring, depending on the final design. The simpler the ring, the more willing a jeweler will be to work with the couple to create their vision.

Three Stone Ring

When locating a reputable jeweler, the couple should view their work and watch for similarities between the existing designs and their proposed ring. Providing preliminary sketches or photographs of similar designs can help the jeweler decide if they can accommodate the project. Before signing a contract or making payment, the couple should have a written guarantee about the ring’s design specifications and the possibility of alterations if the finished project is not precisely how they had envisioned.

Whereas it is possible to walk into a jewelry store and leave with an engagement ring in only a few minutes, it naturally takes longer for a jeweler to build a ring from scratch. A customized ring may take a few days or weeks, generally because the jeweler already has the basic design established and can make minor adjustments with minimal effort. To build a couple’s engagement ring from the beginning, however, can take weeks or months depending on the design’s intricacy and the availability of different materials. If, for example, the couple has already purchased the necessary stones, the jeweler does not need to spend time and resources locating matching gems. Small-scale individual jewelers may be able to create unique designs more quickly because they do not need to continue supplying wholesale distributors and stores simultaneously.

As more couples look for extreme individuality in their engagement rings, many are deciding to build their own designs from scratch rather than choose from limited store selections or a basic variety of customization options. Building your own engagement ring can be time-consuming and expensive, however, and couples should make preliminary decisions about metals, stones, and basic designs before consulting with jewelers. While it may be a more involved process than simply buying a ready-made ring, if you build your own engagement ring you are assured of a unique and treasured symbol of your relationship that mirrors the intimacy and individuality you share.

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