When couples announce their engagement, often there are other financial outlays to be considered, including wedding arrangements, a honeymoon, and for many, saving for a home as well. Little wonder that many newly engaged couples are hoping to spend a little less on an engagement ring and later on for the wedding rings. How can you save a few dollars with an inexpensive engagement ring that still ticks all the right boxes?

Stones. As a rule, diamonds are going to cost you more. However, once you start researching you will realize that there is plenty of leeway in diamond pricings. Selecting a smaller diamond, or one with slightly more color will dramatically drop the price. Does your diamond need to be perfect under a jeweler’s loupe or just to the naked eye?

Another alternative is to select precious or semi-precious gems instead of diamonds. Those can be ideal for those who have a favorite color, or are seeking an engagement ring that is a little more unique. Almost any gem can be used as a stone for an engagement ring, although pearls and opals are a little more frail and do require special care.

Settings. Complicated and ornate settings will significantly increase the price of the engagement ring.

Metals. OK, first up, platinum is the very most expensive metal that you can use for an engagement ring. However, all is not lost if you admire that look. White gold plated with rhodium will give a very similar appearance but at a lesser cost. Better still, the white metal palladium is hypo allergenic, looks very similar to platinum, and is less expensive than white gold.

Where to Buy an Inexpensive Engagement Ring. Trying on a few engagement rings in the flesh can be a great place to get an idea of what looks good on your hand. Once you have a basic idea of stones, sizes and settings, you will be able to start looking at jewelry websites.

The Internet is a fantastic place to start researching what your engagement ring budget will buy. Most sites have their engagement rings displayed in specific budgets, allowing you to head to the appropriate price page straight up.

Even better are the sites that allow you to build your own engagement ring. This can be an excellent exercise in determining which factors you may be happy to compromise on or not, such as size, color, cut, or clarity of the diamond or gems.

Do you really need to purchase your engagement ring from a prestigious jeweler? Once the engagement ring is on your finger nobody will be able to see that stamp which may have impacted heavily on the final cost. Jewelers working from the Internet have much lower overheads than those working out of a storefront with extra business costs. As a general rule, the jewelers with the lower overheads will convert their lower business outgoings into a lower priced item.

Andy Moquin has spent 20 years in the jewelry industry with much of his experience in polished diamonds, engagement rings , wedding rings , rings and custom jewelry design. He is an accomplished business consultant and is available for advice on topics such as marketing, advertising, merchandising and business turnarounds

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/jewelry-articles/inexpensive-engagement-rings-more-bling-for-less-bucks-1345889.html

Couples will be thrilled to know that great advances have been made recently in working with other appropriate metals for wedding rings. Brides and grooms now have a much wider variety in wedding ring metals, and most will  be pleased to hear that all of these metals are less expensive than platinum, and many of them are also cheaper than gold. Before you start thinking flimsy, or it will turn green, you may like to know that all of these contemporary wedding ring metals are also hypo-allergenic and hard wearing.  The metals we are going to talk about today are titanium, palladium, and tungsten carbide. Which one of these metals is going to meet your wedding ring requirements?

Titanium is a very strong and light metal. Titanium wedding rings are available in colors ranging from blacks and grays to many other tints such as blues and greens. Titanium wedding rings can be set with diamonds or stones.

Palladium is from the same family of metals as platinum, has a very similar appearance, and is naturally shiny. Palladium wedding rings, like platinum, never need to be plated. Palladium weighs less than platinum, making for a lighter weight wedding ring. From a costing perspective, palladium is roughly 25% the cost of platinum, coming in at about the same as 9K white gold, but never needing the rhodium re-plating that white gold needs.

Tungsten carbide wedding rings are made from one of the hardest metals in the world. These rings have a reputation for being virtually indestructible, being 10 times harder than a gold wedding ring, and 4 times the strength of platinum and titanium. Tungsten wedding rings will weigh about the same as a platinum wedding ring. Due to the strength of the metal, tungsten wedding rings cannot be resized or altered once they have been made. Generally tungsten wedding rings are not set with stones, as the hardness of the metal makes it difficult. However, tungsten can be lasered with designs, and made with other metals inlaid. Tungsten wedding rings come in a range of colors from white to metallic shiny grays through to dark grays and blacks.

Mixing your metals. All of these metals can be incorporated into multi-color or multi-metal wedding rings. Palladium can be used to create the same visual effect of platinum in a wedding ring. Yellow and rose gold can be inlaid with tungsten, titanium, and palladium.

Price Differences: Palladium is the most expensive of the 3 metals, being roughly one quarter the cost of platinum, followed by titanium and tungsten in affordability.

Andy Moquin has spent 20 years in the jewelry industry with much of his experience in polished diamonds, engagement rings , wedding rings , rings and custom jewelry design. He is an accomplished business consultant and is available for advice on topics such as marketing, advertising, merchandising and business turnarounds

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/jewelry-articles/selecting-an-affordable-wedding-ring-metal-1345898.html