Antique Engagement and Wedding Rings

Choosing the Perfect Antique Engagement Ring or Wedding Band for Your Spouse

The wedding bands or your antique engagement rings you choose will be one of the most enduring pieces of your wedding day, because they are a long lasting symbol of your love and commitment.

There are several ways to pick an engagement ring :

1. Go to pick it out together. While this is a sure way to know that she’ll like the ring, some people feels this robs the engagement ring of some of its romance.
2. You can bring her best friend or mother shopping with them, or have a romantic date of preview shopping for the ring.
3. Study what kind of jewelry she wears from what kind of metal, to whether it’s contemporary or antique, even perhaps “borrowing” a ring to help you know her ring size.

Style of Wedding Bands:
Follow your instincts with the look and design of your ring, while asking yourself if it will be a design you’ll be comfortable wearing every day for the rest of your life. The antique wedding rings or antique engagement rings will be in style for years to come. Choose a wedding band that you feel is expressive of your style and personality.

Gold, Silver or Platinum?

Many couples choose the metal for their bands by matching it to their antique engagement ring. However, don’t feel bound to this. A bride can choose to wear her engagement ring on her right hand, and wedding ring on the left.

Primary engagement ring and wedding band metal choices include :
• Yellow gold:
the most traditional of metals; for many gold is a symbol of the warmth and love of a marriage. Look at the mark inside the band to see what quality the gold is – usually 14k, 18k, or 24k. While 24k is the most pure, it is also the softest. If you work with your hands, you may want to choose 14k or 18k to prevent scratches.
• White Gold:
A hot trend because it coordinates with both silver and platinum jewelry, yet is cheaper than platinum.
• Platinum:
This very stylish metal is also the hardest metal, making it for many a symbol of enduring love. Also, because it’s not mixed with the lesser metals that gold is, platinum is safe for those with allergies. However, you’ll pay more for platinum than for gold. 

Source : http://rings18k.com

Antique Engagement Rings

Going With Antique Engagement Rings

By A Immotna 

Antique engagement rings are a great choice if you have the opportunity to purchase or inherit one. It may be a family heirloom or an amazing find. With the tedious mass production and style everywhere in our society, it is a challenge to find not only unique items, but items that stand the test of time. An engagement ring symbolizes the commitment to enter into matrimony, a serious life-altering commitment. 

An antique engagement ring is a great way to express your love and promise in an exclusive and resilient design an antique is an item that was manufactured at least fifty years or more ago. Victorian, Edwardian and Art Deco style rings are the most popular.

A Family Heirloom

It is common for jewelry to be passed through many generations and engagement rings are one example of a family heirloom. They can be passed from one generation to the next, or they can skip generations when the owners pass onto a younger generation. The wonderful thing about heirlooms is that they represent family history. 

The engagement ring your grandfather used to propose to your grandmother bestows a sense of romanticism and perceived good fortune on that ring when you offer it to your sweetheart. Heirloom rings can come down from either your paternal or maternal relatives and implicit with their passing is the love, respect and honor symbolized in that ring.

Purchasing Your Antique Ring

Not everyone is fortunate enough to receive an antique engagement ring from their family, and as the family spreads and grows, there are only so many heirloom pieces to go around. For those who are interested in purchasing an antique ring, there are a lot of options. Antique stores, pawn shops and estate sales are just one place to start. The internet will have a wealth of resources to search from. Some jewelers purchase old jewelry and they may have some selection for you. Individual sellers may also take out ads, so check places like the newspaper or sites like Craigslist. Make sure to carefully check the ring, as age might have taken its toll on it. Diamonds were not always the standard stone for engagement rings in the past, so you can find wonderful rings inset with emerald, opal and pearl.

If you appreciate the styles and quality of the past, then an antique engagement ring is for you. It will provide you with a unique and appreciable piece.

Click here to get to know more on latest tips and advices on engagements.

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Engagement rings

The Basics of an Antique Engagement Ring

An antique engagement ring is a very fashionable choice for couples these days in their choices for engagement rings. 

The styles and the craftsmanship of the antique rings are far better then many of the modern made rings and the history that comes from the rings can be quite interesting as well, and they may be cheaper than modern rings. 

Rule number one, in order for a ring to be considered an antique; it has to be fifty years old. If it is less then that, then it is what is called an estate ring, these rings are one to forty nine years old.There are three distinct styles of antique rings; they are the Victorian Era (1835-1900), Edwardian Era (1900-1920) and the Art Deco Era (1920-1930). 

Each style has its own unique styling features for the three eras.The Victorian Era rings were usually made out of yellow or rose colored gold. They had diamonds, but also would use different gemstones such as rubies, sapphires, emeralds, pearls, topaz just to name a few. They also like to use colored diamonds that had yellow, rose or green tints to them. 

The designs ranged from simple to extremely elegant. The diamonds from that era also had what was referred to as the mine cut, which was an extra facet row cut at the bottom of the diamond. This was done to help the rings sparkle in candle light environments. Some consider the Victorian rings to be the most romantic of engagement rings.

The Edwardian Era rings were the first engagement rings to be made of platinum. It was the invention of the oxyacetylene torch that made it possible to work with platinum. Most of these had rose cut diamonds or sapphires in them. The rings had scrollwork, filigree detail, milgraining, and lacy and pierced shapes in them. They are very elegant looking rings.

The Art Deco Era rings had Native American, Egyptian and Asian influences in there designs. A lot of these style rings were made of platinum. These rings had colorful stones as well as diamonds in them. The rings at the end of the era went for a streamlined geometric design with diamonds in them.

It is important to remember that the jewelers of this period graded their diamonds on a different scale then do modern jewelers. Back then, the color and contrast of the stones was for more important then clarity. Modern diamonds are mainly white in color, so that is why clarity is such an issue with modern stones.

As far as to where to get these rings, there are many places to acquire them from. The best and cheapest way, is for it to be a family heirloom form either the bride or grooms family. There is no guessing involved, and the history of the rings in known.

Buying from a reputable antique seller or jeweler is your next best option. Make sure that they offer you a written guarantee of return and that they have the history of the ring, most good sellers will some kind history for the rings.

 Estate sales are another good place to get antique rings, just make sure that you have a certified gemologist certify the rings authenticity and workmanship. Pawn shops can be another place, but make sure they offer a money back guarantee, so that you may get the ring checked out. Online sellers are also an option, just do your homework and check out the seller to make sure they are legitimate.

To sum up, an antique engagement ring is a good idea for couples; just check them out, so that you know what you are getting. One could end up with a very good deal on an engagement ring that they couldn't otherwise afford.


Jack Hale is a long time admirer and collector of antique jewelry. He has written other articles on antique jewelry. His antique jewelry buying guide is an excellent reference and his article on antique rings is another great reference.

By Jack Hale

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jack_Hale