Your engagement and wedding rings are permanent symbols of your love and commitment to each other, so the task of choosing them will naturally be one of the most meaningful, creative and enjoyable parts of getting married.

Maybe it’s because I write about weddings, or it could simply be that I love weddings and everything that goes with them, but I seem to have a particular talent for spotting shiny new engagement rings on women’s fingers. Even in a room full of people I have something of a magpie’s eye, so, if the situations allows, I usually strike up a conversation with the bride-to-be within a couple of minutes. Everyone seems to have a story to tell about their wedding ring – its selection, unique features, personal significance and so on.

Talking to other people about their rings in one of the best places to start when faced with the bewildering task of finding the perfect engagement and wedding rings. Other sources of advice and inspiration include magazines, jewellery stores and the internet. One of the easiest ways to figure out what you like is to go and start trying rings on. A ring can look quite different on your finger to how it looks in a picture. Diamond wedding rings are an extremely popular choice, you should be looking out for the “four C’s” when buying diamonds.

The four Cs

Clarity – the measure of a diamond’s purity and the number of flaws it has. As diamonds were formed underground millions of years ago, many of them still bear scars. These tiny marks are known as inclusions – the fewer inclusions, the more valuable the diamond.

Cut – indicates a diamond’s shape and determines its brilliance. Only a skilled cutter can bring out the best in a stone.

Colour – refers to how yellow it looks. The most expensive diamonds are clear, while the less expensive ones have a yellowish appearance. But diamonds with pure, strong colours, such as pink, blue and canary yellow, are valuable and are known as fancies.

Carat – the weight of a diamond, which has strong bearing on its value. Each carat is divided into 100 points.

NB: Not to be confused with the weight of a precious stone, a carat is also the standard measure of gold, indicating the quantity of other metals (such as copper, zinc, silver and nickel) included to make the metal stronger and hard wearing. While pure gold (24 carats) is considered too soft for continuous ring wear, 14-carat and 18-carat gold are most often used for rings.

How Much?

When it comes to the price of engagement rings and wedding bands, the sky’s the limit. Influencing factors include: whether it is pre-made or you commission a custom-made design; the type, number and quality of the stones; the cost of the metal, eg. Platinum is more expensive than gold wedding rings; and the complexity of the style. A traditional guideline is that the engagement ring should cost a man four weeks of his salary (net or gross is up to him!) One potentially cost-cutting option is to buy a wedding set, either a duo – mens wedding rings and woman’s wedding band, or a trio – an engagement ring and his-and-hers wedding bands that share a cohesive design.

Birthstones

Diamonds have traditionally been the ultimate rock when it comes to engagement rings; however, these days brides are able to choose beautiful stones that have personal meaning to them. Here is a list of birthstones and their meanings: