Choosing a ring

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England), June 24, 2009

Unlike a bridal gown, which is usually worn just once and spends the rest of its days gathering dust in the attic, a wedding ring must endure a lifetime and beyond - often becoming a treasured family heirloom passed from one generation to the next.

Investing in a wedding ring is a big step but surprisingly many people often leave it until the 11th hour to choose their bands.

The best advice is to put the wedding rings at the top of your list always listen to advice from a high quality respected jewellers.

Designing your own wedding ring is increasingly popular as couples personalise their jewellery to make it more meaningful. As a result, many people are turning to professional jewellers for help.

Skilled craftsmen are able to blend traditional techniques with the latest laser technology to create a dazzling range of jewellery including engagement and wedding rings.

When creating a ring from scratch, the first thing to consider is what metal to use. Recently, the lighter shades of white gold and platinum have been fashionable as well as titanium which is stylish grey in colour. It is lighter than gold but just as hard-wearing as platinum with the added bonus of being less expensive.

Following in the footsteps of Hollywood's golden couple Brad and Jennifer Pitt, the latest trend in wedding rings is for fusing combinations of metals in the band, for example, platinum, gold and titanium.

Classic round bands are always elegant but there are other profiles to choose from. You could go for a ring which is round on the inside and flat on top - known as a comfort fit - or a ring which is concave in the middle of the band.

Increasingly popular are stone set wedding rings which are big news right now. A contemporary look is a plain band studded with inset diamonds. Lots of people these days opt for one band which doubles as both the engagement ring and wedding ring.

Diamonds are a good choice because they are the most durable but people do opt for other stones.

A new fashion emerging is rings containing coloured diamonds and the coloured diamonds really stand out against white metals.

An important factor in designing a wedding ring is to make sure it complements the engagement ring. Anything goes with regard to colours but they need to fit together. A good jeweler should be able to match any rings no matter how complicated..