Gold Wedding Rings – Information & Guidelines
The tradition of wedding rings have been around for thousands of years, and date all the way back to the ancient Egyptian periods as well as the Roman. The wedding bands have always symbolized the love between a married couple, with it’s round shape representing the eternal or endless love, and being worn on the ring finger to honor one’s faithfulness and commitment to the other.
In the past, wedding jewelry compromised of various materials from wood to metal. Today we have a huge range of alloys to choose from, some of which include, gold, silver and also titanium.
The most common variety of gold bands come in several varieties. Firstly, there are 2 different choices of gold you can buy – yellow as well as white gold. Each type is categorized by different ratings – 14 and 18 carats. The differences between the two are the percentage of gold present, where the higher the number, the more amount of pure gold present. For example, an 18 carat ring would be made up of about 75% pure gold, while the remainder compromises of several metallic alloys.
You should know that gold is considered a soft metal, thus the higher the percentage present, the softer the ring and the more easily it may be damaged. Some people opt to buy 14 carat gold rings because the other alloys makes the band more durable, and suitable for every day wear.
As an alternative, there are also two tone rings that offer you the best of both worlds. What are they? These rings normally have an golden interior band and an exterior lining made up of silver or other metal alloys (also available the other way around). The two tone bands are generally more visually appealing as opposed to plain gold rings.
The last thing you have the option of choosing when buying a wedding band is the finish of the ring. Gold rings come in 3 different types of finishes, or a combination of either. Most of the time, when you see a white gold diamond wedding ring, you will notice that it doesn’t look very polished or shiny. This is because shiny rings look quite cheap and do not have much of an appeal anymore. These days, a dull white gold ring adorned with a diamond looks a lot more expensive and classy. The other finishes available are highly-polished as well as the ‘dented’ look, where the latter looks more rugged and is normally worn by men.
