Elegant Celtic Wedding Rings

Now that you have popped the marriage question and got a "Yes" answer, what's next? For many, this is the start of many wedding day preparations. The planning of this special day can be a stressful experience considering the myriad of activities needing to be planned for and coordinated such as the catering, wedding ceremony, location booking, photographer, and wedding gown shopping. Being that it is an important milestone in people's lives, the preparations must be perfect with everything in it's proper place on wedding day.

While this event will come and go, the memories of the wedding day will live on. One of the symbols of the love between two people on this special day is the wedding ring. While buying wedding rings will depend on the couple's budget, it's also important to realize that a wedding ring will be the enduring symbol of a couple's love long after the champagne toasts and wedding ceremony are over. After all, a couple will have it for the rest of their lives. Thus, the decision to buy a ring should not be taken lightly and a couple should get the best wedding rings they can afford from a trusted jeweler.

As a symbol of everlasting love, what better way to represent it than with a Celtic engagement ring? Compared to traditional wedding rings, the Irish have a rich romantic and enduring Celtic jewelry tradition. Because of this, Celtic wedding bands have become an increasingly popular alternative to traditional wedding rings. Celtic wedding rings are perfect way to seal your wedding vows on this special occasion. It's easy to see why. Celtic rings are steeped in history and tradition dating back centuries. Their intricate designs or interwoven patterns throughout the metalwork denote a couple's promise to create a new life together with the one never-ending, continuous circle signifying eternal and endless love. Celtic wedding band designs are derived from Irish manuscripts such as the Book of Kells. In the past, the wearing of Celtic jewelry was an outward sign of a person's wealth and status. This resulted in many Celtic wedding rings being passed on from one generation to another becoming treasured family heirlooms.

Today, the popularity of such elegant wedding rings enable couples to purchase these Celtic rings from specialty retail jewelry stores online so there is no need to travel to Ireland to get an authentic Celtic wedding ring. Celtic rings are handmade by Irish craftspeople and are shipped all around the world. If you opt to have your wedding ring custom designed, it's best to do so early. For those couples who prefer to go for classic and timeless Celtic wedding ring designs, there are also many existing design varieties to choose from. A good online retailer like Shanore will have a wide choice of the following ring characteristics: precious metal (white gold or yellow gold), Celtic pattern, ring size, number of gemstones, size of gemstones, etc. The number of possibilities are truly endless and is completely within your control, making them timeless pieces of art that remind you and your loved one of your uncompromising love for each other.

Buying a Tungsten Carbide Wedding Band Ring

When you decide to marry, one of the most important decisions will be about your ring. Traditionally, gold, white gold, silver and platinum have been used in wedding bands. But today, the selection of metals is broader, reflecting the change in our tastes and lifestyle. Tungsten carbide is one of the new metals from which jewelry designers have begun to craft wedding band rings, offering a wide variety of styles and designs that fit every taste and budget.

What is Tungsten Carbide?

On its own, tungsten is a very hard and dense metal, with the highest melting point of all metals - 6,100 degrees Fahrenheit. Alone, tungsten is vulnerable to scratches and damage just like any other metal, it gains its extreme hardness by being combined with a carbon alloy, transforming it into tungsten carbide, with a hardness between 8.5 and 9.5 on the Mohs hardness scale. The strength of tungsten carbide has made it widely used for decades in industrial applications - it is four times harder than titanium, twice as hard as steel and almost impossible to scratch. The resulting metal can be designed into wedding band rings that are both visually stunning to please the eye and durable enough to withstand everyday use. These rings can only be damaged through extreme measures, such as abrasion from diamonds or being struck with a hammer.

Choosing Your Tungsten Carbide Wedding Band Ring


Make sure you ask your jeweler which metal was used in the finishing or binding process. Many manufacturers of tungsten carbide wedding band rings use cobalt as a binder, mostly because it is cheaper to produce. The problem with cobalt is that it bonds with oils in the skin and leeches out of the ring resulting in oxidation. The oxidation appears similar to tarnished sliver, but cannot be removed by polishing or grinding. The better choice is nickel-binder tungsten carbide which is chemically inert, will not oxidize and because it is hypoallergenic, there is no danger of irritation to the skin. Be careful about dealing with a jeweler that doesn't specify that their tungsten wedding bands are made with the nickel binder alloy. Many jewelry stores do not know which alloy they are selling, and if they don't know, it is most likely cobalt alloy or pure tungsten, which lacks the hardness of tungsten carbide and are easily scratched.

Because of tungsten carbide's extreme hardness, wedding bands made from this metal cannot be sized like gold, silver or platinum rings. When you are ready to purchase, make sure that you take extra care in determining the proper size. In regards to engraving a tungsten carbide ring, it is possible, but the results will be very faint and difficult to read.

Finally, since your tungsten carbide wedding band ring is not indestructible, it makes sense to get a warranty, especially against breakage. Under normal usage there should be little or no wear on both the polish and the textures of your tungsten carbide wedding band ring and you will never need to use your warranty.

Are Titanium and Tungsten wedding rings for life?

When faced with the once-a-life-time decision of choosing a wedding band ring, everyone should do their own research in order to make sure they get the piece that can symbolize the eternality of marriage.  For those who are seriously considering of buying the modern metals (titanium or tungsten) as wedding rings, here are some thoughts that are worth considering.

Will they be scratched?
Although titanium wedding bands are very strong and durable, the surface of the rings can actually be scratched.  It takes another extremely hard object such as diamond to cut into the metal; however, it does not get damaged during normal daily use.  For titanium rings with gold, silver or platinum inlay, the inlay part of the ring is as vulnerable as a ring that is made of the precious metal itself.  In the case of minor a blemish, a titanium ring can be re-polished or refinished to restore the original appearance.  On the other hand, tungsten rings are totally resistant to abrasions.  Since tungsten carbide, the most common grade of tungsten alloy offered in the market, is extremely hard, it will NEVER get scratched.

Will they be bent out of shape?
Both titanium and tungsten have extremely high ductile strength.  However, under extremely circumstances, titanium rings could bend out of round but a tungsten ring could not.  If a high pressure is applied on a titanium ring, which could happen when being hit by a car door, the ring would bend when the force is strong enough.  On the other hand, a tungsten ring stands a better chance of remaining intact, because tungsten in general is harder than titanium.  However, once the force goes beyond the threshold, the tungsten ring will be fractured into several pieces instead of bend out of round.  This characteristic, which we refer to as being brittle, is similar to that of diamonds whereas it is extremely hard but not ductile at all.

Will the color turn?
Neither of the metals will turn color.  Titanium and tungsten alloy are biological inert and do not turn color with normal usage such as being exposed to the sun, in contact with sea water or cosmetic products.

Can they be resized?
The possibility of getting resized might be important since we gain or lose weight in the future.  Due to the extraordinary high melting points of titanium and tungsten alloys, they cannot be cut and welded like traditional precious metals.  Hence, resizing is more difficult, if not possible.  Titanium wedding rings can be compressed or stretched up to one size, if there are no stones or inlay on the rings, with the help of special equipment.  However, tungsten carbide wedding rings can not be resized at all.  Therefore, one must measure the ring size carefully, possibility averaging the finger sizes at different times of the day, in order to avoid any sizing problem after the titanium or tungsten wedding band rings

A Diamond Ring Will Be More Stunning And Valuable When You Know What To Look For!

When choosing a diamond ring, you have to consider the 4 Cs to ensure that you are buying the right quality and the right style of diamond for you. They are Cut, Carat, Color, and Clarity.

Cut: A well cut diamond is beautiful because it's very brilliant. Of all the variables affecting the value of a diamond ring, the cut is the most crucial.
A well cut diamond is the work of a master diamond cutter, since it is the cut that enables the diamond to reflect light, creating that glitter and sparkle. When a diamond is well proportioned, light is reflected from one facet to another and dispersed through the top of the stone as rainbows of color, making it is so exotic to look at.

Carat: The carat is actually a measurement of weight, not size. One carat is divided into 100 points. 1.00 ct is equal to .20 grams. Carat is the easiest of the 4 C's to determine.
One carat is divided into 100 "points," so that a diamond of 75 points, for example, weighs .75 carats, 50 points weighs .50 carat etc. Fine quality can be found in diamonds of all carat weights.

Color: Diamonds are found in a range of colours - from colorless to yellowish, and judged according to a color grading scale from "D", which is totally colorless through to "Z" which is vivid yellow.
It is the colorless diamond that is the most valued because it is the rarest. The average stone carries an I or J grading for its color. In addition to that, there are twelve other colors called Fancies, and as the name implies, they are expensive.

Clarity: Most diamonds contain tiny natural birthmarks called inclusions and are mostly not visible to the naked eye, but can be seen with a 10X magnification.
Inclusions interfere with the dispersion of light and therefore the diamond's brilliance gets reduced. The fewer and smaller the inclusions, the rarer the stone and higher the price.

While inclusions do not generally affect the diamond's beauty and usually cannot be seen, their presence reduces the price. Clarity is graded on a scale with a range from internally flawless (IF), very small inclusions (VVS1-VVS2), very small inclusions (VS1-VS2), small inclusions (SI1-SI2) to imperfect (I1-I2-I3) with eye visible inclusions.

A Diamond Engagement Ring Is The Most Exquisite Gift And Ultimate Symbol Of Love.

Your engagement is considered to be one of the most special days. It's a chance to represent your true love and devotion to someone special and to declare it a way that will never be forgotten.

The engagement ring is going to stay on her hands forever, and every time she sees it, it should remind her about that glorious day, and her partner's undying devotion. This is why the engagement ring holds such an important place in a man's life. It is not just an ornament; it symbolizes your love, trust, dedication and the affection you have for your life partner.

If the Diamond engagement ring had been a mere ornament, you could always go for the costliest one and the most flamboyant, glossy model to show off your wealth and status in the society. But it?s not just an ornament; it's a token of love and care. So, it has to be chosen in a manner that it would truly and wholly represent you.

A diamond is considered the best choice for the engagement ring, because the diamond is as special as your life partner. It is the purest, and the hardest material available. Above all, nothing can beat the look of a diamond ring. Women are considered as the best creation of nature, so presenting a Diamond Ring is like saying, 'one beuatiful creation for another.'

You can choose whatever look you want in your diamond ring. Vintage, classic, contemporary, or ultra modern; whatever style is desired by your partner. Choosing the right kind and style of diamond depends not only upon the color, texture and the price, but also on the likings and the looks of your partner.

An elongated diamond, such as the Marquise or Oval can make short fingers look sleeker. A diamond is hard in character, extremely good looking, dazzling all through its life, making the person who has it happier, and represents the glitter of love. So there cannot be a more special reason to buy a diamond engagement ring; after all, the right diamond with the right setting is the best thing that can happen in your life, only next to your life partner.