As with most things, men have fewer options than women, and this is just as true for engagement and wedding rings! The great news is that as we progress, more men are taking risks and opting for rings with a bit more to them such as diamonds or gems or even different metal choices with detailing.
There are many independent designers out there who are willing to work with your budget and your concepts to come up with rings to suit your lifestyle and your individuality.....Designing a ring can be easier than you previously figured. Designers can work with you and come up with drawings and details through discussions and meetings with you until the perfect ring is created that is tailor-made to your needs and wants.
Start by meeting with a designer....get a consultation, tell them what your budget is, when you plan to buy the ring and what your needs are including lifestyle, personality, jewellery style, fashion sense and finger size. Let the designer come up with 3 sketches that you can take a look at and then tweak from that point onwards....not only will you get the perfect ring, you can be sure that its a unique one of kind ring that you won't see on anyone else's finger and that you can proudly say you designed and created.
To add to the specialness of your custom designed ring, you may want to consider engraving the piece with a saying, your wedding date, proposal date, initials or something custom written. You can't possibly get more romantic than this!
Here are some options on different metals, diamond shapes and specs that you might want to read up on before you head to your neighbourhood designer:
Choices of Diamond shapes include: Round, Marquise, Pear, Emerald, Princess, Radiant, Oval, Cushion, Heart, Asscher, Baguette and Trillion....for both centre stones and accent stones (side stones, unless you are sticking to a solitaire).
Choices of Metals include: White Gold, Yellow Gold, Platinum, Titanium and Palladium (for both men and women). Make sure to ask about the advantages and disadvantages of both).
Diamond Specs include: The 4 "Cs"....namely, cut, clarity, colour and carat.
Of these, carat is possibly the most commonly understood - simply put, the size of the rock. This term is what defines the measurement of a diamond. The higher the carat typically, the more expensive the stone, all other "Cs" staying consistent.
Colour is simply how much colour is in the diamond to make it as close to colourless as possible or closer to yellow in colour, measured by letters of the alphabet starting with "D" and ending with "Z". You can also opt for a diamond with an obvious colour such as yellow, green, blue, brown, black and pink, also known as fancy diamonds.
Cut refers to the diamond has been shaped and cut from the rough. It accounts for the way light is refracted off the diamond and for the rainbow colours you see when light hits a beautifully cut diamond. The more symmetrical the diamond, the better the quality and the higher the price.
Lastly, the purity of the diamond is called the clarity of a diamond. Diamonds are naturally produced with blemishes and imperfections, after all, they are naturally created in the earth! The smaller the blemishes and inclusions, the better the clarity, the higher the price. The positioning of these blemishes and inclusions will also dictate the value of the diamond and contribute to its clarity.
So...give it a go, start designing your ring today.....you'll be blown away with how many beautiful creations a designer can come up with. I believe that every person has uniqueness - something that nobody else has....so show it off, you'll be happy you did!
