|
Looking for gold rings or gold wedding bands .?
Designs of engagement rings have varied greatly over the years. Contemporary fashions for ring materials are a gold, platinum, silver or, rarely, titanium band mounting at least one diamond. Recently, three-stone diamond engagement rings and other styles have become popular, in contrast to the more traditional solitary diamond.
The establishment of the diamond engagement ring as a standard in Western culture has been attributed to one of the most successful advertising campaigns in history, by the world's leading diamond producer de Beers, in the 1940s
An engagement ring is often significantly expensive and acts as a visible demonstration of a person's commitment to their betrothed. The rationale for using a diamond is that it is the most enduring, beautiful and expensive gem. However, some people prefer different gems such as sapphires, star sapphires, emeralds, and rubies; or semi-precious stones. Pearls and opals are rare, because these are soft stones.
In some European countries such as Germany, France, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, engagement rings are usually plain gold bands without a gem. In others such as Switzerland, engagement rings usually mount a colored gem rather than a diamond.
Gold and platinum are recommended by many jewelers because of their inherently higher value and because these metals are more durable than silver. Often, a gold or silver ring will employ a platinum setting as it provides better protection for the stone.
Handmade jewelry is jewelry which has been assembled and formed by hand rather than through the use of machines. According to the guidelines of the FTC, in order to be stamped or called "handmade" the work must be made without the use of electricity except for polishing [1] Beyond that caveat it can be anything made out of anything that would be considered jewelry. The American Gem Trade Association Spectrum awards[2] , the Gem Center Idar Oberstein, and the De Beers Awards include awards specifically for handmade jewelry.
Although there is much mass produced jewelry in the world, there are many people who prefer to have work that is hand-crafted by a real artisan, and the arena of hand made jewelry and other items will likely remain healthy because of that fact. Much jewelry that is marked or sold as "hand made" often is not truly so, though it may be essentially so. It can be difficult to do some tasks such as drilling without electricity, but to be truly handmade, every task must be done by human power alone.
|