Wedding Ring Buying Guide
Get the best advice from our jewellers on buying women’s or men’s wedding rings online!
Budget
- Women mostly choose platinum and white gold. A typical ladies 3mm classic court will cost around £235 in 18ct white gold and £365 in platinum.
- Men normally choose a wider band such as a 6mm classic court. It will cost around £560 in 18ct white gold and £800 in platinum.
- A popular choice at the moment for men is palladium which in the same 6mm classic court would be around £420.
- Men also tend to choose a non precious metal such as titanium, which is still finished to a very high standard. The typical cost for a plain 6mm titanium ring is around £95.
Wedding Ring Quality
•Buy a high quality ring made from solid metal: it will last a lifetime and it will be easily adjusted later, if your fingers change over time (resizing a cheap hollow ring will result in a kinked ring)
•The factors affecting the final price are : amount of metal used (determined by the ring size, profile and thickness of the band — as well as whether or not it’s solid or hollow metal), production method and how well a ring is finished.
- Hand finishing a ring ensures a bright and lustrous finish however it can sacrifice a little extra metal and require more labour in order to achieve the perfect finish.
Wedding Ring Depth
- Most of our rings are available in light, medium or heavy depths or weights.
- Most women go for a light or medium weight ring, as these depths work best with most engagement rings.
- There is no industry standard for what a light, medium or heavy weight ring should be
Diamond Quality
- Diamond quality is ultimately how well the diamond appears.
- Choose diamonds to wear for the rest of your life and to be inspired and mesmerised every time you look at your ring.
- The less colour a diamond has the more valuable it becomes. So pick diamonds of colour H to D (white to colourless). Diamonds between I, J, K and beyond are more yellow to brown
- Choose diamonds that have a minimum clarity of Si 1 -no inclusions/faults noticeable to the naked eye.
Wedding Ring Designs
Ask these questions before choosing YOUR wedding ring design:
•What do I like? — You are going to wear your ring every day for a very long time. So choose what you like the most
•What metal should I choose? — Ideally, your wedding ring and your engagement ring metals should match. But some women wear a Palladiumwedding band alongside a Platinum engagement ring. Men often choose the same matching metal as their partners, but in a more masculine design. If you have very active lifestyles, consider a hardwearing ring such as Titanium.
•Do I need a shaped wedding ring? — An engagement ring with a pronounced setting, or of a wide design (such as a crossover) will definitely match with a shaped wedding ring.
- What type of hands do I have? — Shorter hands –better suited to slimmer rings; longer hands — better complemented by a wider band; medium shaped hands — consider a concave shaped ring or maybe a two tone ring which provides the best of both.
Wedding Rings UK is part of Hathaway Styles Limited, online retailers of high quality jewellery. The Hathaway family have been manufacturing quality jewellery in the UK for over 80 years which is sold throughout the UK in some of the finest jewellers.
We have unrivalled customer service, offering personal sales advice on all our wedding bands for men and wedding bands for women, and we always keep customers up to speed with their rings progress as it’s being made.
With workshops and offices based in Birmingham’s world renowned jewellery quarter, we have access to talented designers and trades such as the assay office, all of which helps to make our business very efficient and enables us to send your wedding ring without delay.