A wedding ring
or wedding band is a metal ring indicating the wearer is married.
Depending on the local culture, wedding ring is usually worn on the base of the
right or the left right finger. The custom of wearing such a ring
has spread widely beyond its origin in europe.
Originally worn by wives only, wedding rings became customary for both husbands
and wives during the 20th century.
Wedding rings symbolize
your love, commitment, fidelity, and ultimately your marriage to your loved
one. In the olden days, there weren’t many options of wedding rings. Pretty
much the only option was gold. Today, wedding rings are made from many
different types of stunning metals such as gold, titanium, platinum, white
gold, tungsten, and cobalt chrome.
Therefore, it is
necessary to understand each type of wedding rings in order to be able to make
a choice.
Gold is the most popular choice for
men's and ladies wedding rings and engagement rings. Gold is also very popular
in dress rings, earrings, pendants, necklaces and bracelets.
You
should consider these two things when looking for gold wedding ring.
First,
determine which gold carat to choose and second, the gold color or the
combination of gold colors available.
Gold carat
The
carat is the gold content of the metal. The carat measures the proportion of
pure gold mixed with other metal alloy to make up the final metal. The
carat of gold is represented in many countries by the abbreviation ct. Carat
can also be called karat, represented by kt or K. There
are several carats available for gold.
The
gold carats normally used in men wedding rings are 9kt, 14kt and 18kt. 9kt
gold contains 37.5% pure gold, 14kt gold contains 58.5% pure gold while the 18kt
gold contains 75% pure gold. The remainder of the metals is made up of a
combination of alloys, different metals which can help to give the metal its
unique appearance, such as a different color.
The
higher the proportion of gold used in the final metal, the more valuable and
expensive the metal will be. So all other things being the same, an 18kt ring
will be more expensive than a 14kt ring and a 14kt ring will be more expensive
than a 9kt gold ring.
Jewelry
is normally marked to show the type of gold. A
9kt gold the stamp will normally be either the number 375, 9kt, 9kt or 9K while a 14kt gold the stamp will normally be either the number 585, 14kt, 14kt or 14K. An
18kt gold wedding ring will be stamped either the number 750, 18kt, 18kt or 18K The
stamps only indicate the carat of metal. They do not indicate the color of the
metal. The 18kt id usually harder, but the difference is so slight that in practical terms
9kt and 18kt are much the same in terms of hardness.
There
is another difference that should be considered when comparing 9kt and 18kt.
9kt is more difficult to bend and is a little more springy and therefore a fine
9kt ring may be less likely to bend out of shape than a fine 18kt ring.
However, if the ring is of a good sturdy construction neither metal will be
likely to bend out of shape.
Gold colors
Gold
is available in various colors. The most popular is yellow gold,
followed by white gold and rose gold, though other gold colors are sometimes
also available such as bronze, red and lime gold.
Jewelry
can also be made using a combination of different gold colors. The
difference in color between yellow, white and rose is determined by the metals
used in the alloy mix. When comparing the price of the gold colors in the same
carat, white gold is normally a little more expensive than yellow gold and rose
gold. Yellow gold and rose gold normally have approximately the same price.
When
trying to decide between the gold carat types there are three things to
consider.
- The metals performance with
every day wear
- The difference in color between
the 9kt, 14kt and 18kt gold
- The difference in price between
the gold carats.
In
practical terms, 18kt generally holds up to everyday wear better than 9kt and
tends to look better than 9kt as it ages over the years. This is one of the
reasons why 18kt is normally preferred for ladies engagement rings rather than
9kt.