|
Getting Engaged on a Budget - Understand How the Setting Can Save You Money First of all, congratulations if you are getting engaged; in these tough economic times some good news is always welcome no matter from what source! Unfortunately, getting engaged and married always presents financial challenges and these have to be overcome but when the economy is in such a poor state it needs even more effort to be able to navigate the financial maze which comes with setting on the road to marital bliss. Diamonds are the traditional stone for engagement rings and by far the most popular is a solitaire diamond ring. Every woman wants to have a big, sparkling rock on her ring finger but just think for one moment - for a one carat diamond it takes 250 tons of ore to be mined from some of the deepest mines in the world, brought to the surface and with exceptionally gifted craftsmen, be processed through cutting and polishing before being set in the jewelry piece your intended would love to have. Cutting to the chase - diamonds are expensive! Fortunately, there are ways you can get a bigger rock on her finger but without the enormous price tag that comes with it. The way in which a diamond is fixed to a ring is using a setting; you will have seen a setting if you have seen a ring and they come in many variants. Usually a set of prongs are used to create a basket into which the stone is "set" and then affixed to the band of the ring - this is the most common setting, known as a Prong Setting, but more on that later. By clever use of the setting, a diamond can be made to look much larger and much more impressive than it really is in fact. One of the best settings to achieve this effect is known as the Bezel Setting; a Bezel Setting is where a circular rim of white gold or platinum is put in place and into the center of this is set the diamond itself. The white metal then reflects back onto the diamond any light which emphasizes the brilliance and fire of the diamond as well as making it look a lot larger than it really is. This is a very popular setting for solitaire engagement rings simply because the effect is simply stunning but at a fraction of the cost of using a diamond capable of achieving the same effect on its own. Another setting is the Pave Setting which is very good at making engagement rings look very expensive and high end. A Pavé Setting has a series of small diamonds inserted into small holes set into the body of the ring itself forming a continuous row of diamonds. The effect is a very sparkling ring but you are using less expensive small diamonds and the metal setting itself stops the true size of the diamonds becoming apparent unless they are closely scrutinized. The Illusion Setting uses a mirror plate set at the base of the diamond within the ring setting; this reflects even more light within the diamond which results in a much greater fire and brilliance turning a small diamond into a much more sparkling piece. This considerably cuts the cost of the diamond required but a word of caution - Illusion Settings are more complicated to create though the cost saving of the diamond more than makes up for this when working out the final price you pay, but the issue is if you ever need it to be repaired it will be more expensive than one of the other settings. Lawrence Reaves - This article is provided by DanforthDiamond.com a leading authority on wedding rings - engagement rings and fine jewelry. Danforth Diamond provides wisdom and advice to help you choose the right ring at the right price. Visit DanforthDiamond.com or call 877.404.RING Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lawrence_Reaves
printable games for bridal showers |
