10 Critical Elements of Wow-Worthy Wedding Ring Design

You’re getting married! And you’re...stressed? Don’t fret: we’ve seen this before, and we know what to do. Start your journey to “I do” off on the right foot with our no-stress guide to custom ring design

With decades in this business, we’ve learned to recognize Ring Shopping Fatigue (RSF) as soon as it walks through our door. Whether a single shopper or a couple shopping together, there’s no hiding the telltale signs. What are the symptoms of RSF? Primary indicators include a downtrodden expression, slumped shoulders, and a world-weary sigh as RSF’s latest victim slouches toward us.

At Carats & Stones, we believe that education is the key to RSF prevention. Whether you’re on your first shop or your fiftieth, we make it our priority to listen to you and help you make the best decision to fit your budget and your needs. And don’t be surprised if we brew for you a pot of tea to get some color back in your cheeks….

Now, let’s sit down and please allow us a moment to tell you everything you need to know to know about wedding ring design.

1. Choose Your Jeweler Wisely

Besides the person you plan to marry, your most important partner in designing an engagement and wedding ring is your designer. While you may not be committing to spending the rest of your life with your jeweler (well, not entirely. We’ll get into that soon), you ARE committing to wearing the rings that they create for life.

Before you commit to a jeweler, there are some things you should consider. Consider the following three aspects to help you find “the one” jeweler for you and your other “the one.”

Experience

In our digital age, there’s no shortage of options for finding honest reviews of a jeweler’s past work. After asking friends and family if they have any recommendations, check out the reviews left by other clients online. While any business is likely to have a few customers whose satisfaction seems to be impossible, a trend of dissatisfied customers is a red flag. 

Once you’ve narrowed down your list, call and make appointments to meet with your top choices. Allow this phone call to serve as the first indicator of what your experience with this jeweler might be like: is the person who answers the phone pleasant? If you speak directly with the jewelry designer, is their demeanor markedly improved when you reveal that you’re shopping for custom rings?

At each appointment, ask to see a portfolio of their previous custom work. While they’ll certainly have designed rings to suit the preferences of their previous customers, this should give you a sense of the quality of their work as well as their overall experience in ring design.

Collaboration Style 

What is the jeweler doing when you talk? Are they looking at you? Listening? Nodding? Or are they looking around the room at other customers, answering the phone, and interrupting you?

Designing your wedding rings is a process, and it’s not a process you want to embark on with someone who doesn’t bother to listen to you or take your ideas seriously. More than anything, you don’t want to spend the next six weeks trying to design the perfect ring while your jeweler is trying everything in the book to jack up the price. And that brings us to:

Trust

Can you trust this person? DO you trust this person? Even the best judges of character get it wrong on occasion, so pay attention to a few things in your initial consultation:

Your answers to these questions can help you determine how comfortable you are trusting this person with such a monumental moment in your life.

2. Think Beyond the Ring

When you start to look at styles and consider the elements you want to incorporate in your custom ring design, it can be a bit overwhelming. The choices you’ll need to make about your metal, stone, and setting alone (we’ll get to those in just a bit) require you to think about far more than just today.

It can be easy to get caught up in trends and lose sight of what you and your partner will not only cherish for the sentiment but also for style. It’s okay to shop trends, but it’s important to consider how you’ll feel about wearing it in 10, 20, or 50 years.

Your engagement ring and wedding bands are more than just jewelry. Beyond being a symbol of your commitment, they’re also an investment and, quite possibly, will live beyond you both as treasured family heirlooms. Consider these three crucial factors as you choose the rings that you and, perhaps, your grandchildren will wear:

a) Start Early & Stick to a Budget

After you’ve chosen your designer, you’ll still need to allow enough time to design and create your custom rings. In your initial consultation, ask them to sketch out their process and timeline. While there are standards across the industry, it’s best to know exactly what to expect from the person you’ll be working with.

Generally, you should allow at least six weeks from the initial consultation. From here, your designer will take the ideas you discussed and sketch your design. From here, some designers take it further and create a 3D rendered image or a mold of your design. If you provide feedback or additional requests, you’ll need time for them to revise the design until you’re happy with it. If you don’t yet have your stone, they should help you find and purchase it.

The old advice to spend two months’ salary on an engagement ring is dated, and the notion that a groom is responsible for paying for both wedding bands has, likewise, sailed. But you do still need to set a reasonable budget and stick to it. We’ve talked in depth about setting a budget in the past, so do take a look if you aren’t sure where to start.

b) Look to the Future

As you design your rings, look at them as the foundation pieces for future investments such as anniversary gifts, push presents, and birthday surprises. By planning beyond this initial piece of jewelry, you can begin to plan for the unique gifts to complement your rings in the future.

This approach also allows you to add elements as your lifestyles change. If you’re just starting off in your careers or live very active outdoor lifestyles, perhaps now is not the time for a large center stone that will see more time in your safe than it will on a finger. If you’re both still in your med school rotations, or example, you might both decide to invest in more expensive pieces later and opt for smaller, ER-friendly designs at least until after your residencies.

c) Look to the Past

Is there an heirloom piece already in one of your families that you’d like to incorporate? Don’t overlook the elements of your past that might add unique and personal meaning to your ring design. 

Consider antique and vintage pieces, as well. Your jeweler should be able to help you visualize different stones that might turn an interesting estate ring into your dream engagement ring.

3. Think Outside (and Inside) the Box

As more and more people view engagement as a decision to arrive at together rather than a surprise question to be “popped,” it’s increasingly common for couples, whether they are the same or different genders, to shop for both engagement rings and wedding bands together. Viewing the decision as a partnership, the ring design is also viewed as a partnership.

The surprise proposal, however, is still popular with plenty of guys, gals, and nonbinary pals. If you or your partner have always dreamed of a surprise proposal, go for it! If you’ll be wearing the ring, don’t be afraid to share your style preferences with your partner. Even when the proposal is a surprise, discussing the future of your relationship is something that should never be off the table. If you’ve talked about marriage and you’re both on the same page, you’ll be doing your partner a favor by letting them know what type of ring you’d like to wear.

For folks on the proposing side, if it’s important that your partner not catch wind of what you’re up to, you can still figure out what styles will fit their taste and lifestyle. There are no shortage of celebrity engagement rings to ogle; in addition to noting the styles your soon-to-be-betrothed already wears, mention Meghan Markle’s three stone stunner or the platinum band Michael Buble wore upon his engagement and your bound to hear some useful insights into the ring they hope to wear.

Metals

Thoughtfully mixing metals creates some gorgeous ring and bracelet stacks, but most people still have a preference, and it’s this preference that should guide your decision here. The most common choices for engagement and wedding ring metals are platinum and the three golds: white, yellow, and rose. For folks who prefer silver tones, platinum or white gold are your choices. While similar in color, platinum offers durability that far exceeds gold’s (and a price that follows suit.) 

Observe some caution with rose gold: it’s having a moment, but it is somewhat similar to cilantro in that it has no middle ground: people either love it or hate it. Unless your partner is a lifelong collector and wearer of primarily rose gold jewelry, white and yellow metals are far safer bets.

Stones

While we’re all familiar with the diamond engagement ring that caught on after DeBeers launched their Diamonds are Forever campaign, your search for a stone need not start and end with diamonds alone. In fact, colored diamonds and gemstone rings are once again experiencing an upsurge in popularity.

Jennie Garth has been seen wearing a black diamond engagement ring, while Eva Longoria rocks a gorgeous red ruby. We’ve also seen women and men opting out of the traditional wedding ring styles entirely, opting instead for bands for both their engagement and wedding ring designs. 

The 4C’s of Diamonds, cut, color, clarity, and carat are important to consider if you do go the diamond route, but the operative word is consider: there’s no need to get caught up in finding the “perfect” stone if there are characteristics more important to you than others. Size isn’t everything, so those who prefer a smaller carat can apply more of their budget to color, clarity, and cut. For even more information on choosing the right cut, mosey on over to our previous post.

Settings

 When you hear the word setting, it is referring to the the ring’s style and how the center stone is set. A classic solitaire setting, for example, showcases your center stone and doesn’t include side stones. Halo settings encircle your center stone with diamonds or other stones. Your jeweler will help you rule out and narrow down your choices based upon the wearer’s style, lifestyle, and preferences.

Your setting will also serve as the foundation for your wedding band, so keep this in mind to make sure your engagement and wedding ring design aren’t incompatible. A large center stone in a pave halo setting and a wide band with intricate design elements may look lovely when worn separately, but may pose a challenge when worn together.

Conclusion

Engagement and Wedding ring design is about far more than just what you’ll wear today. These pieces are investments in your future and will be passed down through your family.

By planning ahead, considering what you will invest now and how it will serve your future investments in unique gifts of jewelry throughout your lives together, you’ll find that you not only avoid the dreaded Ring Shopping Fatigue, but that you even LIKE the process. That is, of course, if you’ve taken on the task with the right jeweler. 

Do you have other questions about engagement or wedding ring design? Let us know in the comments section below. If you’re searching for wedding rings in San Francisco, we hope you’ll stop in or schedule a consultation. We’ll have the tea ready and a cozy nook waiting for your private consultation.

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