Choosing your Wedding Rings
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Wedding rings are the longest lasting of all things bought for your wedding day so treat yourself and design wedding rings you and your partner will love wearing for the rest of your lives together.
A lot goes into planning a wedding, from finding the right partner and proposing to them with a unique and personal engagement ring through to choosing your photographer, venue and trying to organise your family!
Here at Vu we like to help reduce some of the wedding stress by taking care of your wedding rings and any other wedding jewellery you may need for your big day.
When deciding on the design of your wedding ring there are a number of factors you may want to consider -
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Do you have an engagement ring? If so you’ll want to make sure the design of engagement ring and wedding ring compliment each other and will be comfortable on your finger when worn together.
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What job/hobbies do you do? If you’re often working with your hands or playing sport you will need to make sure the ring/metal/stones are suitable for this type of activity.
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Will you be wearing the ring everyday or just on occasions?
These factors will all help you to decide on the design of wedding ring you’d like and the most suitable metal/gemstones to use to make the ring.
Metals
Wedding rings can be made from whichever precious metal you prefer although you’d probably want to avoid silver as it’s a lot softer than gold and platinum so over time it will tarnish and become misshapen more easily. When considering gold you can choose both the colour and carat which offers some flexibility when working to a budget. The colour choices of gold are yellow, rose or white and you can then choose which carat gold you’d like to use.
9 carat gold is less expensive than 18 carat gold in all three colours. 9 carat is technically known to be ‘harder’ than 18 carat gold, this however doesn’t mean it’s more durable. The hardness of the metal means it can be more brittle and less resistant scratches and denting on a microscopic scale. It can be likened to how glass is harder than perspex but it you give them both a knock the glass will break and the perspex will flex. In most cases an 18 carat gold wedding ring will hold up better to everyday wear than 9 carat gold.
Platinum is also a popular metal for wedding rings due to its brilliant whiteness and silky polished finish. Platinum doesn’t loose its shine quickly like other white metals so it’s great for everyday wear over a long period of time. Platinum is hypoallergenic and less likely to cause skin irritation than other metals so it’s great for people with sensitive skin. Platinum rings need very little maintenance because they don’t tarnish, an occasional polished followed by a clean in our ultra sonic cleaner at Vu Jewellers will have it looking like new.
We often get asked about titanium wedding rings, especially for men. Although there are benefits to having a titanium ring there is one major disadvantage – they cannot be resized. As we grow older it’s natural for our fingers to change size. If you buy a titanium ring in your 20’s/30’s/40’s it is unlikely to fit comfortably as you get older and you will need to buy a new ring rather than resizing the ring you have. Due to this factor we suggest avoiding titanium if you can.
Gemstones
If you’d like to add some sparkle or colour to your wedding ring there are lots of gemstone options you can choose from. Diamonds are often top of the list due to their strength and brilliance – don’t forget diamonds come in a variety of colours so you can add some beautiful blue, yellow, green, pink, red, brown or even black tones to your ring. Sapphires are also pretty tough stones meaning that they will resist damage from everyday life and look great for a really long time. Other popular stones to include are rubies, emeralds, topaz and tourmalines. You may even want to include your birthstone, just make sure you do some research before choosing the stones as some are quite soft and are more suitable for occasional rings. If you have any questions about gemstones, feel free to contact Vu Jewellers as we’re happy to talk you through your best options.
Although traditional court bands are a popular style of wedding ring, they’re not the only design available. You can design your ring to be as unique and personal as you like – make sure it’s something very ‘you’ and something you love.
Some people choose to have one awesome ring to represent the engagement and wedding as a whole rather than wearing two separate rings. Have a browse at the rings on the Vu Jewellers website or in store, have a look on Google, Instagram, Pinterest, magazines and gather your ideas on what styles you like best. You can then sit down with our in-house jeweller and we can draw up a design to match your ideas. If you’d like we can make the ring in silver first so you can try it on and make sure it’s exactly to your liking before we create the final design using the metal and gemstones of your choice. We want to ensure you love the final result!
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For special commission wedding rings we ask that you allow roughly 6-8 weeks from first discussion with us to completion – we will need to source the materials you choose and work through various steps of the design process with you. If you’re having a shotgun wedding then not a problem, pop in and have a look at the range we have ready in store.
At Vu Jewellers you’ll also find a great range of wedding jewellery for the bride, groom and bridesmaids. Whether you’re after individual pieces or matching sets, we can make sure you have everything you need to make your wedding party shine. We even have a great range of cufflinks for the guys, all handmade in New Zealand.
If you’re just getting started with the wedding plans and need some tips on planning your wedding in Queenstown have a look at these organisations. We’ve worked with lots of wedding related organisations over the years and these are some of the best around.
Queenstown Wedding Association
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