FOREVER LOVE

Clare Kinchin Photography

As the symbol of your union you’ll wear for life, choosing your wedding jewellery is a big decision. From where to start to selecting metals and gemstones, we’ve enlisted the experts to help you pick the perfect rings

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Perhaps you’re newly engaged and wondering what wedding ring will pair perfectly with your engagement ring. Maybe you’re about to propose and searching for the most striking band to present to your loved one, Or you might have jointly decided to get married and fancy buying (or making) your own rings together. Whichever scenario best describes you, you’ll find there’s an abundance of choice. But having to narrow down an endless array of options can be part of the problem, so where exactly do you start?

It’s very common to feel overwhelmed when you’re looking for your or your partner’s wedding jewellery. “This forever piece of jewellery has much to fulfil and the pressure to get it right can be daunting,” says Chloe Wild from Emily Nixon (emilynixon.com). There’s an array of different approaches to the task. Visit jewellers to peruse and pick from their in-house collections, scroll through the likes of Instagram, Pinterest and the Wed website for inspiration, or get creative and come up with your own designs that can be brought to life with a band made especially for you. You’ll soon discover that you’re drawn to styles, so take note of your preferences and go from there.

The best way is to begin with you. “Trust what you know and don’t get your head turned by trends or convention – be authentic and true to yourselves,” urges Chloe. “Is your style subtle, bold or flamboyant; what colour metals do you like?” By using yourselves as muse, you’re more likely to end up with something reflective of you and your relationship, as well as a piece that will stand the sartorial test of time.

2. 2. A little bit of research (and rifling through each other’s jewellery collections) should give you a distinct flavour, and whether you opt for matching bands or different styles, the most important thing to remember is there are no rules when choosing your wedding rings. “If you and your partner have different styles, then embrace it,” says Nicola Price at Drakes (drakesjewellers.co.uk). So if you adore gold but your partner prefers silver, then pick those metals you each love, and match your stone, shape or engravings instead.

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2. 2 Which moves us on to the specifics. There’s a core list of basics to consider when it comes to buying your engagement or wedding rings: budget, metal, shape, width, profile and stones.

Vital details

“The first things to consider are budget and your lifestyle,” says designer-maker Erin Cox (erincox. co.uk), who created the Molten Wedding Ring Company (moltenweddingringcompany.com) to provide ethical, luxurious and timeless rings with a modern edge. “I produce rings that have a heart, a story and are crafted with care and attention by artisans with high-quality materials,” she explains.

If your bank balance won’t accommodate your giant diamond ring dreams, then draw a line through that particular dream and discuss what exactly your buck will buy with your jeweller. It’s important to consider the wearability factor too – will a delicate white gold band be a practical, hard-wearing choice if you labour a lot with your hands? Will different metals and shapes of engagement and wedding rings sit flush or rub against each other?

With regards to your choice of precious metals, there’s silver, gold (white, rose, yellow), platinum (the most durable) and palladium, which come in a range of colours and carats (with the highest being the heavier and more expensive). “Colour is a key factor,” adds Chloe. “For instance, rose gold with ocean teal sapphires casts a warm glow and distinctive statement that will stand apart.”

“I like to mix metal colours and so it may be the ring shank is one colour and the setting a different one,” reveals Erin. “I also create a unique ‘camo gold’ where yellow and white gold is melted together. This is a great option if you wear a range of different coloured metal jewellery and ensures the ring stays modern with the ever-changing fashions.”

The shape of you

Shape-wise, you can plump for pretty much anything. “We create everything from classic shapes such as straight or wishbone, to the more organic curves and varying widths of our sandcast rings,” says Jamila Hirtenstein from Justin Duance (justind.co.uk). “If you are fitting your ring around an engagement ring or another ring that you wear often, that may inspire the shape of the final design.”

To pair your rings, Erin suggests two options. “Have a band shaped to go around your stone-set ring or have a slightly wider ring and have a section cut away for the stone to sit down into,” she says. “Tiara-style rings fit around the engagement ring like a little crown. A second can then be created as an eternity ring thus forming a halo of diamonds around the engagement ring.”

If you’ve already got your engagement ring, and don’t want to alter it when it comes to buying your wedding ring, it’s a good opportunity to get creative. “The great thing about designing a ring from scratch is that you can choose your shaping,” says Stephanie Stevens (stephaniestevensjewellery.co.uk), who gives couples the opportunity to personally follow the making journey from the ideas phase to the bespoke and handmade finish. “Shaping is really important to have a ring that feels comfortable to wear and suits your style. This is especially important for people who don’t wear a lot of jewellery; creating a comfortable ring that fits perfectly will help to make it feel like you aren’t wearing it.”

In the thick of it

The same goes for the thickness of your band (though chunkier bands don’t tend to work as well with slender fingers and vice versa), which will also be impacted by whether you’ll want to wear your engagement and wedding rings together. If you do, be aware that similar width sizes look best, or you can even opt for stacking with the addition of an eternity band.

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the inside and outside), D-shape (flat inside, domed outside), flat (flat on all surfaces), and a variation of these (such as domed court and double comfort flat). Our best advice here is to simply try them all on and select what appears, fits and feels best to you.

The final element is optional and, again, comes down to personal preference. You might want an understated plain band or something with texture (such as Justin Duance’s sandcast rings, Erin Cox’s organic undulations, or Emily Nixon’s seaweed-esque twists and folds), but if your heart is set on a stone, there’s a series of additional decisions that will need to be made.

Leave no stone unturned

Firstly, which stone? Diamonds remain timelessly tasteful, and the most popular choice with nearlyweds. Remember your four Cs for quality (carat, clarity, colour, cut) as well as its source, and try to shop as ethically as possible such as with vintage or fair mined diamonds. “Does your jeweller know about the materials they are using?” asks Chloe. “Find out the backstory of your ring; where the stone came from, for instance, and is the metal recycled?”

Meanwhile, gemstones provide the perfect opportunity to weave extra personality and meaning into your ring. You might wish to have a sentimental piece of family jewellery reworked; a vintage diamond added to a band you’ve fallen for in a jeweller’s signature collection; or select your favourite coloured stone to build your design from. “Sapphires offer a myriad of hues for a bespoke colour palette, far removed from the conventional solitaire,” says Chloe. “We have seen this more creative choice in engagement rings as an expression to do things differently, to make a statement and not be restricted by tradition.”

“My clients use stones to make the ring personal and remind them of something they love,” agrees Stephanie. “I mostly work with diamonds, sapphires and aquamarines because they love to represent the sea.”

Make it yours

Once you’ve thought about the design of your ring – from its overarching look to how it will wear, potentially pair, and feel – it’s time to hone in on the minute details to make it truly yours.

This will largely depend on how much of an input you have had from the start; if you’ve handpicked every element from the metal to the stone and setting, you will already have co-created a bespoke and meaningful ring based on your specifications.

If not, should you want to make or increase your individual stamp, there’s a myriad of ways to do so. “Engraving, stones, adding features into the band or settings...” Stephanie reels off the list of personalisation options. “I have created rings with waves, different colour stones, fingerprints, dates, coordinates; all these things make your ring so special to you.” “Because our ring designs are cast in beach sand or inlaid with wood, you can actually send us your own!” reveals Jamila of Justin’s unique use of materials and casting process. “Perhaps your partner proposed to you on a beach? Your ring could be cast in that very sand (from that very day if you’re super organised!). The lovely thing about sandcasting is that at a glance your ring may look like a simple band; however, when you look closely, you can make out the subtle texture and the odd specks of sand captured on the surface.”

Erin extols the virtues of taking that extra time to ensure your rings uniquely represent you. “Personalised wedding rings will always be popular – engraving or having secret stones set inside of the band conveys a special meaning to the wearer,” she says. “I rework a lot of jewellery using sentimental gold or stones, which adds additional meaning to the rings.”

As with all else in life, the trick is to stay true to yourselves, as Chloe’s final note resounds. “Ultimately, an engagement ring symbolises the unique love between two people,” she says. “So be free to express what it is that you find beautiful, endearing, and true to you both.”

1. Justin Duance justind.co.uk 2. Drakes drakesjewellers.co.uk 3. Emily Nixon emilynixon.com 4. Erin Cox erincox.co.uk 5. Corrinne Eira Evans corrinneeiraevans.com