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There are several metals available for when it comes to choosing a ring for your engagement or wedding band and understanding the properties of each will help you make the right choice. Let’s look at the most popular metals.
Gold
The most traditional choice when it comes to rings, particularly for engagements and weddings, are those made of gold. It’s very versatile and comes in many different variations depending on what it’s used for. It’s available in classic yellow gold, as well as the more contemporary white gold and the unique hues of rose gold for those looking for a variation of the classics. Gold jewellery is infinitely customisable and can be crafted by an expert jeweller at jewellery stores like Chapter 79 to your exact desires.
These different gold colours are thanks to the metals used to create the alloys that make up your ring because no ring will ever be pure gold, it’s simply too soft. You can tell how pure a ring is by the karat rating – with 24 karats being pure gold, and 9, 10, 14, or 18 karat gold being an alloy, which is essential for hardness and durability, and not a mark of a ring being blended to reduce the cost.
Platinum
Platinum looks similar to white gold in appearance and is a white metal too, but it has more of an understated and softer lustre than its gold counterpart. This allows the stone to be more prominent and take on the role of being a stand-out centrepiece of the ring, and the lustre doesn’t fade or discolour over time. Platinum is often considered to be more precious than gold and does fetch a higher price, so keep that in mind.
You should opt for a platinum ring if your skin is very sensitive and reacts to gold, or if your life is a more hectic one and you live an active lifestyle. Platinum is strong than gold and can withstand a few knocks, so it might be worth choosing for this reason.
Sterling Silver
There was a time when silver was worth more per gram than gold was, and that time might be coming back. It’s a very affordable metal and bears the same softness in its purest form that gold does, so an alloy is used to craft silver jewellery. It’s most often mixed with copper to create the alloy we know as sterling silver. It’s available for a fraction of the cost of gold and platinum, so a ring made of sterling silver will be more affordable, but there are some trade-offs.
Sterling silver can scratch fairly easily and is also prone to tarnishing, so it needs to be properly stored and will occasionally need cleaning and polishing to maintain its pristine look. Choose sterling silver if gold and platinum are out of your reach and you are going to commit to the upkeep that a silver ring will need.
Choosing a ring often needs some research and understanding of the different metals and their pros and cons before you decide on which metal you choose for your ring.
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