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Designing and Making Custom Wedding Bands?
dystrophy asks: "I'm planning on getting married shortly after I graduate in December. Because I'm a student who doesn't work much, I don't have tons of money to spend on an engagement ring/wedding band. After discussing this situation with friends and family, I discovered that poverty is the great equalizer. My parents designed their own wedding bands and had them cast for relatively little money because they inherited diamonds and gold from their family. Because of finances, they decided to forgo the engagement ring and spend what they had on wedding bands. I have some decent quality diamonds and gold from my family. I haven't talked to my "wife to be" about the engagement ring yet (touchy topic), but she might be willing to go with a simple engagement ring, or just put the money toward a wedding band. I have just started doing research on the topic of designing rings. I have talked to several jewelry designers in the Bay Area, but they don't want to deal with me. They want to sell me their diamonds and gold (I've heard various and interesting excuses from each). How should I go about this? Where should I go? When it comes down to the design, should I just work with my wife-to-be to create sketches to give a designer, or is something more needed? Any really cool ideas and designs for wedding bands?"
I mean, if you wanted a GPRS/Bluetooth ring, I'd understand...
Anyhow, one idea I can offer for "cool" rings, if you like black (clothes and etc), is Zirconium. It's not just for fake jewels; unlike its crystalline form, its metal state is non-tarnishing and a very cool greyish-black. My wedding ring is half zirconium, half yellow gold (like the top and bottom halves of a sandwich).
My wife has a big 'ol honkin' rock - it's a 4 carat clear Opal. It draws a lot of comment and was within our budget, but as it's a soft mineral it requires some extra care.
Perfectly Normal Industries
...find a decent pawn shop in the area, and check out the stones and settings they have. If you've done some looking at more "reputable" jewelry stores, and learn how to look at a stone with a loupe to check for visible flaws, color, etc., you can get a very nice piece of "ice" for about 1/3 the price, and they'll usually throw in a simple setting in white or yellow gold for free.
My parents did it, (no engagement ring, just wedding bands) I've done it already with the engagement ring, and I think I'll probably be able to get her to go for it on the wedding bands, as well.
Going the custom-design route can be very cool, but unless you know a jewelry designer and/or metalsmith, it's probably just a good way to end up with some very nice mental images or sketches of the ring of your dreams.
My father-in-law custom made our wedding bands, he makes dental bridges and implements (correct term?) for a living. The skills are pretty similar.
That's sort of along the lines of the person who recommended an artist... try to find someone with the skills to do it that might be willing to do it on the side.
_sig_ is away
back in the day, there was no engagement ring. Well, there was, but it was the wedding band. You would pick out your wedding bands, and then your fiance would wear the band on the ring finger on her right hand until the wedding day, when it was moved to the left hand.
If your fiance balks at not getting an engagement ring, tell her you're following in your (hopefully) German heritage. It'll probably be a good conversation starter, and sounds better than, "We decided not to get an engagement ring." Which, BTW, translates into, "My stupid fiance is too cheap to buy be a frikken ring!"
Just a thought.
There are 01 types of people in this world. Those that understand binary, and me.