Diamond and palladium engagement rings

-Ensure your ‘Bling-Bling’ jewellery is ethically sourced

Modern youth and rap culture have popularized diamond jewellery to such an extent the slang term ‘bling-bling’, often associated with such jewellery, has been incorporated in recent years to the Oxford English Dictionary. Western culture places added emphasis on material consumerism, as shown in the importance in selecting perfect diamond and palladium engagement rings. After all isn’t it a sign of success if you can display your financial assets in the form of diamond jewellery? Contemporary rap and hip-hop artists seem to sometimes take this to the extreme, exhibiting encrusted diamond encrusted teeth ‘Grillz’, diamond watches, rings, earrings and pendants. However, this has prompted closer inspection to the source of these diamonds. As many know some of the world’s diamonds today still come from areas of conflict such as Sierra Leone, where people die mining such diamonds hence the name ‘blood diamonds’. Diamonds from such areas are unethically sourced, and further encouragement of such sourcing can lead to further devastation in these areas.

Many people today have a growing consciousness of only purchasing ethically sourced diamonds, especially when choosing to buy diamond or palladium engagement rings. Many websites are aware of this and have made concerted efforts only to stock ethically sourced diamonds.

Diamond, tanzanite and emerald palladium engagement rings

Diamond, tanzanite and emerald palladium engagement rings

A brief look into some of the gemstones on offer and how to decide which one is right for you, as well as advice on where to look for these rings.

When the time comes for a man to show his commitment to marriage and buy a ring to signify this, most will only look at diamond rings. Whilst there is nothing inherently wrong per se with this, as after all, a lot of women will only be content with a diamond ring. There are other types of gemstones available and they can look equally scintillating. Many jewellers will offer the next best thing to pre-set and custom diamond palladium engagement rings, and these are rings which use different gemstones at the centre. My local jewellery store informs me that their best sellers are in fact non-diamond rings. Very popular at the moment are tanzanite, topaz and emerald rings for engagement jewellery. This proves that the ring doesn’t always have to be diamond based. Perhaps why so many, do still go for diamond rings is that it’s slightly easier to distinguish a good quality diamond from a poor one. A lot of people will not even rely on certification to show them this, but use their untrained eye to see if the diamond sparkles or not in the light. Any gemmologist knows that this is not the correct way to ascertain a diamond’s quality. Instead the four C’s should be examined carefully. These are: colour, the cut of the diamond, the carat weight and finally the clarity of the diamond. It’s also very advisable to enlist the help of a certified gemmologist if you are buying say a topaz ring. Getting certification is also a very good idea if you have to, at any point, get your ring polished or cleaned. It will deter anyone from trying to dupe you and with palladium engagement rings- it’s definitely something to watch out for. Someone can easily swap the gemstone with anything else of lesser quality. That said, if you are getting a custom made ring you can ask your jeweller to cut the gemstone in a fashion that will give it the appearance of being bigger than it actually is. This from a cost point is highly effective as well, as chances are it will save you money as buying a pre-set is usually more expensive. Once you’ve decided upon what type of gemstone to select and whether to go for a custom made or pre-set ring, all that remains now is where to look for the ring. It’s advisable to start off by doing some browsing at a high street jewellers and if you can get to the main jewellery quarters in London or Birmingham, then you will be bound to find something of interest. But be aware some jewellers are fastidious in the sense of booking an appointment before you arrive.