White Gold Diamond Engagement Ring
What is white gold?
Eighteen-carat white gold consists of 75% gold mixed with 25% white metals such as nickel, palladium, and silver. New white gold rings are usually coated with a hard protective layer of rhodium, a silver-white metal like platinum, to keep a white gold ring looking at its best. But remember that the coating would eventually wear away and must be recoated to achieve its brilliant white color.
During the time of Second World War, platinum was banned for jewelry due to its need for military purpose. This encouraged the usage of white gold in jewelry manufacturing.
Today, white gold is chosen over platinum mainly because it is inexpensive. Averagely, a white gold wedding band can cost as little as one-fourth the price of a platinum ring. White gold is durable and much stronger than yellow gold. It is also scratch resistant and maintains a beautiful appearance under laborious situations.
After you decide the metal is white gold, you need to proceed to search for a perfect diamond to match your ring. There are several things you need to learn about diamond:
Cut: The cut of a diamond refers to the angles and proportions of the stone. Diamond cuts are designed cut to internally reflect light from one mirror-like facet to another, dispersing and reflecting it through the top of the stone. This brilliance is known as the diamond’s “fire.” On the other hand, diamond cuts that are too deep or too shallow lose light through the sides and bottom, resulting in less brilliance and ultimately, a lower value.
Clarity: Clarity is critical for diamond engagement rings. There are seldom flawless diamonds in this world, and most stones have various types of flaws and inclusions. Inclusions are additional minerals that may cause a streak or stripe through the stone, and fractures are tiny cracks and splits that look like tiny crystals, clouds or feathers. Clarity is the scale of perfection established by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) that measures the number and magnitude of flaws in a diamond.
Carats: Crude diamonds are often many carats in weight. After cutting, most diamonds are smaller than one carat. The average size for a diamond engagement ring is approximately one-third of a carat.
The larger the diamond, the rarer it is in nature, thus making it more expensive. A one-carat diamond, for example, costs more than twice a half-carat diamond. However, cut and setting can make a diamond appear larger (or smaller) than its actual weight.
Color: it is a big misunderstanding that most people believed that all diamonds are colorless. In fact, diamond color ranges from colorless to varying shades of yellow pink, and brown. A diamond’s color rating refers to its degree of coloration, and the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has developed a grading system using alphabet letters D to Z that compares the color of a diamond to the color of pre-selected gems. Later letters indicate deeper colors.
Shapes: Normally, natural diamonds will be cut into the above nine shape according to their specific condition. After you have looked different diamond shapes carefully and are familiar with each one, you will undoubtedly have an aesthetic preference. Before finalizing your decision, it is very important to try on rings with different diamond shapes to be sure you are choosing the one that best suits your hand. Thin, narrow shapes such as the emerald or the marquise do not sit well on thick fingers unless they
are set with accent stones, and similarly thicker shapes such as a heart or round do not always look best on slender fingers. Examine a variety of shapes in different settings to find that one special ring that truly looks best on your hand.
Inclusions: it is said that flaws and inclusions are inevitable in natural diamonds. Many times a distinctive flaw creates a focal point within the stone, and give it a characteristically true uniqueness to that one jewel. Diamond flaws and inclusions can also be used to identify individual gems, insuring that your stone is not replaced during repairs.
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