Adding a Finish, Diamonds, or Engraving to Your Ring—Final Touches

There are so many ways to customise your wedding ring, from choosing an alternative finish for your metal, to adding precious stones, to a personal engraving. Read on for our expert guide to all of the options available to you.

 

Wedding Ring Finishes

The finish of a ring refers to the way in which the jeweller finishes the metal of the band. The standard finish is a mirror finish, which is a highly polished shine. Some finishes are applies using polishing mops of varying hardness to achieve intentional striations in the metal, whilst others are more intensively applied with tools like hammers. Each finish gives a different look and feel to your ring.

 

Mirror finish

A highly reflective, polished finish that results in a mirror-like surface on the ring. This finish catches the light beautifully, and will show signs of scratches and wear more slowly than others due to its reflective quality.

 

Fine Matt finish

The fine matt finish may also be referred to as a satin finish. It is created using a stiff bristled polishing mop to add a soft, fine, mattifying texture in parallel lines around the band of the ring. It is a non-reflective finish with no apparent texture. Fine matt rings can show scratches more quickly than you might expect as the scratches will appear more shiny than the matt surface of the ring. These marks can easily be removed by a jeweller.

 

Coarse Matt finish

Coarse matt is a more textured finish with more obvious signs of embellishment. Similarly to the fine matt finish, it is applied with a hard bristled polishing mop. However, this finish is applied in a cross-hatching motion which gives a more stylised appearance on the surface of the metal.

 

 

Hammered finish

Hammered rings are each beautifully unique as the lightly dented finish is applied by hand. This finish creates a beautiful but understated sparkle when each organic facet catches the light. We can also make hammered rings with a fine matt finish if you would prefer less shine to your ring. Due to the stress the metal experiences when being hammered, this finish is not recommended on 9k white gold as it can make the ring brittle.

 

Sandblast finish

This unique finish is applied using high pressure sand blasting. It has a rough, organic appearance that gives a mattifying affect to the metal. Sandblast rings require more regular cleaning due to the extreme texture of the surface.

 

Stardust finish

The stardust finish combines elements of sandblasting and mirror finishes to create a very sparkly look. Stardust finish rings do not show signs of wear as quickly as other finishes.

 

Adding Diamonds to Your Wedding Ring

You can customise most of our plain ring styles with small diamonds of your choice. This is a great option for those who want to wear their wedding band as a stand alone piece, rather than alongside an engagement ring. You can also continue to add a stone at every anniversary, which is a lovely, romantic touch.

All of our diamond-set wedding rings and eternity rings are set with a minimum of H SI quality stones (unless specified as different on the product page) Some diamond-set rings will offer the choice of two different grades which you can choose between to suit your budget.

When choosing smaller diamonds to be set into your wedding band, you will find that unlike in an engagement ring, the stones in a wedding ring are not likely to be certified. Although it is still important to get good quality stones, the cost involved in certifying each diamond often out prices the cost of the stone itself. This means that certification for these diamonds would increase the price by hundreds of pounds!

 

Different Setting Types

There are different ways of setting diamonds, which can give totally different results of how the end product will look. Each setting style will wear differently. For example, a channel setting is very secure and will not snag while anything with prongs is slightly more delicate.

 

Channel setting

Channel setting refers to rings where multiple diamonds are set into a channel-shaped hole. The edges of the stones are safely encased in metal which results in a very secure setting. This setting style is ideal if you are worried about catching your ring on clothes.

 

Pavé setting

Pavé set diamonds are held between beads of metal. This delicate and sparking setting style can give the impression that there are more diamonds in your ring. Pavé set rings are often finished with a mill grain edge to complete the "vintage look".

 

Roman setting

Roman setting is where a diamond is set into an individual hole. This setting style is minimalist and clean, and allows the full shape of the stone to shine.

 

Tension setting

Tension setting uses the natural tendency of the metal to spring back to its original position to hold the stone in place. The diamond appears as if it is floating, but is always very securely held.

 

Fancy setting

There are different ways of making a diamond appear as if it is floating by cutting away channels and patterns which become a part of the setting style.

 

It isn't unusual for diamonds to work their way out of a ring over time, so we highly recommend that you have the setting checked by a professional jeweller every 6 months to a year. It is imperative that you insure your items of jewellery, especially if set with diamonds or other precious stones. It is important to choose the right setting for both your personality and your lifestyle. For example, if your job is manual, and you use your hands a lot, choose a setting that will be more resilient to lots of knocks and bumps such as Roman or channel setting.

 

Engraving Your Wedding Ring

We can add a personal touch to your wedding rings by engraving them. Choose between a variety of fonts, methods and styles to bring your dream ring to life. Engraving starts from just £24 per ring. We can usually add 30 characters but this depends on finger size and diamond placement. We offer three different methods of engraving: machine, laser and by hand.

 

Types of Engraving:

 

Machine Engraving

 

 

Machine engraving is applied using a precise diamond tipped cutter. It is extremely accurate and clean. This style of engraving is available in three fonts: Times New Roman, Helvetica, and Script.

Machine engraving can only be applied to the inside of your ring, and is not available on Tungsten Carbide rings or rings of 8mm width and above.

 

Laser Engraving

 

Laser engraving is done using a state of the art laser engraving machine. This allows for much more intricate laser designs. As a standard, we offer four fonts: Times New Roman, Script, Helvetica, and Ancient Runes. However, many more fonts are available upon request.

 

Laser engraving is much deeper and more defined than machine engraving. It can also achieve much finer lines and more detail. It can appear much darker, particularly on Titanium and Tungsten. This style of engraving is available on both the inside and outside of your ring.

 

Hand Engraving

Hand engraving is an extremely specialised and traditional skill. Using a variety of specialist tools, our expert hand engraver can carve out words and patterns into your ring with incredible intricacy. Hand engraving has a lovely 3D effect and is usually used to apply decorative finishes to the outside of rings. You can shop our range of hand engraved rings here.

If you would like your engagement ring to be engraved on the inside, we may recommend hand engraving to ensure a good finish and no risk of damage to your diamonds. Hand engraved messages are available in Script or Times New Roman font.