Posts Tagged ‘Wedding Rings’

Engagement Rings Sales are Positive this Past Holiday Season, Despite the Recession

Sunday, June 20th, 2010

Sellers of diamond engagement rings and wedding bands look forward to the holiday season because it is the most popular time for hopeful grooms to pop the question. Known as the Engagement Season, with the Christmas spirit in the air and the hopefulness of the New Year ahead, many smitten men find it to be the perfect time to propose. Whether under the mistletoe, beside the Christmas tree, on a horse drawn carriage through the wintery park, or as the ball drops at midnight, the holidays offer many perfect settings for an engagement proposal. It is estimated that one third of all proposals take place between Thanksgiving and Valentines Day. In America, that is approximately one million couples!

The Nielsen Company had predicted that last year’s holiday sales would be rather flat, with a modest positive result. They anticipated that sales would increase about 0.03 percent, with 44 percent of households spending the same amount of money as last year, 42 percent spending less, and only 4 percent increasing their holiday budget. With turbulent economic conditions, sales are affected in all areas of retail. Jewelers, like other sellers, were unsure what to expect this holiday season, but it seems that even in times of financial depression, men and woman are still planning weddings. Engagement ring and wedding ring sales this last November and December were much better than forecasted. Maybe hard economic times are actually bringing people closer together, and reminding Americans that love and family are the most important aspects of life. The demand for engagement rings and wedding rings has not just held steady, but it has actually begun to climb! This is not only great news for wedding ring and engagement ring retailers, but the condition of the American family as well.

Many engagement ring and wedding ring websites and brick and mortar stores are advertising and promoting recession friendly ring options, and expected to see a surge in the less expensive silver and gold engagement and wedding rings, but this has also not been the case. Platinum wedding and platinum engagement rings, typically the most expensive option, have shown strong sales. This is especially true in the United Kingdom, and Ben Roberts of Clogau Gold, a Welsh jewelry company says, “It could just be that the Christmas spirit overwhelms couples – or that girlfriends and fiancées’ hints are not as subtle as they once were.” This may be true, but these high sales of Platinum wedding and engagement rings in the United Kingdom could also be due to the fact that the British Pound has held a much higher value than the American Dollar. Either way, it appears that even in a recession, people still find love a priority and look forward to making their commitment official with an engagement proposal or wedding ceremony.

Tags: Diamond Engagement Rings, engagement ring trends, Engagement Rings, engagement rings recession, holiday proposal, Wedding Rings
Posted in Engagement Rings | Comments Off

Jessica Simpson wants to team up with Pascal Mouawad and design wedding rings!

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

Divorcee, pop singer, actress, and tabloid queen Jessica Simpson has announced that she wants to create her own jewelry line. This would be no ordinary collection of gems, however. The songstress wants to specialize in extravagant wedding rings. She and her mother have their minds set on teaming up with celebrity jewelry designer Pascal Mouawad, whose family business has been producing high end and extremely sought after jewelry for four generations, and has held some of the world’s most important diamonds.

Pascal, born in Geneva Switzerland, brought his family’s business to the United States after attending college here. Since that time he has developed a strong reputation working for and with celebrities and well-known fashion icons. He had his big break in 2000 when he teamed up with Victoria’s Secret to design the famed million-dollar fantasy bra. Since, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Kidman, Eva Longoria, Gwen Stefani, Faith Hill, Mary J. Blige, Giselle Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks are just a few of the celebrities who wear Pascal Mouawad jewelry. Jessica Simpson is not the only star that has wanted to team up and design along side Mouawad. Other stars that have worked with Pascal include Grammy-award winning artist Seal, fashion icon Nicole Richie, and record producer Jermaine Dupri.

Simpson’s interest in becoming a wedding ring designer was sparked while attending a party at Mouawad’s Hollywood home. Jessica fell in love with a brilliant $10k five-carat wedding ring from his black and white diamond collection. Simpson plans to include other types of jewelry in her new line, but wants to focus on wedding rings. Many agree that she is not the best person to promote marriage, including Pascal. In fact, Fox News reported, “He wants to work with her, but definitely doesn’t think wedding rings would be appropriate for Jessica.”

The last few years have been dramatic for the singer; a terrible break up before her birthday, her precious dog snatched by a coyote, and a dreadful attempt and crossing over to the country charts. Fortunately, her designer shoe line has been rather successful. This being said, symbolizing the everlasting love and commitment of marriage with a Jessica Simpson designer wedding band may not fly with many brides. She has been in and out of relationships over the past several years, and even started the reality relationship television craze when she and her now ex husband Nick Lachey allowed cameras into their lives with MTV’s “Newlyweds.” While being married should not be a requirement for wedding ring designers, most do not think “happy long-term drama-free commitment” when they hear the name Jessica Simpson.

jessica_simpson

Tags: designer wedding rings, jessica simpson, pascal mouawad, Wedding Rings
Posted in Celebrity Jewelry | Comments Off

Wedding Ring Sets

Monday, June 15th, 2009

No matter what your personal tastes or budget, elegant wedding ring sets are perfect for the bride and groom-to-be who desire coordinated wedding bands that still reflect their own unique personality. When choosing wedding ring sets, you have several options to consider.

Types of Wedding Ring Sets

Whether you want a coordinated wedding ring and engagement band, or want a wedding set that encompasses the groom’s wedding band as well, there are options to meet any price range and preference.

Band sets are perfect for the bride and groom-to-be who want matching wedding bands without a lot of fuss. Band sets do not include an engagement ring, but because of the classic look of a wedding band set any style of engagement ring looks complementary when worn together with the wedding band.

Bridal sets are a popular choice because they encompass both an engagement ring and a wedding band in coordinating styles. Bridal sets can be simple or more elaborate, incorporating accent stones and other elements into the design. Bridal wedding ring sets do not include the groom’s wedding band, but you can always customize his wedding ring to complement your own if desired.

Finally, triple wedding ring sets include the engagement ring and both the bride and groom’s wedding bands in complementary styles. If you are concerned about the rings matching, triple wedding ring sets are your best option to ensure coordinating rings without any hassle.

Even with a matching wedding ring set, you have numerous options to choose from to make the rings your own and reflect both the bride and the groom’s unique tastes. You can incorporate a favorite gemstone, your birthstones or even engraving to add a special touch and strengthen the symbolism of the rings.Additionally, metal accents (such as Celtic knots or other intricate designs) or multi-tone metals offer a distinctive look that sets a wedding ring set apart from the rest.

The Cost of Wedding Ring Sets

If you are worried about the cost of a wedding ring set, there are things to consider before you write it off as too expensive. While ring sets are more expensive than buying a single ring, the total cost may be well worth it because you are getting the engagement ring, the bride’s wedding band and in some cases the groom’s wedding band as well.

When taken together, the set may actually be less expensive than if you were to purchase all three rings separately somewhere else.

Wedding ring sets are a convenient choice for the bride and groom-to-be who desire complementary wedding bands but do not want to try to find individual rings that coordinate with one another. While the total cost upfront is more expensive than buying each ring separately, wedding ring sets are a great way to symbolize your relationship with coordinating bands that will last a lifetime.

Tags: band sets, bridal sets, Engagement Rings, triple wedding ring sets, wedding ring sets, Wedding Rings
Posted in Engagement Ring Sets, Wedding Rings | Comments Off

Engagement Ring Hints

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

If you have given it a lot of thought and finally decided that you are going to ask that special someone to be your bride, many thoughts may run through your head. You might find yourself envisioning having a family and playing catch with your son in the yard, or teaching your daughter to ride a bike for the first time. You may get a warm feeling imagining the holidays spent beside a roaring fire, and the special, intimate moments that you will share with the love of your life over the years to come. Coming to the conclusion that you are ready to settle down and get married is a heady time indeed. But you can’t put the carriage in front of the horse. Before all that good stuff happens, you have to pop the question, and you have to buy the ideal engagement ring, or you never know what the answer to that question may be.

Purchasing an engagement ring is a lot of fun, because you know that if you pick the right one, you are going to make someone that you love very, very happy. But if your relationship is like that of many couples, your taste in a ring may be very different from hers. So how can you make sure that you are buying a diamond engagement ring that not only appeals to you, but that will definitely appeal to your fiancÃ©e-to-be as well? I think the answer to that question lies in asking the right people the right questions, but doing so is very tricky so you have to probe for information using considerable caution.

What I am getting at is that you can ask her mother, her sister, and/or her friends what types of diamond rings she really likes. Is she partial to antique engagement rings, or does who always mention how much she adores Art Deco arrangements? Has she always mentioned how much she would love to have a bezel set ring, or is a black titanium engagement ring something that she has always dreamed of? Girls talk, as they say, so the people who are closest to her probably know what type of engagement ring she would truly cherish. But you want this to be a surprise, and as I just said, girls talk. So you have to understand who among her inner circle is someone who can keep a secret. Many people are prone to getting excited when they hear about this kind of thing and have a hard time keeping mum. Others can do it easily. You have to figure out whose brain you can pick without having her spill the beans.

You can also be very attentive when she is looking at ads in a magazine or when she seems to be admiring another woman’s jewelry. Try to take notice of the types of rings that she already wears to get a feel for her taste. When true love is present, it’s hard to go wrong, but it is a good idea to do all that you can to find the engagement ring that will melt her heart and make the moment of proposal last for a lifetime.

Tags: Engagement Rings, titanium engagement rings, Wedding Rings
Posted in Buying Diamonds, Engagement Rings, Ring Musings, Wedding Rings | Comments Off

Unique and Stunning Asscher Cut Engagement Rings

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

Okay, so you are a man who knows little to nothing about women’s jewelry, and you decide that you have been single long enough and you are ready to ask your honey to marry you. You may start thinking about the perfect place to pop the question. Maybe you should take her on a vacation…perhaps a tropical island or a ski trip in the mountains. Maybe it would be best to go to your favorite restaurant, or a concert in the park. Or maybe you are one of those guys who is feeling the ballgame scoreboard proposal or the freeway billboard thing. However and wherever you choose to do the deed, your next challenge is to learn something about women’s jewelry. You are going to have to select an engagement ring that is hard to say no to, and that is going to take some effort.

Not knowing a lot about women’s jewelry before you get married is not necessarily a very bad thing. It is totally possible that you wouldn’t have a girlfriend at all if you were the type of guy that is deeply into women’s jewelry and accessories. But I digress. Once you know that you are going to be buying an engagement ring, you have to know what’s out there and try to get some sort of inkling about what type of ring will truly wow your fiance-to-be.

A diamond is a precious commodity, but the way that it is cut is one of the things that sets one stone apart from another, and like anything else, there are varying standards of quality when you are talking about cut. One unique and stunning cut is the Asscher cut diamond. The style was patented by the Dutch brothers Asscher back in 1902, and the Asscher cut has been synonymous with elegant lapidary excellence ever since. The Asscher stone has a squarish shape with the corners cut so that the stone actually resembles an octagon. If you are wondering what type of engagement ring you may be able to present to your spouse-to-be that is truly precise and unmistakably eye-catching, you may want to consider an Asscher cut diamond. It is interesting to note that because of the fact that the cut is patented, each and every Asscher stone can be identified and authenticated (under magnification of course) through the family seal that each diamond carries on its girdle.

There is a saying that goes something like “I don’t know art, but I know what I like.” If you are somewhat intimidated by the prospect of buying an engagement ring, fear not. Simply do some web browsing and get a feel for the choices that you have, and think like the person who is considering buying a work of art. Find something that you like and it is very likely that the woman in your life will like it as well. Pay attention to detail, take notice of the intricacy of the cut, and let your common sense and personal taste guide the way.

Tags: Asscher Cut Engagement Rings, Diamond Engagement Rings, diamond rings, engagement ring, Wedding Rings
Posted in Buying Diamonds, Designer Engagement Rings, Engagement Ring Sets, Engagement Rings, Gemstone Facts, Ring Musings, Wedding Rings | Comments Off

Engagement Rings and Online Jewelers

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

When you realize that you have found the woman that you are going to spend the rest of your life with, one of the first things that you think about is finding the perfect engagement ring. When you watch television you hear all of the usual suspects that you see at the mall making their redundant sales pitches, but when you are looking for fine jewelry, you need to keep value in the forefront of your thinking. Companies that spend a fortune on television advertising trying to convince you that they have the best engagement rings are going to pass that expense right on to you, the consumer. Shopping for diamond jewelry is just like any other major purchase: you have to do comparison shopping and get the most that you can for your money.

A man who has decided to get married is rather vulnerable when he walks into a brick and mortar jewelry store. Most men are not savvy when it comes to purchasing jewelry, and when the salesperson gets involved, there are a lot of buttons there to push. They will tell you the exact formula of how much you are “supposed” to spend for your diamond engagement ring, and the innuendos will be in the air concerning the cost of the ring having something to do with the quantity of love that you have for your fiancÃ©-to-be. Most of us live on some sort of budget, and even though you may have decided to take the plunge, that decision didn’t come with a huge windfall of extra money, so you have to stay within your means while simultaneously buying an engagement ring that you are excited about and proud to give. And even if money is no object whatsoever, you want to get the best value that you can when you go the jeweler.

Depending on the size of the town that you live in, comparison shopping for the perfect diamond engagement ring can be challenging. How many jewelry stores are there in your town? If there are ample jewelers to choose from, do you have the time and energy to run all over town looking for the right engagement ring at the right price? Do the stores have a large enough selection to choose from? Can you compare the offerings of competitors side by side? Invariably, the answer to all or most of these questions is going to be a resounding no.

The obvious solution for anyone who is looking to get the perfect diamond engagement ring at the best possible price is to do your shopping at an online jeweler. Shopping for your engagement ring online saves you the legwork and you get to compare practically infinite options side by side from the comfort of your computer chair. When you purchase a diamond engagement ring it is an outward expression of your innermost feelings. When you shop at an online jeweler, you can feel confident that you did the necessary research and got the ring you wanted at the very best price that was available to you.

Tags: Diamond Engagement Rings, diamond jewlery, diamonds online, Engagement Rings, online jewelers, wedding bands, Wedding Rings
Posted in Alternatative Metals, Buying Diamonds, Engagement Ring Sets, Engagement Rings, Ring Musings, Wedding Rings | Comments Off

Diamond Engagement Ring: A Girl’s Best Friend?

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

There is that old saying about a diamond being a girl’s best friend, and even though we love diamonds, the giver of a diamond engagement ring should be the woman’s best friend, not the diamond itself. Good relationships that withstand the test of time are built on a solid foundation of friendship, and the strength and longevity that is symbolized by a diamond engagement ring is rooted in a genuine sense of friendship along with the passionate love that motivates a couple to make the ultimate commitment and get married. Every time the bride-to-be looks at her engagement ring she is looking at a beautiful symbol of love and deep, enduring friendship.

The purchase of a diamond engagement ring is a very important decision that, hopefully, a man will make just once in his life, so he has to be sure that he is getting a ring that the love of his life will cherish forever. When giving a gift the thought certainly counts most of all, but hey, we all like nice things, and there are a lot of beautifully crafted engagement rings out there, from classic antique engagement rings that speak of the elegance and timelessness that reaches across generations, to mind boggling floating diamond engagement rings designed by master jewelers. There are so many options out there for the man who is purchasing an engagement ring it takes a lot of thought to sift through them all and come away with the perfect ring for that perfect best friend that you have decided to spend the rest of your life with.

Since most guys do in fact buy an engagement ring just once in their lives (or at least very rarely), it takes some research to understand what types of arrangements are popular and what your options are. Obviously, it is a good idea to keep your eyes and ears peeled when you are around your fiancÃ©-to-be to try to get an idea of what types of engagement rings seem to “wow” her. Even if she is as in love with you as you are with her, and she is going to say yes regardless of what type of engagement ring you present her with, this is a ring that she is going to be wearing for the rest of her life. You don’t want to present her with a dolphin engagement ring that she secretly despises when you could have picked out a diamond flower engagement ring that brings tears to her eyes and has her friends salivating.

Diamonds are diamonds, and best friends are best friends, but a well selected, quality, creatively designed diamond engagement ring is a beautiful expression of a commitment to eternal friendship between two people who are deeply in love. Shopping for a diamond engagement ring can be a little bit overwhelming, but if you are patient, and you do your homework so that you understand what is out there, you will give your fiancÃ©-to-be a gift that she will treasure for the rest of her life.

Tags: Diamond Engagement Rings, diamond jewlery, diamonds online, Engagement Rings, online jewelers, Wedding Rings
Posted in Designer Engagement Rings, Engagement Rings, Wedding Rings | Comments Off