Choosing Your Engagement Ring - Metal Options

There was a time when the only metal that was available for an engagement ring was yellow gold. As time went on cool white metals became fashionable and platinum and white gold dominated the jewellery market.

With the recent rise in popularity for both yellow and rose gold, there is much more choice available when choosing your engagement ring. There are a few things to keep in mind when making this decision…

FASHION

A lot of people are swayed by what is fashionable now or by what will ‘date well’. The reality is that your engagement ring will not be fashionable for your whole life – metals and styles will come in and out of fashion and as this is a piece of jewellery that you will wear for all of your life, you cannot choose a style that will remain in fashion. LOVE your engagement ring! So long as you choose a ring that you adore, it won’t matter what the catwalks say!

SKIN TONE

Rose and yellow gold are warmer coloured metals and as such, can look a lot nicer on Irish skin. The cool tones of white gold and platinum tend to suit sallow skin. When choosing your engagement ring it is important not to rule anything out until you have tried it on. You might be surprised by which colour suits you best.

COLOURED STONES

If you are choosing a coloured stone for your engagement ring keep in mind what metal will complement the stone. Champagne diamonds, morganite and gemstones of similar colour tones tend to look better in rose gold whereas deep blues such as sapphire are more suited to white metals. White diamonds are enhanced by white settings, either white gold or platinum, but can look equally beautiful in any metal.

contemporary morganite engagement ring with diamonds

PLATINUM VERSUS WHITE GOLD

If you choose a white metal the big question will be whether to opt for white gold or platinum. A lot of marketing has portrayed platinum as the superior metal in the last decade but both metals have both positives and negatives. Platinum is a natural white colour whereas white gold is slightly off-white and is normally plated in a metal called rhodium to give it a whiter look. This plating will wear off and will need to be re-plated every one to two years. Platinum, on the other hand, will remain the same colour but will dull down much more quickly. White gold will stay shinier for much longer than platinum rings. Oddly, while platinum is a harder wearing metal, white gold is a better choice for stone set rings. As platinum is a very dense metal it absorbs no shock if it is knocked and therefore settings can move more easily. White gold will absorb a lot more of the shock from a knock and so will keep your diamond more secure. Both are durable metals but both will require care and maintenance. Engagement rings are expensive and should be treated as such. You wouldn’t buy a Mercedes and drive it for 10 years without getting it serviced, the same applies for diamond rings!

WEDDING RING

As with all choices regarding your engagement ring, you must consider the wedding ring also. A platinum engagement ring means that you will have to choose a platinum wedding ring – as white gold is a softer metal it would be worn down over time if worn next to a platinum ring.

Below are some images of our engagement ring collection in various metals…