Affordable Wedding Bands

Finding the right wedding jewelry is an extremely important aspect of the ceremony because the wedding bands in particular will be worn by the bride and groom forever. Wedding bands have gotten to be a great deal more ornate than they used to be. Diamond wedding bands have reached a peak in recent thanks to the celebrities who proudly display theirs.

Wedding bands have even surpassed the usual gold and are now moving into platinum and titanium bands. It used to be that 10k gold rings were the “in” thing to buy and these days they are looked down upon by most couples who would prefer to buy their gold in 14k or higher.

Simple diamonds are still a popular buy, but colored diamonds are gaining momentum thanks to J-Lo’s pink princess cut diamond ring with Ben Affleck. Other popular diamond colors are yellow, blue and aquamarine.

With the ever growing popularity of platinum rings, many couples are looking to shining silver and white gold as a cheaper substitute. White gold has a similar look of platinum, but is a fraction of the price. It is a great alternative.

In the past, the men’s ring was often of little concern to either as long as the woman’s ring was attractive, but these days, men want a nice ring or diamond studded ring almost as much as the women do.

Beautiful ring sets can be found from nearly any source. If you can afford it, you can locate good deals on sets at jewelry stores.

For the most part, the entire wedding ceremony is completely symbolic and that symbolism reaches its peak the moment the rings are exchanged.

Knowing this, can it really be a wonder that the chosen rings are just as important as the chosen couple?

You can virtually choose to go with any type of ring from any source. These days even department stores are offering great knock offs to the popular celebrity rings at extreme discounts.

The popular ring worn by J-Lo; which was a platinum pink diamond ring with a princess cut and accented with two white diamonds on either side can now be purchased at Wal-Mart in a white gold setting with zirconia’s and pink topaz stones.

Wedding bands still look better in a plain band style, but some people might prefer to accent the bands with diamonds. Whatever your taste is, you can pretty much find the right bands for you and your spouse to be anywhere.

All you really need to do is decide what look you want; what style that you want; and how much money you can afford to pay and then go on your search.

In order to get the best overall deals, you should comparison shop online. If you do it soon enough, you can have the bands ready way before the ceremony.

History of Costume Jewelry

There is virtually no difference between costume jewelry and antique jewelry. Costume Jewelry dates back to the 1930s. By the definition of antique that would also make it antique jewelry. However, most jewelry experts have come to agree that antique jewelry predates the 1930s.
Costume Jewelry came into being in the 1930s as a cheap disposable jewelry meant to be worn with a specific outfit, but not meant to be handed down through generations. It was intended to be fashionable for a short period of time, out date itself, and then be repurchased to fit with a new outfit purchase, or with a new fashion style. It became available in large quantities during the 30s.

Cheap jewelry also existed prior to the 1930s. Paste or glass jewelry as far back as the 1700s. The rich had their fine jewelry duplicated for a variety of reasons, using paste or glass stones. By the mid 1800s with the growth of the middle class there were now different levels of jewelry being manufactured using fine, semi-precious and base materials. Fine jewelry of gold, diamonds, fine gems such as emeralds and saphires continued to be made. Jewelry from rolled gold, which is a thin layer of gold attached to a base metal, entered the market for the middle class. This jewelry was often set with semi-precious gems such as amethyst, coral or pearls, and was much more affordable. And then there was jewelry that most anyone could afford, consisting of glass stones and base metals made to look like gold. All three types were intended to be passed down to future generations.
There are usually clues that can help one identify what era a piece of jewelry is from. Style, material, the type of piece. For example dress clips came in in the 1930s and were out of style by the 1950s. Jewelry reflects styles, designs, colors and stones of the era. For example from 1910 to 1930 silver was the favorite color for metal, so jewelry was found in platinum, white gold, silver or a base metal colored to look like silver. By World War II, gold was popular again but in short supply, since it was vital to the war effort. What gold was available was made into very thin sheets and usually bonded to silver (called vermeil) before being turned into jewelry. By the 1930s rhinestones popularity was ever increasing in Europe. It was not available to the Americans until the 1940s. As a result, many of the pieces from this period tend to feature lots of metal and a single stone or a small cluster of tiny rhinestones. .
Today is certainly not much different from past times. We still have fine jewelry, semi precious jewelry, and of course costume jewelry available to us. Costume jewelry can add the finishing touch and show your fashion sense. Costume Jewelry styles of past years are now becoming very fashionable and many are being reproduced. Even with costume jewelry there is a difference in quality. Many of the new pieces do not have the vibrance in the stones or the weight of the older pieces.
Antique and vintage costume jewelry are both fun to collect and fun to wear. No longer is costume jewelry simply "collectable." It is "in style, and " "fashionable," and a terrific conversation starter. Dress to impress!

Wedding Band Ring?

Mens Black Twilight Blackened Satin Finish Titanium Wedding Band Ring
This ring is very beautiful. The picture doesn't do it justice. They turned out much better than my fiance and I expected. We wanted something somewhat "goth" looking and non-traditional and these were perfect. We love them!

The only problem I have with the ring is that it scratches fairly easily. I got a scratch on it the first day I wore it and I wasn't even doing anything that would cause such a thing, so you do have to be careful with it because it does scratch up real easy.

This Pure Titanium Band has a Blackened Satin Finish With a Rounded Interior for a Very Comfortable Fit.

High Polish Ring with Round Cubic Zirconia

This is very nice but it's not diamond.
Nickel-free Sterling silver wedding ring set. The Cubic Zirconia/High Polish Ring with Round Cubic Zirconia also includes a rhodium plate finish, which gives it its lustrous white gold appearance. All of our cubic zirconia items are made with Grade A quality stones with a high-shine finish. All of our cubic zirconia pieces are always set and never glued on. Depending on the styles, SparklesForever.com uses both machine-cut and hand-cut cubic stones. SparklesForever.com guarantees that our Sterling silver merchandise is .925 Sterling or above.

Jewelry or Jewellery

Dansk (Danish) n. - juveler, smykker

Jewellery (jewelry in American English) is literally any piece of fine material used to adorn oneself. The word jewellery is derived from the word jewel, which was anglicised from the Old French jouel in around the 13th century. Further tracing leads back to the Latin word jocale, meaning plaything.

Jewellery has probably been around since the dawn of man; indeed, recently found 100,000-year-old Nassarius shells that were made into beads are thought to be the oldest known jewellery.^[1] Although in earlier times jewellery was created for more practical uses, such as wealth storage and pinning clothes together, in recent times it has been used almost exclusively for decoration. The first pieces of jewellery were made from natural materials, such as bone and animal teeth, shell, wood and carved stone. Jewellery was often made for people of high importance to show their status and, in many cases, they were buried with it.

Jewellery is made out of almost every material known and has been made to adorn nearly every body part, from hairpins to toe rings and many more types of jewellery. While high-quality and artistic pieces are made with gemstones and precious metals, less costly costume jewellery is made from less-valuable materials and is mass-produced.

from: Answers.com