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What To Know About Vintage Engagement Rings

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If you’re looking for a unique and truly gorgeous engagement ring, an antique or vintage engagement ring may be the perfect choice for her. With so many options that range from cathedral settings to intricate floral designs, vintage engagement rings may be designed to fit the style and personality of the one you love.

While we’ve put together the below tips on shopping for a vintage engagement ring, the most important advice we can give you for vintage engagement rings is to always buy one from a reputable vendor to ensure you receive the value and quality your other half deserves.

An Overview Of Vintage Engagement Ring Settings

While out shopping for vintage engagement rings for Valentine’s at Kalmar Antiques, among the first things the shop will want you to consider is the settings. Vintage settings lend themselves to the styles of the art deco, Victorian and Edwardian times. These beautiful styles often feature amazing intricacies. Filigree and milgrain, especially, are two popular techniques that were used to create even more detail within the settings.

Filigree is a type of delicate metal work that usually features twisted metal threads or metal beads found throughout the setting. The most common engagement rings feature yellow gold filigree embellishments both on the shank and around the diamond.

Milgrain engraving is a type of embellishment that gives the ring its vintage look, complete with minute metal balls that decorate the sides of the band as well as the crown of the ring.

Why She Will Love A Vintage Engagement Ring

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Antique or vintage engagement rings are eye-catching. They boast unique designs with a classic look and beautiful intricate details. A vintage engagement ring truly is a timeless piece of jewellery, something that is sure to be cherished and perhaps even passed down through future generations.

You can also personalise the vintage ring you choose for her to make sure it fits her style. In other words, vintage rings truly do stand out from the crowd.

From a fancy milgrain design to a stunning floral starburst, the options are endless. Vintage engagement rings can be found in an array of metals, too, including, white gold, yellow gold, rose gold and platinum.

What To Know When Buying The Ring

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Have you been thinking about buying a really old vintage ring? It will certainly make for a unique engagement ring with a very special history, but keep in mind that it can be a risky move if you don’t know what you’re looking for.

Antique rings don’t usually come with a genuine certificate from the AGS or GIA, which means you don’t have real validation of the diamond’s quality. While a seller could promise an exceptional cut, colour and clarity, they might not have any way of proving it.

What’s more, it can be difficult understanding the setting’s condition. You need to be sure the diamond is securely held in place, but you won’t know if the setting will deteriorate over time.

Finally, when it comes to the price of the ring, you may not get the best value. Consider if you’re paying just for the fact that it’s decades old, or for the actual setting and stone.

However, you can avoid all this uncertainty by purchasing vintage rings from a reputable seller like Kalmar Antiques. You’re sure to delight the love of your life.

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If you like this post then check out my post on Women’s Dress Codes to Suit all Occasions or my January Quiz

I’m Getting Married!

I’m Getting Married! The time has come to make an honest women of me! But what will I wear, eat, say and do? The pressure is clearly on now.

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Is that the right thing to say or should it be ‘we’ are getting married to be more inclusive? Whichever it is, the big day has been set and we are on the path to saying I Do. Beyond excited and having tummy backflips when I think that in 8 months the day will be mine all mine, oh and his too;)

My OH finally took the plunge and asked me in May after years together and knowing that I was so excited about getting married and he had no idea or need to ever even consider that he would. Our German/English pairing never ceases to amaze me in the way we approach things, coupled with the men are from mars and women are from venus scenario, our lives are interesting.

Those of you who regularly drop by know that I talk about the boys and my OH but don’t delve too deep about our relationship. I do let out the odd gushy poem like this one on the plane from Munich which says it all in a moment of hormones and fear of flying panic.

How did it all begin…

Finding love in my forties after a fun-filled, crazy, sometimes sad and always challenging life came out of the blue. I was scheduled to pick up a visiting professional who had travelled down from London to where I am on the south coast from the train station. I had known him for over a year through my work in social care by having the odd meeting and email. I was stood by my car looking through the glass door of the train station, trying to peer over the heads of the crowd bustling through, when his face came into view and I was suddenly smitten…shocked at how this came out of nowhere…but smitten all the same. Once I had greeted him and got us seated and belted up I almost shook my head at myself as I had that silly smile that you get when you like someone but I tried to tuck it deep inside me and keep my super professional facade up as this was a work thing and I’m normally good at painting the picture of being in control onto a nervous face.

The drive should have been 10 minutes from the station to our meeting room, I took the scenic route to make the hop feel like a road trip.

On the way back he asked me for coffee in the station cafe, I paid. Romance my dear readers is not dead!

Skip forward 7 years and our combined families are now one happy bunch and planning a wedding.

Tomorrow is a day with my girlfriends trying on wedding dresses!! I am pinching myself that I am actually going to be trying dresses on. In my mind I have low-key sophistication, but then I realised that I don’t even really know what that means!

This isn’t too much is it???

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The coming months are going to be crammed with planning. Planning for the wedding and planning for the loft conversion we are having done. Never do things by half should be our motto.

I’ve set up a Pinterest board today so please pin away with any wedding thoughts. If you’ve been somewhere and loved an idea please share it with me on the board. Drop your email or Pinterest link to me so I can add you.

The theme….Beach – Rustic – Chic, ridiculous but true! I can’t wait.

I’ll be writing about the lead up more and more over the next few months. Rings…will he wear one? Speeches…should be bother…. Being given away….is that even relevant these days? There’s alot to clog the brain with. I’ll need tea and help along the way.

I’m in the wedding bubble and it’s all about the ‘me’ at the moment!

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What Distinguishes Engagement Rings From Wedding Rings

Rings have long been an important symbol in the wedding culture. However, it’s not uncommon for the engagement and wedding rings to get mixed up or misunderstood. In fact, you can say that both terms are almost interchangeable in the modern culture.

This leaves us to ask, is there really a big difference between the two? If so, what are they? Do I even need to have an engagement and a wedding ring?

This article seeks to answer all of those important questions to gain some clarity on the matter. Nonetheless, there are so many choices for bespoke diamond rings online and in store now. It’s never been easier to buy any ring that fits the desires of your partner, especially if it’s custom made.

ENGAGEMENT RINGS

Firstly, let’s look at engagement rings. These are given at the time when someone asks the other person to marry them. Back in the day, women were given these rings and were meant to wear them from that moment to tell others she was now unavailable.

Of course, an engagement ring can take any shape, form or style. However, they have typically come to be known as having diamond or precious gemstones in. They also usually come with a beautiful band that may have engravings on it.

WEDDING RINGS

Now, wedding rings on the other hand are swapped between both parties during the actual wedding ceremony. You will often find that style-wise, they tend to be much simpler than the engagement ring and are placed on the fourth finger of the left hand. This is the main similarity, that both rings for the bride are placed on the same finger.

As you can see then, the engagement ring and the wedding ring are given at two different times and usually look different aesthetically. Do they also carry different meanings?

How the meanings behind wedding and engagement rings differ.

Engagement rings have been in the business for centuries and signified an exchange in ‘ownership’ from the father to the new husband. The ring would have been valuable however they developed in detail and grandeur as the years went by. This was mainly to signify the wealth of a man and make him more desirable to the woman and her family.

Therefore, it was as though to say the man was financially marrying the woman’s entire family with the engagement ring. It was a huge commitment not only to them as a couple but to the bigger picture. So, there was a lot of status attached to an engagement ring. Whilst these notions are clearly outdated, the sentiment of ‘giving the hand away in marriage’ still lives on.

So, even though there is a lot of importance with the wedding ring, it should never overshadow the engagement ring. With its simplistic design, the engagement ring still shines.

What are your thoughts on rings and do you wear a ring?

This is a collaborative post

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If you like this post then you may enjoy my Prom Dress post