Personalized wedding rings provide unique, one-of-a-kind meaning to this very important piece of jewelry. There are so many people who end up with the same bands and engagement rings that they tend to all start to look alike. While some people may not mind this at all, there are many other people who can truly appreciate having custom wedding rings as a way to mark their special day. Showing each other how much you care and love one another can be accomplished through such personalized jewelry.

Having one of a kind rings are also a way of bringing a little bit of the individual personalities to the wedding. What a wonderful way to express your love with words you choose. Perhaps its a special phrase that has meaning to the bridal couple that is ingraved on the inside or outside of the rings. Either way, it is a special way to show affection to one another.

A traditional romantic phrase or statement of fidelity is always popular - “Forever,” “Soulmate,” “The One.”. Engraving the wedding dates into the rings will make this set of personalized wedding rings something to cherish forever. You can have the date written out or have it engraved as elegant Roman numerals.

Adding the names of the happy couple is another great way to put together the personalized wedding rings. It could be a nickname that is used, just a first name, or a first name with the middle name or middle initial. Either way, names are a fantastic and very popular way to express individuality in the custom wedding rings. A second wedding may have you trying a different way.

If the happy couple had a child or two together, the rings could be engraved with the names of their children making it all that much more special. Special savings or phrases are another popular way of expressing the undying love the couple has for one another. The words true love, soul mate, forever, and twin souls are just a few words that could be used for personalized wedding rings.

Once you have decided what type of words or sayings you want engraved in the rings, it is time to decide what language you want it in. While English is the most common language chosen, other languages choices can add an air of the exotic. If you want to take heritage into consideration then you may want to have your personalized wedding rings engraved with a language that represents who you are. Chinese symbols are also a great way to express your love for one another and leaving the message secret from other people.

In the end it is all about what the two of you want as a couple. What makes it special for you will be different then what makes it special for someone else. Stick with what you love and it will be the best way to show your love and passion for one another in your custom wedding rings.

This time I want to take a look at one of the “4 C’s” of how diamonds are graded. For those that aren’t aware, diamonds are ranked in 4 main categories or groupings - cut, color, carat and clarity. Let’s take a close look at the last one - clarity.

The clarity grading scale ranges from IF (the best) down to I3 (the worst). In total, there are 10 different categories that a diamond can fall into.

Clarity looks at how many “inclusions” that are present in the diamond. In a nut-shell, inclusions are small blemishes or imperfections. They form naturally when the rock is forming in the earth and inclusions are found in almost all diamonds.

In order to place a grade on the diamond, a gemologist inspects the diamond under intense magnification in order to look at any inclusions that are in the stone. The grading is then submitted based on the number of inclusions, and as well how apparent or large they are.  Remember that this is done under intense magnification.

Just to illustrate, a diamond that has an IF or flawless grading has no inclusions at all. This is extremely rare, and as you can imagine, this type of diamond will have a huge bump in price.

A stone with a grading of VS2 will have “very slight” inclusions - these are only noticeable under a microscope and aren’t noticeable with just the naked eye. These diamonds are priced for significantly less that an IF graded diamond.

Make sure to familiarize yourself with the different ways diamonds are graded. Grab a diamond buying guide - this will make a huge difference in the end as you can save some huge cash on your purchase. Just a little education will be the difference in finding an affordable engagement ring instead of shelling out big bucks and making your jeweler richer.