Engagement Rings
Creating unique engagement rings in Toronto.
So, you’re looking to make an engagement ring.
Congratulations!
What are the next steps? Let me help make this process easy.
First, the custom engagement ring process can be enjoyable and fun. I’ve helped so many clients through this process and they often remark, “wow, that was easy!”. Quite simply my goal is to create the ring of your dreams. Not local to Toronto? No problem. I work with many long distance clients as well!
So, where to begin? There are many options to consider. This is, after all, a ring you will be wearing for the rest of your life. I’ve gathered some handy resources for you below if you’d like to start researching your options. If you have specific questions please get in touch and I would be happy to answer them!
The Process
This is a step-by-step guide to how the process works. Each project is unique and there will inevitably be some variation to the process.
This guide is meant to give you a general outline of how it works. It describes the creation of any kind of jewellery but, of course, applies to engagement rings as well.
Sometimes I’m also able to help my clients source out a commercial engagement ring rather than making one from scratch. The benefit of this option is that it is usually less expensive. The downside is that sometimes you may not be able to find every design feature you’re looking for in one commercial ring. The process for the commercial option is slightly different. Basically ‘Step 2’ is removed and the other steps remain the same.
Diamond Resources
Here you will find information on diamonds and the “4C’s”. I’ve also included information on diamond shapes and sourcing diamonds. If you listen to the internet it may seem that selecting a diamond is quite complicated. In reality, it’s pretty fun. I’d love to help guide you through all of this information to help you find out what’s really important to you.
There are also a large variety of lab-grown diamonds now available. Lab-grown or synthetic diamonds are chemically identical to diamonds extracted from the earth. Typically lab-made diamonds are about 30% less expensive than mined diamonds.
Moissanite
Recently Charles & Colvard released their newest, whitest line of moissanite called Forever One. In my opinion it is the first true alternative to diamond. I say the first ‘true’ alternative because not only is it white, fiery and beautiful, it is also durable. Not to mention easy on the wallet!
For those that have never seen moissanite in person I encourage you to come in and see some for yourself. If you are interested in seeing a particular size or shape of stone let me know ahead of time and I will bring one in for you to see. I always have some stones on hand but they may not be the exact one you wanted to see.
Non-Diamond Engagement Rings
A lot of my clients have been opting for non-diamond alternatives for their engagement rings. I’ve written about some options in this post. If you’re not going to go with a diamond the most important thing to consider when selecting a gemstone is hardness. This is a ring that you’re going to wear everyday so it needs to be durable.
Ethical Engagement Ring Choices
Many of the posts I’ve collected here contain information about ethical choices for your engagement ring. I am going to collect all of the information together and put it all into one post but I haven’t had a chance to yet. If you have any questions about ethical choices or alternative ideas for your engagement ring please get in touch.
Finding the Ring Size
Ah yes, the age old question. How do you figure out the correct finger size? When trying to arrange a surprise it’s sort of a give-a-way if you were to ask for it straight out. On the other hand it really is essential information and often critically important to get right. I’m going to collect a few tips into a post that I’d I like to call “operation ring size” but I haven’t had a chance yet.
In the meantime I recommend the following:
- try to trace the inside diameter of a ring that the person wears on their right ring finger
- ask relatives or friends if they know or perhaps can be recruited for this secret mission
- I can give you a set of plastic ring sizers that you may be able to sneakily place on the ring finger
Do you have some old jewellery that you’d like to re-use to create your engagement ring?
We can do that too!
You will find out more in my re-use old jewellery section.
Happy researching friends!