Rings With Bling
Oversized cocktail style rings are very popular for everyday wear.
Single large semi precious gemstones are used to create rings with bling. Pastel color gemstones will create a dainty air with even the largest gemstone.
Extravagant, over the top in size, cocktail rings have been popular for day wear for the last few years with no end in popularity of this trend in sight. One of the many contemporary jewelry artists to create these wearable pieces of art is David Yurman.
Yurman’s gorgeous chunky, faceted gemstone rings are set with the semi-precious gemstones smoky quartz, garnet, citrine and blue topaz (some are paired with diamonds) and can be viewed at his website.
Choosing one of these over the top gemstone rings in a pastel color such as pink tourmaline, aquamarine or blue topaz will allow even the largest ring to look feminine and dainty. And for today’s fashion scene the larger the gemstone the better.
However, don’t let the fact that these rings are made with semi-precious gemstones fool you into believing that they will be inexpensive. Large gemstones are of course less readily available then gemstones totaling 1 carat or less – that will add to the price.
Another major consideration in price will be the type and amount of precious metal used to make the setting. Typically, the larger the gemstone the more metal will have to be cast to make a secure setting to hold the gemstone.
For those on a budget two popular choices are blue topaz (rated the 2nd most popular colored gemstone in 2006) or aquamarine set in sterling silver and smoky quartz set in 14K gold or even more budget friendly – a gold filled setting. The two blue gemstones, topaz and aquamarine, are more expensive than quite a few other semi-precious gemstones but using sterling silver rather than gold for the setting will significantly lower the price.
Smoky quartz is a very inexpensive gemstone that is readily available. As it is a brownish color it would look odd in a silver setting. The relatively deminimis cost of the gemstone will offset some of the expense of the karated gold setting.
The image shown on this page is a personally owned ‘ring with bling’. This is an 8 carat eye clean aquamarine that was set in white gold. The next article in this series will give easy instructions on how you can make your own ring with bling.
More rings with bling can be viewed at Lauren K and Allison Daniel Designs . Many of Allison Daniels Designs are made with gold-plate settings so they are quite inexpensive.
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