Finding the perfect wedding ring is not an easy task. There are plenty of things to consider and decisions to lockdown. It may seem daunting, but the best thing you can do is take it one step at a time. You’ll need to make the first decision is whether you want a custom or pre-made wedding ring.
Today, we will help make this decision a little easier for you by discussing the pros and cons of both.
Custom vs. Pre-Made Wedding Rings Pros and Cons
Let’s start with custom wedding rings, their pros and cons, before we move to pre-made wedding rings you choose from a jeweller’s catalogue.
Custom Wedding Rings
Custom rings take longer because you have to give input on the design before it is made. Still, many couples prefer to get a custom ring as it allows them to personalise it, add meaningful elements, and make it unique.
Pros:
- You get a unique, one-of-a-kind wedding ring, making it extra special.
- You can design a custom wedding ring yourself, which gives you more control over the final product and its price. Most jewellers offer revisions to the design till you are satisfied.
- Custom wedding rings are locally crafted, guaranteeing higher quality than imported or mass-produced pre-made rings.
- You don’t have to go through the buyer’s dilemma of considering and meeting various criteria as you do with mass-produced pre-made rings. You can pick and choose the things you like and include them in your custom ring design.
Cons:
- There’s a fair bit of research involved if you want to design or help design a custom wedding ring. You need to understand styles, settings, precious metals, gemstones, and more. Although, your jeweller will be there to guide you through the process.
- Apart from the material costs, revisions to your custom ring may cost extra for making/ crafting.
- The quality of custom rings, revision policies, and level of guidance depends on your jeweller, which means you need to find the right custom diamond ring designer.
- Custom wedding rings typically cost more than similar pre-made options. While you control how much you spend on a custom wedding ring, you can probably get more value from a pre-made option.
- It is unlikely that you can design a truly unique wedding ring, as there are millions of pre-made ring designs in the world. A skilled jeweller can help create something unique, but it is rare to actually achieve it.
- Custom wedding rings take a lot of time to complete, sometimes up to 2-3 months.
Pre-Made Wedding Rings
A quicker and more convenient option is to opt for a pre-made wedding ring. You can pick one out of the many high-quality options at various reputable jewellers. Most jewellers will also give you options to personalize pre-made rings like adding an engraving or choosing your preference of stones and setting.
Pros:
- As long as you know what you want (metal, stone, etc.), pre-made rings take very little time because you just pick the one you like.
- There are still some customization options like the type of stone, setting, precious metal, or engraving you want.
- You don’t have to go through the complex process of designing a wedding ring and making revisions to the design.
- Typically, a pre-made wedding ring costs less than a custom ring of similar materials and design.
Cons:
- While you can personalise pre-made rings to some extent, they are not unique.
- You still need to research the basics of rings to understand your purchase, however, a good jeweller can guide you through most of it.
- There are plenty of options, and it may take some time to find the perfect wedding ring. Although, it should never take nearly as much time as it does to get a custom wedding ring.
Think About How They’ll Look In The Pictures
Whether you’re thinking about engagement pictures or wedding photos, you need to bear them in mind when you’re thinking about which ring to choose. You want to make sure your wedding photo book is sparkling with pictures of both the engagement and wedding rings. These photo books will stay with you for years, so be sure to pick the right ring. You’ll probably have pictures up on shelves and on the walls so be sure to put time and effort in choosing the ring and in imagining what it’s going to look like in the photo books you use.
Conclusion
Regardless of whether you decide to get a custom or pre-made wedding ring, you should study the basics like ring design, type of metal, stones, and so on, to make sure you understand your purchase. However, it is perhaps even more important to find a trusted, high-quality jeweller.
If you have a good jeweller, the entire process can become much simpler and easier. They can guide you better, help make decisions, and ultimately give you the perfect wedding ring.