A Look at How Engraving Can Easily Provide a Unique and Thoughtful Element to the Present of a Ring, Necklace or Charm.
Monday, January 23rd, 2012Have you heard about the new hot trend in wedding rings? Couples are using fine jewelry engraving to carve their vows into the wedding rings on their fingers. This beautiful and personal touch makes reliving your vows easy in a beautiful and classy way. If you think you might be interested in doing this as well, read on for information about jewelry engraving so that you can be sure to get the results you want.
If you want to have your wedding rings engraved you should know that this is one thing you should not do yourself. Just as jewelry casting is best left to the professionals. Engraving something as special as wedding jewelry takes time, patience, experience and a number of specialized tools. Jewelry engravers, especially those working by hand, have likely spent years learning the different properties of precious metals since each metal can take engraving very differently.
There are different ways to engrave jewelry. They include laser engraving and other machine engraving techniques. There is also a hand engraving technique as well. Because laser and machine engraving use computers they can be great for placing text on the inside of rings. This is the technique that is most often used if scribing wedding vows inside of wedding bands.
The style of the writing on the inside of the ring is as important as how it is placed there. There is a huge range of different type styles ranging from plain text to very ornate calligraphy. Ornate styles of writing are beautiful but can be hard to read especially if they are small. In order to keep the writing legible you should select a much plainer style of text. These can still be quite lovely. If you are dealing with an experienced engraver they can give you excellent guidance about which type styles work well.
Hand engraving is a different technique. It can be used to produce some beautiful designs but since it can take a great deal of time to master different tools it is best left to the professionals. Hand engraving can often work best on jewelry that is made out of gold. Gold is a very soft metal, especially higher karat gold. Therefore, gold can be a metal which is easier to work with than platinum or silver and therefore may be less expensive to engrave.
The depth of strokes used is a good indication of the quality of an engraver. He or she should have been working on jewelry for some time so that they have experience. You should ask to see samples of their work so that you know if you like their style and the way they finish a piece. They should have a range of tools to select from and have experience working in the kind of metal your piece is made of.
Sizing can be a critical issue for jewelry that has been engraved. This is because once a pattern is placed on the metal and carved into it, it cannot be changed because the piece is made larger or smaller. This is especially true for rings. If you were to stretch the ring it would distort the pattern and if you attempted to remove a portion of the ring to shrink it the joins would become noticeable very easily.
If you take the time and plan out the piece to be engraved you will be amazed at how touching and memorable the piece can become. Imagine being able to look inside your wedding ring and read your vows as freshly as the day you first exchanged them. Engraving your rings can be one way to express your love and commitment to your partner in a lasting and meaningful way.
