The Wedding Ring Blog

Buy a Mercedes but look for cheap wedding rings.

Sure, we are in the middle of an economic crisis (still), but what are the buying habits of the modern consumer? Nearly every day, I get an e-mail from a consumer asking if a particular wedding ring is available in titanium or some other very affordable metal, because they just do not want to spend money on their wedding ring. Jewelers all across America are looking for less expensive wedding ring styles as well. Yet, according to an article on Businessweek.com (Inscrutable Consumers Push New Frugality Overboard), today’s consumer is still spending money on higher-end items and gadgets. As featured in the article, "Americans are broke and depressed - and also swilling $3 lattes and waiting in line for iPhones." And judging by the best selling wedding rings on Amazon.com, items in their first twenty-five popular wedding ring styles are all under $60.00. So while many Americans crave iPhones and other high priced items, they are looking to spend almost nothing for the item that will stay on their finger nearly every day – their wedding ring!

Read Inscrutable Consumers Push New Frugality Overboard.

JC Penny's tungsten rings - why are they so cheap?

While doing some research, I came across this query which referred traffic to another one of my blogs - JC Penny's tungsten rings - why are they so cheap? This is a great question, and perfectly illustrates how the public sometimes gets confused or even hoodwinked by the jewelry industry.

Tungsten wedding rings are generally very affordable to manufacture, and have low intrinsic value. If I could import tungsten wedding rings right now, then I would probably pay about $8.00 per piece. For some time, you could (and probably still can) find tungsten wedding rings online for between $300 to $400, and some in the $200 range. By in my opinion, tungsten wedding rings were assigned a much higher value than what a tungsten wedding ring is actually worth and should be sold for either online or in a jewelry store. Has the tungsten wedding ring bubble burst? Well, the tungsten supplier Trent West recently lost their lawsuit against JC Penny’s, and you can read the article at NationalJeweler.com (Trent West, Penney's settle tungsten carbide suit). And to gain more insight about tungsten and the jewelry industry, read Trent West Sues Other Tungsten Manufacturers.

Tungsten wedding rings should probably never have been as expensive as they were. As overall pricing comes down, the potential for consumer confusion increases. In fact, you can see the variety of prices for tungsten wedding rings on Amazon.com.

Do not hate Steven Singer for his wedding rings!

 

For years now, Steven Singer Jewelers has been very successful with his I HATE STEVEN SINGER advertising campaign. The jewelry retailer has also been a highly visible advertiser with The Howard Stern Show since the shock jock’s terrestrial radio days. Now Steven Singer has made wedding rings available online. With both precious metal and alternative metal wedding ring designs to choose from, there just might be a wedding ring for anyone – whether you hate Steven Singer or not!

View wedding rings on IHATESTEVENSINGER.com.

Can Jewelry Be Rock N Roll?

Hubpages.com, a pretty interesting social media website featuring original content, features an essay about two companies that have created new jewelry with a rock n’ roll vibe. Jewelry designs by Til Death 925 have been worn by Bret Michaels, while Novell has created TATU rings – styles inspired by actual tattoo and tribal themes. Til Death 925 is pretty bold, and TATU rings are a little more subtle, yet both make a profound statement on their own.

Read Rock N Roll Jewelry.

Engraved wedding rings – a lost art?

 

Is anything really made by hand any more? Or if it is, is it made in America? Personally, I think finding great quality hand engraved ring is very difficult. With more Internet companies relying on imported or lighter weight products to keep price points down, finding a hand engraved wedding ring that has a nice weight and feel to it can be pretty tough. The rings featured in this post are made individually by hand (not mass produced by machine), are available in a variety of metals, and most importantly – are made in America. Wedding rings are supposed to last a lifetime, but when the economy dictates that the consumer needs to save as much money as possible, then the quality of the wedding ring suffers.

Neil Lane engagement rings available at Kays Jewelers.

 

It seems like every day there is a new designer getting on board with a major retailer, and Jeweler-to-the-stars Neil Lane has taken up with Kay Jewelers. Mr. Lane’s new engagement ring line retails from $2599 - $7999.

Read Neil Lane Launches New Line of Star-Inspired Engagement Rings for Kay Jewelers.

Metal choice does affect the price of your wedding ring!

 

What is very surprising is that a lot of brides and grooms-to-be do not realize the differences in precious metal choices when shopping for a wedding ring. I came across this post on WeddingBee.com - Choosing the Wedding Bands. The bride discusses how the different metal choices that are out there can cause a ring’s price to be different. There certainly are a lot of choices, so research carefully. As I like to say, an educated consumer is the jewelry industry’s best customer.

Platinum to Palladium Comparison for Jewelry

 

I tend to do research on a lot of blogs and websites about jewelry. In particular, I like to look and see what others have written about platinum and palladium. And I have a specific philosophy – palladium is the better choice over white gold (which is not really white) if platinum is not an option due to price. In my opinion, platinum is the premium metal available for jewelry. Yes – you will pay more for platinum now, but it really is the metal that can last a lifetime.

To help the average consumer understand more about the properties of platinum and palladium, I have syndicated an article entitled Platinum to Palladium Comparison for Jewelry (available to read at ArticlesBase SC #2835509). It easily illustrates the characteristics of platinum and palladium, and allows the consumer to make a fair comparison.