Blackcarat's Wedding Ring Blog

Blackcarat.co.uk are currently in the build-up to the Wedding Fair season. In the UK, nationwide shows (generally held at country house hotels, out-of-town hotels and golf courses) tend to start about September and go through the winter to late February – all in anticipation of up-coming weddings for the following spring and summer.

We have a Wedding Show coming up on Sunday the 17th October at the Ramada Hotel on the outskirts of Colchester, Essex. It’s a first for Blackcarat, as we’ve not yet gone out and shown the faces behind the website and met our potential customers. And we’re really looking forward to the experience.

The team are currently planning, plotting and designing the stand and the accompanying literature. The modern, simple and stylish stall will reflect the company’s ‘contemporary, quality and affordable’ ethos, plus it will exhibit the full range of designer and plain wedding bands. There will also be a competition with a fabulous prize and an exclusive offer to entice couples to remember Blackcarat wedding rings.

All future brides and grooms attending the show will receive a special offer for when they place an order with Blackcarat online (the offer is valid for six months). In their own time at home and when they’re ready to buy, the special Wedding Show offer will allow them a freebee* when they buy possibly the lowest price anywhere online or in the shops for platinum, palladium and 18 carat gold wedding rings from Blackcarat.

There’s a huge choice of styles, shapes, widths, weights, cuts and designs of rings and bands for men and women at www.blackcarat.co.uk – so why not come and see us in Colchester, see our samples, get your ring finger measured and get your very special offer for your wedding rings? See you there!

* It’s still secret!

Well, Blackcarat had another really good month in July. One highlight was the bespoke ring we made for Caroline – she wanted a jigsaw-shaped flat wedding band in palladium, made of two parts that were able to come apart easily and sit together seamlessly. The finished product was so stunning and a real testament to the skill involved at our workshop, so a massive thank you goes to our craftsmen and women who do just about anything you dream of.
Actually, do you know any skilled jewellery makers, in particular, ring makers? Blackcarat are always on the lookout for new talent and unique designs from craftsmen wanting to showcase, promote and sell their work. Maybe you’re a recent graduate who works in platinum and palladium and you have some funky alternatives to the traditional wedding band or engagement ring? You could help us create a new ‘professional designers’ section on the Blackcarat website – a site that’s viewed by over 350 unique prospective brides and grooms each day, shopping for that perfect dream individual ring. Simply email us a photo and something about yourself, or send us a link to your website – we’d love to hear from you at info@blackcarat.co.uk.
In other news this month, Blackcarat acquired another wedding website: www.brides-n-grooms.info. We’ll be re-vamping the site over coming months and hope that future brides and grooms will sign up for free to create their own mini-announcement website to post their pre- and post-wedding thoughts, wish-lists, photos and to chat with others about their big day. Please contact us at info@brides-n-grooms.info if you’re interested in advertising on or linking to this website.

Whether you’re a footie fanatic or a football widow, you can’t failed to have noticed the build-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa this summer.

Kick off is today, Friday 11th June, and all eyes will be on the opening ceremony live from the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg. Thirty two teams are taking place in this momentous occasion with footie fever taking over much of the world.

The England team, placed in Group C, are set to play USA in Rustenburg tomorrow under the watchful eye of coach Fabio Capello… but did you know that Rustenburg in the north west of the country is one of the most heavily mined areas of the world for platinum?

The Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Rustenburg, at the foot of the Magaliesburg Mountains, is named after the Bafokeng people who live in the area – these natives are entitled to 20% of the platinum which is mined on their historical land.

Rustenburg has two of the largest platinum mines in the world and houses the world’s largest platinum refinery, (Precious Metal Refiners), which processes around 70% of all platinum.

So as thousands of Brits make their way to the Royal Bafokeng Stadium this weekend, and as millions tune in at home, take a thought to your platinum engagement or wedding ring… there’s a very high chance that it originated from this exact place on earth, thousands of miles away, where England are about to play that all important first match. What a small world!

Blackcarat’s Wedding Rings Blog

April 1st 2010 and the price of precious metals continues to rise. The first quarter of this year has seen a 17.4% growth in price of palladium (bringing it to its highest since March 2008), 12% growth in the price of platinum (its highest since August 2008) and a smaller 1.5% increase in the price of gold.* Gold has now hit $1,114 per ounce and none of the prices have yet peaked.

No doubt the price of platinum in the UK will now rise even more steeply due to the recent shutdown of a smelter at the world’s third largest platinum producer Lonmin. They hope to be back up and running in about 40 days but who knows what the knock-on effect will be this month.

The car industry uses platinum in catalytic converters, and with this industry showing big signs of recovery, the demand, and therefore price, is growing. And with the wedding season just around the corner, demand for rings will further push the price of platinum upwards.

Here at Blackcarat Wedding Rings we keep a close eye on the price of platinum, palladium and gold, so the price you see one week may not be the same the next. So, with prices rising for the unforeseeable future, now is the best time to invest. Summer shopping for rings may prove way more expensive… there’s no time like the present!

* Source: Reuters.

Blackcarat’s Wedding Rings Blog

In times of recession and tightening the shoestrings, the traditional big wedding is the obvious cutback. These days many people get married abroad and in private, so saving money, but many feel forced to cancel/postpone their wedding altogether as a means of making ends meet.

But, you don’t have to get married to wear a wedding ring. Many couples who live together want to show the world their devotion and commitment, without the expense of a full-on wedding.

So why don’t committed couples also wear wedding rings? You don’t need a ceremony and the paperwork and the change of name to prove your love. A couple who know they belong together, but don’t want to conform, could show the world by wearing each other’s wedding rings – and they don’t have to be that expensive either.

For as little as £300 a modern couple could invest in palladium matching court rings (based on a women’s 2mm court band and a gent’s 5mm court) from www.blackcarat.co.uk. These matching rings can simply be read as ‘I love you and I’m committed’.

To make the ring exchange even more special, why not arrange a memorable date and get the bands engraved inside with your secret messages?

Blackcarat’s Wedding Rings Blog

Tradition used to say you should spend from one and a half to three months’ wages on an engagement ring, but a wedding ring is quite different. These days, with internet shopping and price competitiveness, it’s easier to work within a tight budget that suits modern living, especially at times of cost cutting.

Deciding on a metal for the wedding rings is important and will dictate the budget. Generally a woman’s wedding ring metal will match her engagement ring, and the shape and width of her wedding band will match with it too. But men are becoming increasingly daring with their modern choices of wedding bands, designs and metals – choosing such metals as titanium, palladium, zirconium or even stainless steel (all of which are very affordable!) Plus, many couples these days prefer to pay less on wedding rings and put the money saved into the wedding reception/honeymoon/flower fund.

If a couple were to decide on a pair of standard wedding bands in platinum, a realistic budget for the two rings would be around £1000 – the woman’s ring is generally a third of this total – depending on where one shopped (obviously a designer or Hatton Garden jewellery shop would charge around two or three times this amount!) Platinum is one of the most expensive and exclusive metals out there, but it is possible, by shopping online, to have a pair of bands within this budget.

For 18 carat gold, you’d be looking at just less than the platinum budget, say £800-£900, for a pair of wedding rings. And for palladium, a modern cheaper alternative to platinum, a typical pair of rings should cost around the £400-£500 – a great money saving option. Cheaper metals, like 9 carat gold and white gold, are not such a good investment as they will age/tarnish and will need further treatments to regain their original finish. It’s always advisable to spend as much as you can afford – remember it is a lifetime investment and you’re showing your loved one how much they mean to you.

And having a bespoke ring made to order is not as expensive as many may think. It’s worth asking how much extra it would be to add a small diamond or two, an engraved line or a section of brushed finish to a standard wedding ring. All these little trimmings make your bands unique, to your design, and can cost as little as £100 or so per ring.

Don’t forget to allow for extras like engraving – which is generally around £25 extra per ring – or certification (for insurance purposes) at around £30 extra per ring.

These approximations are based on buying a pair of wedding rings online (so saving huge amounts on high street prices). Check out www.blackcarat.co.uk to see how much you can save.

Wedding rings tend to be plain metal bands, but designs vary enormously. A traditional ‘court’ ring will have rounded edges while a ‘flat’ ring may look more contemporary. If you are matching a wedding ring to an engagement ring, take care to get the same colour of metal (platinum can be put next to white gold) and a similar band in width and style.

There are also many modern diamond wedding rings on the market that are worth considering. In an ideal world, try to budget about £250 for the woman’s platinum ring and about £700 for the man’s platinum ring (as they tend to be a lot heavier and wider); they don’t necessarily have to match.

White gold – an alloy of gold that has been mixed with at least one other white metal, such as nickel or palladium. This is a budget option which may need some care in the long run as the silver colour can fade.

9 carat gold – a common grade of gold in the UK. The three-digit hallmark will indicate the purity of the gold per thousand – nine carat is 375, i.e. 37.5% pure. It will have been alloyed with other metals to make it harder, more durable and less expensive. One of the cheapest options on the market.

14 carat and 18 carat gold – as stated above, the hallmark will indicate its purity. 14 carat is 58.5% pure, while 18 carat is 75% pure gold. Shop around and you can get some mid-range good value wedding bands.

24 carat gold – pure gold. If you can, it’s worth stretching your budget to pure gold. It will be hallmarked 999. Traditional and old-fashioned pure gold is quite soft and can bend out of shape and wear down over the years.

Platinum – most UK platinum rings, such as blackcarat’s, are 95% pure (hallmarked 950). It has a naturally white lustre, it does not fade or tarnish and keeps its pure white colour for a lifetime. The density of platinum makes it more durable than other jewellery metals. It does not change shape or wear away, so precious stones are held firmly and securely. The more rare something is, the more valuable it becomes. Platinum is 30 times more rare than gold so it is worth a special investment. You can find platinum rings at half the high street price in online stores such as blackcarat’s – it is more affordable than many think.

Others – palladium (modern alternative to platinum, looks similar but is cheaper), titanium (durable, affordable, with a dull lustre), zirconium (darker and softer than titanium with a dark silvery colour) and stainless steel (a cheap and long-lasting option) are also being more commonly used as modern wedding rings.

Look at http://www.blackcarat.co.uk to see the large platinum range of wedding band shapes, styles and widths available.