What is a engraved ring?
An engraved ring is a sentimental way to add extra meaning to a ring. The origin of engraved rings is unknown but we do know of traditions dating back to the 16th century. These were called posey rings and had poems engraved on them. Engraving a wedding ring, promise ring or couples rings for him and her can add an extra heirloom value and a thoughtful personalized touch to any ring.
There really is no end to what you can engrave on a ring. Traditional engravings for wedding rings and promise rings include “I love you” , Forever”. Engraving dates on these rings such as anniversary dates, the date of a first date etc. Of course one of the most common type of engravings are names. There are even unique and often humorous engravings, such as “property of____” and “dibs”
Check out this blog article for more ideas.
So what metal can be engraved and where?
Just about any precious metal can be engraved, including gold, platinum, and sterling silver.
You can even engrave plated jewelry but you must use caution when have plated items engraved. Be sure that the used is of high quality, as engraving through a poor quality plate can cause damage. Plating such as real gold, or rhodium are usually ok, as long as they are quality and plated correctly.
One of the wonderful things about engraved promise rings, wedding rings, mother’s rings and just about any ring is it can be engraved just about anywhere. On mother’s rings it is very common to have the children’s or family members’ names in the outer band. This has also become more common for promise rings only sometimes it’s not just names but also dates or sayings.
If you do not want you special message, dates or names to be visible another option is to engrave the inside of the band itself. Some say this is also sentimental as you will have that engraving next to your skin anytime you are wearing that ring.
If you really wanted to go a step further, the GIA can even laser etch into gemstones. These are usually not easily visible and would be a “our secret” type of etching.
Did you know that personalized products are one of the fastest growing industries?
When should I get a ring engraved and what is the cost?
The great thing about getting a ring engraved is that it can be done before or after you purchase a ring. In most cases it is recommended to get it done at the time of purchase if the company offers engraving. The reason is that the cost can be a lot less since most companies will discount the price if the ring was bought from them.
The cost on engraving can vary widely. When we first started in the personalized business, one of first goals was to find out what competitors charged for this. What we found surprised us! The prices were all over the place. The quotes came in anywhere from a flat $25 to a $30 set up fee and then another $2 per character. That’s when we set our price at our brick and mortar store to a flat fee of $20 if the ring was not purchased from us and free engraving if the ring was purchased from us. I can say these are the lowest price I could find locally.
Be sure to check out a few of our rings while you here.
How to clean engraved jewelry?
Cleaning engraved jewelry is pretty much the same as it is for any jewelry. One of the main recommendations is not to wear jewelry at all while swimming, cleaning or any activity the requires exposure to chemicals as they can eat away certain types of plating or dull the shine on any surface.
You can learn more about cleaning below.