FAQ

How do I choose the right wedding ring design?

We totally appreciate this is a big decision; your wedding ring is something you are going to wear for a lifetime, it’s important it works and that you love it! We are very used to asking all the right questions, we get a great feel for your taste and understand what your lifestyle demands might be, now and in the future. We will guide you through the design process, this can take a few minutes or longer if you want to be more involved. You get to try on examples of different designs, metals and finishes, and we provide a sketch and design notes for your final design too.

What metal should I choose for my wedding ring?

It’s important to us that you can make an informed decision when selecting which metal to have your wedding rings made in. We’ll ask questions about your lifestyle, as certain metals are more hard wearing than others, and also take your design into consideration too. It’s quite normal to provide you with quotes for different metal options and help you choose the best one for you, taking everything into consideration, including your budget.

What should I budget for a wedding ring?

This depends very much on the metal you want and the current price per gram (as this changes daily), plus any extra finishes such as diamonds and engraving.

We’re used to trying to come up with a design to meet a particular budget. What we won’t do is compromise quality beyond our company quality standards, for example we won't use low grade white gold alloys to save on price per gram as it’s a false economy - you’ll end up having to have them constantly re-plated to keep them looking bright white.

As an example:

If we quote for a 3mm wide wedding ring with a decent height of 1.8mm and lady’s size ‘K' then it will cost about £685 in platinum, £755 in palladium rich white gold, £600 in 18ct yellow gold, £725 in palladium, £310 in 9ct white gold, £285 in 9ct yellow gold. These prices were accurate in July 2019 and will go up and possibly down too. We’ll always quote with current metal prices.

How do I stop white gold going yellow?

We use 18ct 'palladium rich white gold’ which has about 14% palladium in the mix and makes the metal inherently whiter than most white gold which tends to have much less, giving it a straw like yellow tint. This is often covered up by a rhodium plating, but this wears with time and the yellow shows through. We can guarantee our 18ct white gold will never look yellow because it isn’t. It looks great with no plating and is really popular for men's wedding rings.

I have an awkward shaped engagement ring, can you make me a wedding band to fit with it?

Yes we can! We have expert designers who can design the wedding band with you, and our goldsmiths can hand craft it so it is completely unique to you and fits perfectly. For more 3D designs was can also provide a CAD drawing and cast your new wedding ring.

My engagement ring is platinum, can I have a white gold wedding band?

Ideally, the metal of your engagement ring and wedding band are the same so that over time they can wear at the same rate. As platinum is harder than white gold you would potentially see uneven wear over time. They are also very slightly different colours.

What’s the difference between platinum and palladium?

They are both in the same family of white metals on the periodic table with some similar properties, but the main difference is the density: platinum is much denser than palladium so the same ring design will feel heavier in platinum, and arguably wear better over time.

Palladium however is a great metal, it still wears really well and like platinum we use a very pure alloy (95%). It is a lovely white colour that doesn’t need plating, polishes up beautifully and is hypoallergenic too.

What’s the different between 9ct, 14ct and 18ct gold?

The gold we use to make jewellery is always alloyed which means it is mixed with other metals to give it the properties we're after. 9ct yellow gold is 37.5% gold and the rest is a mix of metal - this mix varies depending on where it’s bought from. 18ct yellow gold is 75% gold so has twice the amount of gold in the alloy which makes it denser so it wears better over time, is more malleable so we can achieve nicer finishes, and more pure so more hypoallergenic and has more intrinsic value. 14ct is a nice in-between at 58.5% gold, it’s a bit cheaper than 18ct but a nicer quality than 9ct.

Because Petra is German we are used to working in 14ct and are big fans of it, European countries don’t tend to offer 9ct because it’s less than 50% gold.

What if my wedding ring doesn’t fit?

We adjust it for you. Some designs are easier to adjust than others, but we’re proper goldsmiths so there’s not much we can’t sort out.

We strongly advise you try your wedding rings on a couple of weeks before your 'big day' just in case you’ve changed weight a bit, as this can affect your finger size. This way we still have time to re-size them for you.

Do the bride and groom generally have matching wedding bands?

Sometimes we are asked to design rings that complement each other, but very rarely matching.

Can I have diamonds set in to my wedding band?

Absolutely, we will advise what size works best, show you different styles of setting and help you decide what will suit your engagement ring best too.

We sometimes get asked to set diamonds in to gents wedding rings too; we have some samples of really unusual designs that have diamonds set but still look masculine.

Can I have engraving incorporated in my wedding band?

Yes, it’s a lovely personal and unique touch. You can have a message engraved on the inside or even on the outside if you’d prefer. We can use a very wide range of fonts to your style and the space we have available.

How long does it take to have a wedding band made?

Generally we need about 2 weeks for the goldsmithing part, 1.5 weeks for hallmarking, then a week for different finishes (eg. setting stones, engraving and specialist plating) so it can take 3 to 7 weeks depending on what we need to do. We often have to work to a deadline and will try to turn things around more quickly if possible.

Can I bring my wedding band back to you in the future if I want it cleaned?

Most definitely. We advise you bring your rings it in to us about once a year and we’ll give it a check over and a clean and polish.

We’re getting married in a year's time and I’m planning to lose some weight before then. How can I make sure that we get the size of my band right?

Bring your wedding band into us about four weeks before your wedding day and we’ll measure your finger and your ring and we can do any final alterations. A bit like your wedding dress!

I have some sentimental jewellery at home that I’ll never wear but would love it to be remodelled in to my wedding band. Is that something you can do?

It is indeed. Make an appointment with one of our designers and we can take a look at your sentimental jewellery and design a wedding band for you. We can melt down your jewellery and make the band with it. We can even incorporate any stones you may have.

I’ve seen a wedding band in a high street jewellers but they don’t make it in the metal I want. Can you make it for me?

Yes we can. The process that high street jewellery is made by can be quite different to an independent jewellers like ourselves, as many of ours are hand made. This means there will be slight variance in the bands, but we have done this lots of times and our customers have been over the moon with the result.