Quick and Easy Buying Guide
Carat weight: 1 carat = 200 milligrams = 6.5 mm diameter. Doubling weight doesn't double diameter.
Diamond clarity: FL/IF/VVS/VS = super expensive, near perfect. SI = best value if you can check a photo for obvious inclusions (defects).
Color: D-G = colorless, expensive, only if you have money to burn. H-J = best value. Can go lower in gold metal settings than white metal.
Cut: Better cut ratings let more light into a diamond, making it sparkle more. Very important property, don't skimp here.
Set a budget and minimum cut (Premium). Go J color for gold and I/H for white metals. Go searching for SI1/SI2 clarity diamonds at James Allen. Pick a diamond with small/no inclusions. Choose a ring setting and buy it risk-free (60-day returns).
Black Titanium Rings
If you’re after something a little different to the “normal” white gold, yellow gold, and platinum ring metals, then you may want to look at black titanium. Titanium is a very strong type of metal that in its natural form looks gray or off-white. However, the most common color people choose for a titanium ring is black. You can of course get different shades – just about any color – red, blue and green for example.
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One of the obvious advantages of choosing a black titanium ring is the incredible contrast you get between the black metal and the shining whiteness of a diamond. Even with other gemstones such as rubies, you’ll still get a great contrast from the black titanium metal.
So how do the manufacturers make a black titanium ring – how do they get the color into it? The answer is that they treat the top layer of the metal to actually change its makeup. So the process is a bit more rugged than ones where they just coat the ring with the particular color.
While black is the most common color, you can also get different types of black, depending on how the metal is treated. For example, if you’re after a shiny finished look you might go for a polished black titanium metal finish. Or you might prefer a matte black titanium ring instead.
One thing to be cautious of is when shopping for a black titanium ring is paradoxically due to the strength of the metal. Because titanium’s so strong, it is very hard to resize – so make sure you get the size right when you buy the ring if possible.
When buying a black titanium diamond ring, you might have a bit more trouble finding jewelers who sell them. One jeweler claims that there are actually only two manufacturers worldwide that make black titanium rings, but this number is surely growing.