Awesome Diamond Alternatives for Engagement Rings

Must it be a DIAMOND engagement ring?  Diamonds are beautiful, but are they still a girl's best friend?

Is it okay to choose an alternative stone?  What makes a good choice?  

Check out these smart and affordable alternatives for your center stone!

Lab Grown Gemstones

What stone to have in your engagement ring is a personal choice, and your decision should reflect your personal style and tastes. A diamond is a classic choice, undeniably gorgeous and steeped in tradition. But it may be that tradition is not your strongest inspiration. What reasons might tempt you away from the hardest rock under the sun?

Contemporary Infinity Engagement Ring
with Synthetic Sapphire

1. Perhaps the first one should be, uh, the elephant in the room? If you are feeling rich in love but a little tight in the pocketbook, the cost of a natural diamond or large sapphire could be daunting!  These diamond alternatives listed below are affordable choices for engagement rings.
   
2. It may be that you feel strongly about supporting eco-friendly choices, and investing in a natural diamond or sapphire that was mined from the earth goes against your grain.
   
3. You just want to be different! The traditional diamond choice is not for you.

Any of those reasons are valid and just motivation for exploring the alternatives. But look out, the list is long and there are many factors to consider. At Krikawa, we have made over 3000 custom rings and have set just about every stone out there. We also get the fortune of seeing our babies come home for spa day. So we have seen the wear and tear on all sorts of stones. Here is a list I have compiled of great alternative gemstones and those you should think twice about.

Three Stone Juicy Liqueur Engagement Ring
with Emerald Cut Chatham Sapphire

Great Alternatives

1. My current favorite alternative is Chatham Lab Grown Sapphires, Emeralds and Alexandrites. Chatham perfected the art of growing these precious gemstone crystals. In their words, they have "found the perfect environment in which sapphire can grow naturally." A Chatham Sapphire is molecularly identical to sapphire. It has the same physical properties of natural sapphire, and comes in a beautiful array of sapphire colors including blue, pink, yellow, and Padparadscha (pinkish orange). They also provide a range of saturations within each of those colors, from light to dark. In addition, there is a nice selection of shapes and sizes! The Chatham Lab Grown Sapphire satisfies all three reasons for choosing different.
   



Modern Carved Curls Three Stone Engagement Ring
with Moissanite and Lab Grown Alexandrites

2. My second favorite is Moissanite, also a lab grown gemstone. While the Chatham is a sapphire synthetic, Moissanite is a diamond simulant. It simulates the look of a diamond, for a fraction of the cost. Moissanite is not to be confused with CZ or Cubic Zirconia, discussed below. The refractive quality of Moissanite is similar to diamond, so you get that great rainbow sparkle. In addition, the hardness is great at 9.25, which makes it an excellent choice for everyday wear. The only drawback to Moissanite is that it has a faint greenish yellow color, but that is masked by the brilliance in the round and cushion cuts. The other fancy shapes enhance color, so the princess, pear, and marquise are not on my list of recommended stones. Once again, the Moissanite satisfies all three reasons for choosing a diamond alternative.

Think Twice

1. Semi Precious Gemstones with a hardness under 8 will not be rated excellent for everyday wear. What this means, is that over the course of time, you will start to see an abraided (scratched) surface. While it might be very tempting to use an inexpensive garnet, or other gemstone for your engagement ring, be aware that it may carry the additional cost of re-cutting or replacement, and stone removal and resetting at a later date.
   
2. Cubic Zirconia, or CZ. This is another diamond simulant, meaning, it is a stone that is made to look like diamond, but it is not synthetic diamond. CZ has a hardness of around 7, and it will definitely scratch over time.
   
3. On-Line Diamond "Simulants." Without naming names, I will issue a word of warning when purchasing a "diamond simulant" from an on-line dealer. We at Krikawa have purchased and tested these stones, and while the companies may claim that the hardenss is like or similar to diamond, our testing shows us that these stones may only have a hardness of 7, like CZ. Our interest began when we polished a ring with one of these so-called stones, and the buffing wheel caused striations in the surface of the stone. Doh!
   
4. Pearl and Opal. Even softer than Semi-Precious gemstones, pearl and opal are easily scratched and cracked. If you must have a pearl or opal engagement ring, keep in mind that the stone will most likely need to be replaced in the future. 

There are options for you when you are looking for an alternative to a diamond engagement ring. At Krikawa, we are happy to help you choose your perfect stone for your dream ring. Visit www.krikawa.com or call 888-krikawa (888-574-5292) for more information!

The Power Behind a Custom Wedding Ring

"Should we do custom, and where do we go?"

What's in a wedding ring?

A wedding ring represents your love and symbolizes your union with another soul. You wear your ring day in and day out.  It is imprinted upon your body in the morning, at work, dinner, parties and trips.  It stays with you everyday, for the rest of your life, and gets passed on to your loved ones.

What inspires a wedding ring?

Your seed of love blossoms into the idea of holy matrimony, and manifests in the creation of a ring. Your ring becomes the physical representation of your love.

What do you want your ring to be?

Dare you choose a ring that is made a thousand times for a thousand other couples?  Or dare you be different and one-of-a-kind?

Imagine a ring with the colors and textures that you love 

The metals and gemstones that you love

The symbols that truly belong to you and your beloved 

What does it take to craft a beautiful ring that is made once and just for you?

It takes a team of creative artists and consummate craftsman, from concept to development to execution.  It evolves from a design unique to your wearability and comfort, using your desired materials.  Through exquisite craftsmanship, it achieves its final form.  Each person involved in this process bestows it with love and a desire to create something that will be cherished during your marriage and lifetimes beyond.

Why choose Krikawa?

The individuals at Krikawa are passionate artists and master goldsmiths led by an award-winning designer. But Krikawa is more than the sum of it's parts. Working in an exciting, collaborative environment, Krikawa's team works together to make each piece of jewelry beautiful, meaningful, and long lasting; honoring the opportunity to make an important and significant piece of jewelry; knowing that the meaning of each piece is emblazoned with love.

In the end we know you are not thinking of us.  Instead, you think of your loved one.  We don’t want you to see us; what we do is a transparent veil, through which your ring is born.

Let the symbol of your love be created by the passion at Krikawa.

Call 1-888-KRIKAWA to unleash the magic of our artistry!

Unique Black Diamond Engagement & Wedding Rings

What is a black diamond?

It’s exotic. It’s unique. It’s opaque and mysterious. A black diamond combines the brilliance of a faceted diamond with dark romantic love. Tall, dark and handsome? Think shiny, hard and dark.

Why should I have a black diamond in my wedding or engagement ring?

The reason is to be unique and different. Add contrast to your ring by combining the whiteness of platinum or palladium with the blackness of this gemstone. Imagine lines of channel-set diamonds or black diamonds paved in a field. For the more daring, consider a black diamond as the center stone in your engagement ring!

What shapes do black diamonds come in?

They’re mostly available as faceted round brilliant cuts. Larger dimensions for center stones are also available as princess cuts.

What makes a diamond black?

Diamonds can be found in nature in many different colors, including black. It’s not a true black but is extremely dark and opaque. The majority of small black diamonds that are set into rings are color enhanced. In other words, they’re not pure black to start with but are treated so that they turn darker than they are naturally.

What Krikawa rings are available with black diamonds?

Any ring that Krikawa makes can be set with black diamonds, whether just as accent stones or as the center stone. If you check out the pricing calculator drop-down menu for Accent Stone(s), "Black Diamond" is the second option.


Are black diamonds affordable?

Depending on whether the stone is natural or color-enhanced, clarity, and size, we can work within your budget. Shown above is a 1.62 carat round for $700! The 1.67 carat radiant is $1504. The third stone depicted is an untreated 1.11 carat rosecut pear, which retails for $1800. Next to it is a 0.45 carat marquise for $1350, also untreated. Email or call us at 1-888-KRIKAWA to quote other sizes or shapes!

How durable are black diamonds?

A black diamond is just as hard as a white diamond. It registers a 10 on the Mohs hardness scale, meaning it’s the hardest material on earth. Black diamonds are a little bit more brittle than a white diamond because of the inclusions that are natural to black diamonds. What this means is they’re more likely to chip than a white diamond. However, they’re still an extremely hard and excellent stone for everyday wear. The surface will not abrade or get worn the way softer stones do.

Where do black diamonds come from?

They were first discovered in Brazil during the 1800s by the Portuguese, who called them "carbonados." In addition to Brazil, they have also been found in the Central African Republic. Recently, scientists have claimed that--unlike white diamonds, which are formed inside the earth--some black diamonds may have been created in outer space, arriving on earth as asteroids!*

Ready to order a black diamond engagement ring, or seeking more information? Then email or call us at 1-888-KRIKAWA!

*National Science Foundation. (2007). Diamonds from Outer Space: Geologists Discover Origin of Earth's Mysterious Black Diamonds [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=108270.

Demystifying Engagement Ring Prices

Part I of III: The Cost of a Commercial Engagement Ring

Why are custom engagement rings so much more expensive than commercially made engagement rings? How should you decide which way to go when purchasing this special, once-in-a-lifetime ring? Is the extra cost worth it? All very good questions! I will endeavor to answer them all in this unique, tell-all blog. Part 1 is about the cost of a commercial, mass produced engagement ring, part 2 will be about the cost of a custom engagement ring, and part 3 will weigh the pros and cons of both choices. The battle is on! It is not quite the battle between good and evil, but I am probably a little biased.

Here are the steps to creating a mass produced versus a custom ring.

Let’s design a mass produced ring. Image a ring design: not just anything, but something that can be easily sized from a 4 to 10 by any jeweler without disrupting the “look” of it. Then we need the ability to put any size or shape diamond in it. So we’ll need a hole for a peg head. That way, we can accommodate any stone from a half carat round to a three carat pear. The cool thing about this is that when we have a customer for the ring, we can tell them that we will “customize” the ring to fit their diamond. They will walk away pleased.

Now, how do we manufacture this semi-mount? We want to bring the cost down drastically; we will have it designed once and sent to India. They will make a mold of it, shoot a run of about 10,000 waxes, cast them in 14K white and yellow gold, and then mass finish them. Mass finishing is really neat because all these castings are tumbled through different grits in a huge drum to create a high polish. However, it does diminish some detail, so let’s make sure our design isn't too intricate. With a final touch up and maybe some stone setting (in India), this semi-mount is ready to be sold at your local jewelry store. They will size it and plop in a peg head (at American labor prices of course).

How many of the engagement rings sold these days are mass manufactured overseas? A large percentage. Does the price of the ring seem too good to be true? There is a good chance it was manufactured abroad. In the US, there are some great design manufacturers. Tacori and Tiffany both manufacture low-volume produced designs through US labor. Stuller is a great facility in Louisiana that manufactures jewelry for jewelers. Some is produced mass and some is created “on demand,” one at a time.

So how much does our mass produced overseas ring cost?

US design 2 hr @ $80/hr=$160

1000 units one-time costs:
Lot wax rings $200
Lot mass casting $400
Lot mass finishing $200
Lot despruing $200
Lot stone setting $3200

One unit labor cost = $4.36

Material cost per ring:
4 g 14K gold $136
0.56 ctw diamonds $560

Total US pre-production and overseas production costs $700

US store overhead 100% = $700
US store sales commission 7% = $98
1 hr sizing and peg head setting = $125

Our final price tag for this commercial mass-produced ring is $1623. Stay tuned next week when we price out a unique custom-made engagement ring.

And if you are ready to go ahead with a custom engagement ring, made just the way YOU want it, no matter where you live, visit krikawa.com, and prepare yourself for an amazing, custom ring experience. If you live near Tucson, Arizona, you can visit our local website to learn more about our workshop and showroom that is now open to the public.

Unique Bezel Set Engagement Ring Designs

Bezel set engagement rings stand out from the crowd. They are uncommon, and there are some technical reasons for that. But beyond that, a beautiful stone set in a modern, sleek bezel is captivating to the eye. This is not your typical prong set engagement ring. What is it about them that makes them so distinctive?

What is a bezel?

• A full bezel is a strip of metal that wraps around a stone, either part-way or all the way around.
• A semi-bezel or half bezel holds the stone in two sections, rather than in an uninterrupted line.
• A bezel can also have multiple cut-outs, mimicking the look of prongs, while still allowing the stone to be set low. This may be referred to as a four cut-out setting, or multiple cut-out setting.

What makes bezel set engagement rings so unusual?

• A bezel has to be hand crafted for the stone that it is going to hold. Most larger diamonds, sapphires and gemstones suitable for engagement rings have unique dimensions, so a pre-manufactured bezel is out of the question. It requires fine skill to craft a bezel to exact proportions to the stone, and to integrate that setting into an engagement ring design.
  
• In a prong setting, the prongs can be moved about to accommodate a variety of stone sizes. Typically, a prong setting is mass-manufactured. In many commercial engagement rings, the prong setting is soldered into place after the customer has selected the stone, so any semi-mount engagement ring can hold any stone. This is the definition of "custom" for most engagement ring suppliers.

What are the benefits of bezel set engagement rings?

• Aesthetically, a bezel set engagement ring has a clean, strong look. It suits styles both contemporary and modern.
• A bezel set engagement ring is a great choice for an active woman. Because of the length of the bezel, it is structurally sound and strong. Prongs have a greater tendency to catch and bend, thus compromising the security of the stone.
• A bezel set engagement ring is also a great choice for the woman who wants a low profile to her engagement ring. With a bezel, you can have the stone set as low as possible, nearly all the way to the finger. Most prong set stones have greater height, as the prongs connect to each other right underneath the stone.
  
• A bezel hugs the girdle of the stone, which protects the stone in that area.
• A bezel set stone has more metal surrounding it, thus reducing the times that the ring needs to be in the shop for repair, or re-tipping. Prong tips wear down faster than bezels.

Can all stone shapes be bezel set?

• Yes, indeed. A highly skilled craftsman can create a bezel for an emerald cut stone, pear shape, or whatever shape your heart desires! Even heart shapes!
  

What to look for in a quality bezel set engagement ring:

• A well-crafted bezel has been folded all the way down to the table facets of the stone. You should not be able to see any gaps between the bezel and the stone.
• The bezel should be integrated into the engagement ring in a creative manner. Bezels plopped on top of rings look sloppy and like an afterthought.
• The bezel should have a pleasing proportion to the rest of the ring. In a chunky ring, the bezel should have a balanced, chunky look. In a delicate ring, the bezel should look more refined.

How to choose a bezel set engagement ring

• As with any engagement ring, you should start by deciding upon your preferred style. Are you looking for a modern engagement ring, or something a little more antique in style? Perhaps an organic design, or something delicate? Any of these choices can deliver a creative bezel set engagement ring design.
• You may find a ring already made, with a stone that you love, however, your choices will open up if you choose to have your bezel set engagement ring custom made. That way, you can select any diamond, sapphire or gemstone that you desire, and have your ring built around that stone in an aesthetically pleasing, creative and proportional manner.
  

Getting Started

• Start by selecting your engagement ring style. Keep in mind that if you are indeed having your ring custom made, you may be able to integrate a bezel into any style of ring.
• Decide upon stone shape, type, and color, and pick out your stone! At Krikawa, the gemologist will help educate you about different types of stones. If you choose a colored stone, it will be shipped to you for approval on the color. You should love your colored stone in person before a bezel is crafted for it.
• In a custom ring with Krikawa, you can look forward to receiving a 3D rendering of your ring, for approval, before it is made, if it is an unusual design. That way you can see the proportions of the stone and bezel to the ring.

Visit krikawa.com to select your engagement ring style, and call or email to begin the process of looking for your unique and perfect center stone!

Engagement Ring Advice for Men

Should You Surprise Her with an Engagement Ring?

Before you get too deep into looking at engagement ring designs, it is good to take this first point into consideration. Here are a variety of ways to approach this decision.

Total Surprise.
She has no idea what is coming. This is the traditional method, and the one that is most romanticized in the media. You select the design, metal, diamonds, sapphires and ring size based upon your detective powers, personal taste, and ideas of what you think she would want. You may choose to purchase one of the following:

• Complete Bridal Set. You purchase both the engagement ring and the wedding band. She doesn't have to lift a finger (except for her ring finger, that is), and she has absolutely no choice about her rings.
  

• Engagement Ring Only. You purchase one ring, and let her be involved in the selection of the wedding band(s). Traditional method.

Pro: You can create a magical moment, sweeping your loved one off their feet, causing a strong emotional response. There will be a great sentimental value in the fact that you did all of the work yourself, and your beloved is sure to love anything you select. Great choice for a sentimental gal.

Con: She will have no input as to design, metal, stones, or size. The ring may need to be sized. Will you worry about if she likes it? Will she pine over another design to grace her finger?

Partial Surprise.
There are a number of ways to still create that magical moment of the engagement ring proposal, with a little less stress and guess work.

• Put the stone of your choice in temporary mounting. You can focus your surprise on the stone, by choosing a special diamond, sapphire, ruby, or spinel, and then have this stone set in an ultra simple prong setting. After the proposal, you can let her know that you want her to be involved in the selection and custom design of her special ring. Being allowed to participate in the design of her own ring, collaborating with you and the jeweler, will be a rich and rewarding experience for her. This is a great choice for a contemporary woman. It also allows you to spread out the cost a little bit (stone first, some shopping time for her, before you need to put down a deposit on the mounting).

• Stand-in Engagement Ring that will be kept later for sentimental value, most likely to be worn on another finger, on a chain, or as a wedding band, usually with small stones or just metal. This is an unusual method for an alternative couple, and is cost effective for someone on a tight budget. This could also be considered a promise ring, as in promise of bigger and better things to come.
  

• Surprise on Engagement Ring Style. She knows it is coming. You have been engagement ring shopping with her, and have a very accurate ring size on her. You may have shown her a variety of images, or asked her to show you some images. You may even ask her to shop on her own and give you some ideas of what she wants.

• Surprise on Proposal Only. She may know what engagement ring is coming. You and she have selected the design. But she may not know what stone you selected, and she certainly does not know when it will be presented to her.

Pro: She will love being involved in the creation of a fine piece of jewelry. This is something that she will wear and look at every day, and it will be an expression of her style as well as your commitment to her.

Con: Some of the surprise element is missing, and she may get antsy in anticipation of when you are going to present it to her.

It's Your Decision.
Whatever you choose, you can rest assured that the love of your life will appreciate all the thought and consideration you put into choosing an engagement ring for her. At Krikawa, we have helped many men with the myriad of choices there are to make in choosing an engagement ring. You can take advantage of our extensive experience, in-depth knowledge and above all our passion for creating unique engagement rings. We honor your journey and look forward to making this an amazing experience, captured in the ring of a lifetime.

The History of Mokume Gane

Mokume Gane is a technique of Japanese origin in which layers of alternating colors of precious metals are fused, forged and patterned to create swirling images of color in a sheet of metal. Mokume (wood eye) Gane (metal) is derived from the ancient Japanese sword making technique wherein layers of mild steel and carbon steel were forged together to create blades of great strength and durability. A fine woodgrain pattern on a blade is the tell-tale sign of Damascus steel.

The first recorded use of mokume gane was by Denbei Shoami (1651-1728) who lived and worked in Japan. Shoami adapted the principles of forge-welded Damascus steel to create mokume gane. Advanced sword-making techniques used in Japan at the time were pivotal in the development of mokume gane, because the art of sword making was so accomplished that it directly influenced all forms of metalwork. The importance placed on swords in feudal Japan and the influence of sword-makers on Japanese art and technology is not unlike the leading role the aerospace industry has in driving the technological advances today. Swords were considered highly utilitarian and highly decorative, and the finest artists and metalworkers of the day worked side by side to create swords of great beauty and remarkable functionality. Master-apprentice relationships allowed for extensive knowledge of metallurgy to be passed down and expanded. Materials were readily available, and colored metal alloys were already in use at the time.
To achieve a successful lamination of a mokume billet using the original process required a highly skilled smith with a great deal of experience. The traditional materials used were relatively soft precious metals and alloys - gold, copper, silver, shakudo, shibuichi, and kuromido - which would form liquid phase diffusion bonds with one another without completely melting. After the metal sheets were stacked and carefully heated, the solid billet of simple stripes could be forged and carved to increase the pattern's complexity.
The modernized process typically uses a controlled atmosphere in a controlled, high-temperature furnace. Mechanical aids such as a hydraulic press or torque plates (bolted clamps) are also commonly used to apply compressive force on the billet during lamination and provide for the implementation of lower temperature solid-state diffusion between the layers.
Contemporary metalsmiths have rediscovered mokume gane as an expressive material with a subtle palette of precious metal colors. Due to the labor-intensive nature of fine mokume jewelry, it will remain an uncommon jewelry technique, avoiding association with mass-produced commercial jewelry.
Lisa Krikawa is an award-winning mokume gane artist, and is recognized world wide as one of the leading mokume ring makers. With clients from Australia through the U.K. to Canada and all across the 50 United States, Krikawa has quite singularly nailed the mokume-gane bridal market with her client-inspired, co-created, one-of-a-kind masterpieces.
References:
Pijanowski, H.S. and Pijanowski, G.M. (2001) Wood Grained Metal: Mokume-Gane,
http://www.silversmithing.com/1mokume.htm
Binnion, J.E. and Chaix, B. (2002) Old Process, New Technology: Modern Mokume Gane,
http://www.mokume-gane.com/Papers/SantaFePaper.pdf
Midget, Steve (2000) Mokume Gane: A Comprehensive Study. North Carolina: Earthshine Press