Engraving

Engraving your engagement ring or wedding band can make for a special surprise once the receiver sees the unique message you picked out for them. Engravings are usually added on the inner shank of the ring (the part that is covered by your finger) and are usually only visible once the ring is removed from your finger. The inscription can be done on the outside of the ring but fade after time if that part of the ring comes into constant contact with other surfaces.

Design Engraving VS Inscription Engraving:

Design engraving refers to actual metal etching done to the overall design of a ring. This is common in more vintage designs where you will see a beading of metal called milgrain along the edges of the diamonds in the band or halo. More well known are the engraving inscriptions which are letter or numbers inscribed within the piece and usually signify something of personal importance to the wearer.

Hand Engraving:

In the case of hand engraving, a specialist will use a metal pen to engrave the letters by hand. This is an authentic way of engraving and saved for special pieces and requests.  An example of hand engraving design can be seen on the outer edges of our RS-150 ring to give it a more vintage feel.  This engraving is related to the overall design of the ring as opposed to inscriptions placed on the inside of the ring which are meant to signify personal names, date, etc.

Laser Engraving:

In most cases, Inscriptions on the interior of the rings are created by engraving specialists that use distinct machinery and computer engraving software. While it may seem easy, engraving is a very time-consuming task that takes extreme accuracy and precision. Just consider the width of our most delicate engagement ring bands which are under 2mm wide, leaving little room for error when adding the text there. The rings are first clamped to the engraving machine using special tools and screws. Accurate measurements are taken of the engraving area and the text size are taken. Because the text space is so small, it can take a few tries to get the measurements correct. The dimensions along with the desired message are entered on the computer by the specialist. Once the computer processes the information, a test run is done to show the definite amount of space the engraving will take up and where the text will start and end. Once approved, a tiny metal pen carefully and slowly etches the letters into the ring. In the case of laser engraving, a laser will burn the text into the metal instead of a metal pen.

Band Thickness:

Generally we find that thicker bands (2mm+) work best with engravings. They can still be done on the thinner style bands we offer (under 2mm) however, the message can sometimes lose a bit of legibility because of how thin the shank is. With the thinner style bands, opt for a few letters in block print to make sure you can see the message.

Fonts, Block or Script:

While script is beautiful and elegant, it should be saved for slightly thicker bands (2mm+) where there is more capacity so that the letters can be easily seen. Because script letters are so close together, block is generally easier to read and the letters will not cloud together with our thinner bands.   There are many different fonts to choose from and really comes down to a matter of personal preference.

Engraving Message Ideas:

Special messages, nick names or pet names, wedding anniversary or first date, the initials of the couple are cute ideas to personalize yours rings. In general, inscriptions should be short and sweet so that it will fit on the ring without losing visibility.  Since an engagement ring is a surprise, the purchaser of the ring will usually add something that relates to the person they are presenting the ring to. On the other hand, for the wedding bands many will put the same message in both recipients’ bands usually consisting of initials and the date of the wedding. At Lauren B we offer complementary engraving on all rings purchased so think of something special and we will certainly add it your beautiful piece.

Keep in mind that all rings will usually have a stamp/engraving on the inside of the band stating the metal type.  For platinum you will usually see "PT950" and for gold you will see "14K" and or "18K" depending on the level of purity.