Wedding rings are the symbols of eternal love for the married couple mainly because the circle has no beginning and no end. Although wedding rings can just be plain bands with perhaps precious and semi-precious gems, more and more couples are opting for personalization of their rings through the process of engraving.

What It Is

Engraving is simply the process of carving symbols - letters, numbers or any desired signs - into the interior of the ring's band. Many couples will also want engraving to be done on the ring's exterior although this is less popular.

The jeweller usually engraves the ring after it has been made in the desired size since resizing the ring can affect the appearance of the engraved symbols. The costs for engraving depend on many factors including the length of the symbols, the material of the ring, the tools required and the delivery time. You must ask for the specific price of the engraving to avoid misunderstandings later on, which can make your rings hostage to the jeweller.

What the Processes Are

There are three basic processes by which engraving of the wedding bands can be done, as follows:

• Hand engraving uses the traditional technique where the artisan uses a hand tool known as the graver to etch your sentiments on the metal. Take note that the process is far from perfect with the results varying according to the skill of the artisan.

• Machine engraving uses a machine to engrave the words. This is more precise methods but with limitations of only one row of words with a maximum of 20 characters.

• Laser engraving is the newest kid on the block. With laser precision, the jeweller can engrave entire passages of up to 255 characters with each and every single symbol completely readable to the naked eye. You can then have poetry, verses and vows engraved instead of the usual heart flanked by your initials.