Great Budget Ideas for Bridal Jewellery

                             Using illusion setting in diamonds is a great way to cut costs

This wedding season invest more thoughtfully and budget yourjewellery for your big day.

Economy over the long run comes from having a variety ofjewellery in your possession. Don’t get encumbered by a single type of jewellery that will turn out to be of limited use outside a function or two. Mix traditional, contemporary, pure diamond and gemstone heavy jewellery to create variety in your wedding ensemble.

Using illusion setting in diamonds is a great way to cut costs. A well made illusion set piece will give you a big look in a fraction of the budget of a solitaire studded piece. Just be sure to check that previous illusion set pieces made by the jeweller are up to the mark in creating the effect of a single diamond.

When looking to cut budget, gemstones are your friends. Replace yellow diamonds with yellow sapphires, use smoky quartz instead of champagne or brown diamonds to cut costs dramatically. Replace large diamonds with coloured gemstones, to create variety as well as reduce costs. Gemstones beads are also a great option for creating volume in your jewellery at a reduced cost. Beads can also be used to replace expensive gold links in some cases.

We all love gold. Another reason to love it more is that it comes in various purities. If you don’t have the budget for 22K or 18K gold then feel free to reduce your gold purity to 14K. This is a great way to reduce your jewellery cost, especially when you’re getting some customised jewellery made.

Almost all gemstones have a treated, synthetic version, which looks equally good, in fact, in some cases, even better! No need to go for natural untreated gemstones and south sea pearls. Do not shy away from using stones with permanent treatments and cheaper pearl alternatives like shell pearls to complete your jewellery design.

An experienced jeweller or jewellery buyer knows that a well made design can create a big look with limited use of gold and studded gemstones. Creative jail work, appropriate selection of large and small gemstones, use of intelligent diamond & gemstone setting techniques can easily reduce your jewellerycost by 10-20%. Always compare the look of a jewellery piece with the gold & carat weight of diamonds and gemstones in it. This will help you decide which pieces give good value for money.

Diamond quality, thanks to massive marketing is often looked at by the customer in a theoretical rather than a practical way. Blindly going for a higher quality diamond might not be the appropriate thing to do. Look for jewellers who have a reputation for using excellent cut diamonds as cut has a major impact on how a diamond sparkles. Instead of going for top end D-E colour ranges stick to other economical yet desirable colour grades such as G-H. Understand that diamond clarity is graded by experts using a 10x loop. Very little if any inclusions are visible to the naked eye, especially after a diamond has been set. So don’t shy away from clarity grades such as SI (slightly included/small inclusions). Such practical choices can save you a bundle of money while purchasing your weddingjewellery.