How to Cut Cost on an Eternity Band

Wedding bands are a huge cost and responsibility for both the bride and groom to bear before the wedding. For women, one of the most popular types of wedding band being sold right now is the diamond-encrusted "eternity" style wedding band. This style features small diamonds all the way around the band. These bands can be pricey, but the price can come down a bit if you remember a few simple variables to negotiate.

Instructions

1. Look online. There are a number of jewelers that sell diamonds and other jewelry in bulk through online stores. The price of many of these eternity bands can be much cheaper than anything you'll find in a store for many reasons. The first and most obvious reason is overhead. If your jeweler doesn't have the cost of storefront rental to worry about, he can pass those savings on to you. Also, if you live in a big city and you're buying from a dealer that lives hundreds of miles away where his wholesale diamond supplier is cheaper, this is also a savings that you will see as a consumer. Make sure that you are buying from a well-established dealer that provides a 100 percent money-back guarantee and that the diamonds are GIA certified.

2. Choose a 14-ct. white gold band. If you like the look of platinum for your eternity band but don't like the price tag, consider having the band done in 14-ct. white gold. The look will be almost identical, especially since the main focus of the ring is the diamonds. Only a jeweler would be able to notice the difference in the metal type.

3. Downgrade the quality of the diamond by a grade or two. When it comes to large, solitaire stones, imperfections are easy to see, even to the untrained eye. But once the diamonds are cut to the size that are used in an eternity band, small inclusions and imperfections are very difficult to see. Downgrading, even by one or two quality grades, can cut hundreds of dollars off of the price of an eternity band.

4. Go for a 2-mm band instead of a 3-mm band. This very small difference in width of ring is another subtle change to the eternity band that can save you hundreds of dollars. The weight and size of the stones used may actually stay exactly the same. It will just be the width that will change ever so slightly.