Italian jewelry is synonymous with top notch gold jewelry. This country has traditionally been a powerhouse in the design of buttery soft gold jewelry design. Of course the Italians do everything else as well when you think of such brands as Casa Damiani, Bulgari and many others. Italian gold jewelry has been the standard bearer in the manufacture of fine 14k and 18k jewelry for the longest time.

Other countries like Turkey have tried to emulate them but the Italians with their Italian gold jewelry are still the foremost purveyors of the finest that precious metal jewelry has to offer. Fine Italian jewelry is for the most part crafted in 18k yellow and white gold. Now with the run up in gold prices more jewelry buyers are wanting to purchase Italian silver jewelry. Of course the same great finishing techniques that the Italian jewelry designers are famous have an equal following in silver.

Companies like Pandora and Trollbeads are based in Italy and have finally staked their part of the silver jewelry market as demand for Italian charm jewelry has gone through the roof. Many jewelry stores that saw a steep drop in the traditional jewelry business saw their branded Italian Sterling Silver jewelry like Chamilia, pandora and troll beads begin to develop quite a following as women of all ages kept coming back to add to their charm bracelets and necklaces. The Italian Murano glass jewelry has been particularly popular with young women, especially the enticing selection of murano glass beads made by the above brands.

The Italian jewelry designer has always been on the cutting edge of European design, especially when it comes to Italian diamond jewelry and Italian enamel jewelry. Italian designers like Roberto Coin, Marco Bicego, Rebecca Italian Jewelry and Phillipe Charriol have pioneered the use of colored gold, textured gold, and innovative jewelry design. Similarly brands like La Nouvelle Bague, Rosato and others have been pioneers in the jewelry enamel arts bringing to market the design benefits of the cold enamel process.

Other innovations by Italian jewelry designers include Mattioli, the Italian jewelry design group that introduced 18k chocolate gold to the world. Chocolate gold has been a big seller especially when combined with rose gold and white gold in bracelets, rings and earrings. This gold goes well with chocolate diamonds and chocolate pearls. Italian mosaic jewelry is one of the foremost examples of antique

Italian jewelry and demonstrates the fine skill of Italian jewelry craftsmen going back to Roman times. Designers from Italy are also not afraid to move forward and experiment with new metals like titanium. The Zydo collection of  titanium jewelry using 18k gold, steel, silver, and fancy colored sapphires shows remarkable innovation in the use of titanium to create textures and colors in jewelry that reminds one of the jewelry that would be on board the Star Trek Enterprise.

Stainless steel jewelry has come of age especially when you see what designers are doing with steel nowadays. Steel’s most jewelry intensive application is in the category of body jewelry. Many body jewelry wearers like surgical grade steel because it is strong and won’t provoke skin reactions in people who are allergic to some of the alloys used in silver and gold. Steel is harder than gold or sterling silver so it is a very durable material and does not tarnish or oxidise.

Most steel jewelry that people have been accustomed to seeing is men’s stainless steel jewelry like cufflinks, rings and mens dog tags. Nevertheless there are some designers that are pushing the envelope in terms of the designs that can be wrought in steel. Stuart Rae is one such designer whose “pea and pod” stainless steel jewelry collection has a feminine look with pea pod shaped styling with pearls. Most people think that his jewelry is made from sterling silver when they first see it and most jewelers are surprised to find out that his shapes have been created using lost wax techniques commonly is used in gold and silver fabrication. Stainless steel jewelry for men is now being offered side by side with steel jewelry for women thanks to this new development in design.

Stainless steel offers a look that is completely different from silver and titanium. We have already seen the potential that steel has for jewelry when we see all the fine link work done for high end mens watches and mens stainless steel jewelry from top tier brands like Cartier and Jeager Le Coultre. The silvery look and finely brushed textures that you get from steel you cannot get from other metals. These finely textured finishes also hold up better on steel than they do on silver or gold. Stahl design out of Germany is a stainless steel jewelry manufacturer that makes some great stainless steel jewelry chain, stainless steel ring jewelry and steel cufflinks inlaid with sterling silver and the subtle contrasts created with the look are at once masculine and very classy.

Black stainless steel jewelry has made a strong showing recently demonstrating the depth of jewelry design possible with this material. Sarah Graham Metalsmithing’s “paper” chain necklace  in 18k gold and black steel is one such example where designers have taken the material to new levels of design and workmanship. The selling price on her piece is over $5000. Cede is another German manufacturer to wholesale stainless steel jewelry in the US but has gone the extra distance and created multiple colors in steel in their “Creation Milanaise” collection of bracelets comprised of 18k gold, diamonds, and steel in black, rose and regular white stainless steel.

Where engagement rings are concerned, brides to be are always looking for something unusual but not too unusual. Engagement rings represent something more than design and materials for brides to be. They want the style to be their own and at the same time be enduring. They want it to be classic but different. So engagement rings present some tough choices for most women because it is not some fashion accessory that they intend to update in the near future. it must stand the test of time just as a couple’s love must stand the test of time.

The first quality of unusual engagement rings that most women consider is in metal combinations. Classic styles can be enlivened by combining different metals in the same ring. Some common combinations are White gold and rose gold as in mark Silverstein’s  Gossamer collection of of split shank engagement ring mountings. The shank splits into two small slivers at the mid shank point and each sliver is either white or rose gold with a single line of pave diamonds making for a very unusual engagement ring. Then the slivers rejoin at the head of the ring giving a light airy feel to the engagement ring with open space and a sense of movement. A ring design doesn’t have to be complicated to be unusual.

The second major point of departure for unusual wedding rings is the cut of stone to be used in the center. Although many women go for round brilliants, some opt for a princess or cushion for a more geometric shape appeal that makes for unusual diamond engagement rings . Princess cuts naturally dictate the style of the ring to a great extent. Naturally the hard points and edges of a princess cut diamond beg for a geometric mounting rather than a mounting with swirls, flowers and other soft lines.

Many women find themselves leaning toward a cushion cut because though it is technically a square cut of sorts, it does have the softness to go with styling that id suitable for rounds as well as geometric styling suitable for princesses. It is also a shape of diamond that is not so common. Diamond shapes to a large extent dictate the styling of engagement ring whether her choice is a princess, round, oval, pear or marquise. On top of the traditional shapes, some of which have slipped out of fashion like the marquise and the heart is this huge variety of new cuts like the tycoon cut, the lily cut, the trapezoid cut and many others too numerous to mention that are used in more modern engagement rings. There are also older cuts that have risen back to prominence like the Ascher , radiant and cushion that can also provide the look of an unusual engagement ring.

Celebrities on the red carpet have that level of influence to change the way brides to be think about contemporary engagement rings and wedding rings in general. For instance many of the unusual trends in the use of a fancy colored diamond as the center stones in a unique engagement ring came from the red carpet with high profile engagements like that between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez where the ring in question had a square shipped fancy pink diamond of over two carats as the center stone for a welcome take on unique engagement rings. This gave the public permission to embrace the use of canary yellow diamonds and treated blue diamonds as legitimate center stone choices for their engagement rings. It also gave rise to the use of engagement rings dominated by large center stones with also large matching side stones.

Prominent designers have also been at the heart of shaping engagement ring trends. Designers like Michael B, Judith Conway, Ritani and Chris Aire with his patented red gold. Designer engagement rings have always been popular because a woman actually gets more mileage out of her designer engagement ring then she ever will out of a leather handbag by Louis Vuitton for the simple reason that her platinum designer engagement ring will be worn more and will last long after her she has grown tired of her handbag or after it has fallen apart. Designers always like to use precious and durable metals and stones for engagement rings. One thing is for sure is that prominent designers will perhaps never design silver engagement rings for the simple fact that silver does not have the durability nor the romance factor needed to serve as a bridal jewelry metal.