Engagement rings come in a wide variety of styles and designs and it can be difficult to decide on the one ring that you’re going to give pride of place on your ring finger.
Despite the range of bridal ring options on the market from basic metal only bands and solitaire engagement rings to couture designer creations from the likes of Micheal B, Roberto Coin you’re going to find that most of the rings you see are going to be in traditional white metal whether it be white gold, palladium or platinum.
If you’re looking for something with a bit more color variation in the metal then a two tone engagement ring might be just what you are looking for.
Vintage Two Tone Engagement Rings
Two tone engagement rings does not necessarily mean that the mounting is going to have an even distribution of two different colored metals.
It could simply refer to perhaps some yellow gold accents on the shoulders of the ring or the center head
mounting alone in yellow gold to spice up the yellow in a fancy yellow center diamond.
Whatever the case, a splash of color is always refreshing in an engagement ring while still retaining a classic timeless look.
Take a look at the engagement ring mounting to the right. It makes sense for the head being the most detailed part of the ring to be in yellow gold for emphasis and for a nice vintage looking regal framework for the diamond that will go in the center.
The most common colors are the familiar pink tones of rose gold and yellow tones of yellow gold. The typical combinations are pink with white gold and yellow gold with white gold. The style of the overall ring is what determines how the colors are combined.
Simple Two Tone Engagement Rings
At the other end of the design scale you can have very simple contemporary engagement ring styles that look great in two tone gold.
A simple solitaire ring with a plain shank coupled with an alternate colored center setting looks very good and dresses up an otherwise plain jane engagement ring in a monotone metal color.
One of the most frequent combinations is a plain yellow gold shank with a platinum head setting that may
be in any number of styles from the classic Tiffany style to a simple bezel setting.
Many brides to be like the warmth of yellow gold for the shank but prefer a platinum head for strength and security since after all the diamond is the most precious part of the ring when the ring style is very basic.
Another simple style that looks good in two tone combinations is the classic bypass engagement ring style. Check out the fluid lines of the bypass engagement ring above and how good the 50/50 combination of white and pink gold looks.
Celtic Two Tone Engagement Rings
Combination metal rings are commonly found in cultural themed engagement rings like Celtic wedding rings.
Engagement rings with these kind of these themes normally sport the particular symbol or motifs tied to their theme and the best way for these symbols to stand out on the ring is to have them rendered in an
alternate colored metal.
This technique is not restricted to just religious themes but also includes popular cultural themes like Harley Davidson and types of Urban cultural themes.
Check out the Celtic engagement ring top right and note the Celtic knot symbol is in pink gold for emphasis and also for highlighting the center diamond.
Other Two Tone Engagement Ring Alternatives
Simply putting two parts of a ring together that are in different gold colors is the most common type of two tone engagement ring.
It can be a mounting with a shank, two halves of a shank or just alternate gold color accents on the ring like highlights in a woman’s hair.
You also can have multicolor metals in a single piece where the different colored metals are all melted together and swirled to create a multicolor concoction not unlike that of marble cake.
This technique is commonly acknowledged to have originated in Japan and is called Mokume Gane.
These types of multitoned engagement ring mountings run a bit more than your ordinary plain gold
mountings because each one is an individual creation and the colores run right through the ring like they do in marble cake.
These mountings are truly custom individualized rings that are quite beautiful to look at. Check out the one to the above right and note how simple the basic styling is.
Bezel and half bezel heads are typically used in Mokume Gane engagement rings so that a high prong setting doesn’t detract from the swirling ribbons of color in the shank of the ring.
Alternate Two Tone Metals
Gold is not the only multicolored metal that is common in two tone engagement ring styles.
Other modern metals like titanium can be treated and alloyed to produce varying shades of silver tones in titanium from jet black to gunmetal grays to polished white that almost passes for white gold.
Titanium is a wonderful metal for engagement rings because it is hypoallergenic, lightweight, harder and stiffer than gold and can take a range of finishes like satin and brushed that won’t wear away as quickly as on gold and sterling silver.
Because of its tensile strength and light weight titanium is a great metal for tension set engagement rings.
Normally you will find tension set rings in platinum but the amount of precious metal required to achieve the appropriate measure of tensile strength for holding in a diamond leaves these rings feeling heavy and bulky on the fingers.
The amount of titanium by weight required to achieve a similar tensile strength in tension set rings is far less and this makes it more comfortable to wear. Check out the edgy and modern looking two tone titanium tension set engagement ring above in two colors of titanium.
