How to Find Inexpensive Wedding Jewelry

Look beyond traditional Jewelry Stores for deals. You can find cheap wedding rings online or even at superstores. On this page, we offer tips on saving money and avoiding rip offs.

If you live in a major city, you may be able to find a wholesale jewelry district to find inexpensive wedding jewelry. It is a little tricky this way, since you might not always know what you are getting. It may be worth hiring a gemologist for the day to help you pick something out.

Visit a pawn shop to find inexpensive wedding jewelry like cheap wedding bands, affordable engagement rings, super cheap necklaces. (Use our tips below to check if the diamonds are real.) Skip the wedding band for the bride.

If you want to find inexpensive wedding jewelry, look for metals, such as  titanium & tungsten. They even come with small diamonds set in them.

How to Tell if a Diamond is Real

We offer the following tips to determine whether a diamond is real or not: Not all the tests are completely reliable, but a diamond that passes several tests is probably the real thing.

-A Real Diamond has flaws while cubic zicronia is optically flawless. A cubic zirconia may have a gray tone when exposed to prolonged sunlight.

-A Fake Diamond Repels grease while a real diamond attracts grease: Mark the stone with a grease pencil or felt-tipped pen.

-Clarity: It is probably not a real diamond if you can read though it. 

-A Real Diamond Usually Doesn't Have Chipped edges: It may not be a real diamond if the edges are not sharp or they are chipped.

-Many diamonds look blue under a black light (ultra violet light) but 99% of all fakes do not look blue.

-Diamonds Are Lighter than Cubic Zirconia: A cubic zirconia weighs about 1.7 times more than a real diamond.

-A Real Diamond Will Not Stay Fogged Up Create fog on your gem like you would with a mirror. If it stays fogged for two to four seconds, it may be cubic zirconia. However, dirt and oil on a diamond will affect the reliability of this test.

-Have a professional gemologist  analyze the diamond through a magnifying lens for more sophisticated tests.

You can get this replica of Jackie Kennedy's famous pearl necklace at the Smithsonian store online.