To get a 9 carat wedding ring?

[Spanneroo]

OH and I are having a very small wedding in a couple of months' time. Only two guests, plus our two DDs. We don't plan to spend much at all, but have come to a bit of a stumbling block when it comes to rings.

I don't have an engagement ring, and we were planning to get a couple of wedding rings second hand for around £50 each. But, now that we've looked into it, I've realised maybe this is unrealistic for a ring I'll be wearing every single day? Not wanting to spend too much, 9 carat is appealing to me, but I can't seem to find a straight answer online as to whether 9 carat is genuinely suitable as a metal for a wedding ring. Lots of sites say 14/18 carat is better, but not really WHY. As we're not interested in how "precious" the metal is, more the durability, I'm hoping some on here might be able to help us make a decision.

Has anyone on here got a 9 carat wedding ring? Is it lasting well? Do you regret not getting a higher carat? Why/why not?

9 carat is harder wearing.
Basically 9 carat is 37.5% gold and rest is other metal alloys

18carat is 75% gold so is heavier and softer but will be more expensive as has twice as much gold in it.
Palladium and platinum are hard wearing but more expensive.

Engagement, wedding and eternity rings all 9ct here, oldest is the engagement ring at 16 years and newest is eternity at 3 years and you can’t tell the difference in wear

I get contact dermatitis from nickel and silver - never had a problem with my 9 carat gold wedding and engagement rings!

Not a wedding ring but when my Nana died I had a ring made with her birthstone, I wear it everyday and it still looks good.

I got a beautiful white gold ring but was allergic to it. We replaced it with a £4.85 silver ring from Argos 🤣

OP are you going to be wearing this ring on its own or with another ring?

If you're wearing it with another ring the metals should match. Wearing a harder metal ring next to a softer metal will damage it.

Also, if it's white gold it will fade quicker at 9ct. I have 18ct white gold engagement and wedding rings, they haven't discoloured at all, but a 9ct one did quite quickly.

I have a 9 carat white gold ring, matches with DHs. Both plain bands. I don't wear any other rings.

Mine looks tatty as hell barely 6 months later. It's starting to look really yellow and is really scratched up. I never take it off. Wanted titanium but I couldn't find what I wanted, I prefer a D shaped band and nowhere did one in our budget. Silver apparently doesn't hold up well but I wore a lovely silver ring for 2 years and it looked new still. Higher carat white gold, platinum etc were all too expensive. Yellow/gold tones don't suit me at all so I refused to consider it.

DH always takes his off in the shower, at work and when he washes dishes etc and his looks much better but it's also gone missing several times.

I think in a few years time we'll probably end up upgrading to a higher quality set to last us into old age. I want to know where all these posters with their shiny like new 9 carat rings bought them from, I'm so jealous!

I got 14k, just out of lack of knowledge regret it. It's super soft and scratches easily. I'd get 9k if I had a second choice

Another 9 carat ring here that's lasted years and years.

I have my mother's very soft gold ring (a higher carat than you can get in the UK, 24 or something) and I stopped wearing it as the pattern was wearing away.

I should have said 20+ years I have been wearing it.

I think 9carat gold wouldn’t last I’m afraid.
what? 9ct is the hardest and longest lasting

I have 18ct (as does DH) as we don't do manual type labour and 20 years later still shiny and lovely

24 carat gold
is the ultimate gold carat – it doesn't go any higher than this. It's the purest form and consists of 99.9% gold. It is naturally yellow and highly valuable, but very soft and malleable, so it is not usually used to make fine jewellery or intricate objects.

22 carat gold
consists of around 91.6% gold and so is highly priced. It is also very soft, so it's not ideal for stone set jewellery, being more suitable for plain gold jewellery, such as wedding bands.

18 carat gold
contains 75% gold, with the rest made up of other more durable metal alloys used to add colour and strength. White metals will be added to create white gold with copper added to create rose gold. 18ct yellow gold is appreciated for its radiance and is much warmer and brighter in tone than 14ct and 9ct gold – but with its high percentage of gold, it still comes at a higher price.

14 carat gold
has about 58.5% pure gold and has a warm yellow hue. It is more affordable than 18ct gold, making it a popular choice.

9 carat gold
has 37.5% pure gold; it is the most affordable form of gold jewellery and portrays a light yellow hue. Its higher percentage of other metals, makes it stronger and more durable and particularly suited to the creation of jewellery.

www.hsamuel.co.uk/webstore/jewellery/metalGuide/carats.cdo

@PleaseNotThisAgain
your white gold ring was most likely rhodium plated, they do this to make it 'whiter'

have a look here for cheaper rings, you can buy from www.cooksongold.com/Wedding-Ring-Blanks/ and then take to a jewellers to get it 'finished'

Mine and dh’s wedding rings are 9 carat. We couldn’t afford more at the time and weren’t too bothered by it anyway. 19 yrs later they look exactly the same

I want to know where all these posters with their shiny like new 9 carat rings bought them from, I'm so jealous!

Mine are 9ct yellow gold so no coating to wear off like with white gold. Cheap from H Samuel.

Mine came from Samuel's too. 9ct yellow gold. Worn constantly for 27 years so far. Still looks in perfect condition.

Weirdly, Dantes, my inherited 9ct wedding ring is a warm coloured gold. It is hallmarked ‘375’. I also have a pair of antique 18ct gold earrings hallmarked ‘750’ and they are a very similar shade. I’ll try to post a pic.

My husband wanted something very plain. He has a 9ct good wedding ring. He’s been wearing it 15 years, never takes it off and he’s a builder so it’s gotten plenty of knocks. It still looks great if a little scratched which would polish out.

Mines is 9ct gold still going strong after 30 years. The higher the carat the purer and weaker the gold.

My nine carat ring is thirty years old and looks no different than on my wedding day.

We married in 1961 (students) 9 ct ring still going strong. Golden wedding some time ago!

The earrings are small hoops. I’ve pinched one hoop between my fingers so you can compare the gold shade.

I wonder if the metal mix was different in the past, making the warmer hue?

My 9ct white gold wedding ring has been worn for almost 40 years. The bright white colour has mellowed over time to a rich creamy white. I suppose I could have the rhodium plating redone, but I like the colour it is now.

My wedding ring is 9ct been wearing it for over 30 years and it's fine.

I would say 9ct is better than a softer 14/18ct as it's more hard wearing.
My wedding ring is palladium. I wanted white metal without the faff of recoating white gold every few years. It's indistinguishable from my platinum engagement ring and still looks good after 7 years.

@EntirelyAnonymised I think it has. If you look at old rose gold It's a much softer colour while modern rose gold is much more coppery looking. I used to suspect Clogau of putting some copper in their 9ct as it had a warmer look to it.