Engagement Rings

A handmade engagement ring is when the precious metal, such as gold or platinum is machined, hammered, bent, filed, sanded and soldered, etc.
So the engagement ring will be made from scratch using the gold or platinum.
A cast engagement ring is when the precious metal is melted and injected into a mould of the engagement ring design.
Initially to make the mould a wax model of the engagement ring is made, as it’s quicker than making a model from metal, however some jewellers that intend to make several engagement rings from the same mould could also make a perfect prototype from metal and then cast several engagement rings from that mould.

Handmade engagement rings usually cost more to buy, as they are one-off.
Handmade engagement rings are also denser than the gold in cast engagement rings because when engagement rings are cast they have the gold or platinum injected under pressure into the mould, but the pressure isn’t as much as the pressure applied when a jeweller makes an engagement ring by hand as making by hand involves processes such as the jeweller hitting the gold with a hammer and bending it, which compresses the gold or platinum beyond what the casting injecting process is capable of.  So for two engagement rings of the same design and dimensions the handmade engagement ring will be heavier than the cast engagement ring as more gold is compacted into the same area.

The above information is an apples-for-apples comparison. There are other factors such as talent and experience by a jeweller. So the same handmade engagement ring by one jeweller may not be as good as a cast engagement ring by another jeweller.