Be it simple or be it elaborate, the actual wedding ceremony and more specifically, the exchange of the wedding rings forms the centre of most weddings across cultures worldwide.

Interesting Trivia: The wedding band or ring is a circle to signify a relation without a start or an end – an eternal love. Marriage too is believed to be an eternal relation; in India it is believed that marriage ties a couple together for seven lives. The empty part in the centre also has its own meaning – it is the entry way or gate to each other’s hearts.

So how did this simple piece of jewellery become such an important symbol of love and commitment?

The tradition of rings as a piece of jewellery has been around since times immemorial. The earliest rings were most probably made of simple plant stems or tree bark twisted into a ring to wear on a finger. The credit for presenting a ring at a social event perhaps goes to the Egyptians. The first metal rings were of course made by the Egyptians, but it was the Romans who really turned them into symbolic pieces of jewellery items. A band on the ring finger of the left hand meant the wearer is married.

Initially, only women were required to wear a wedding rings or band. Men started wearing wedding bands only in the last century. It was actually a war, World War II, which got men to start wearing wedding rings. Men’s wedding rings came into existence for the soldiers fighting in a far off continent as a reminder of the love they had left behind.

Interesting Trivia: While the Egyptians, the Romans, and the Western civilizations started the tradition of exchanging wedding bands ages ago, the more traditional eastern countries have also accepted this trend in recent decades.

If you are wondering how a wedding rings differs from an engagement ring, there are some subtle differences that you can look for to tell which one is which. An engagement or a proposal ring is typically a precious metal or diamond studded ring with a solitaire in the centre. The wedding band, on the other hand, is a simple precious metal band. Some brides prefer a matching wedding band with their solitaire engagement ring, a “Bridal Set”.

At Viranigems.com, it’s our mission to promote transparency throughout the jewellery purchasing process.

Unlike other e-tailers that mislead customers by showing amplified product images, we want our customers to be absolutely sure of what they would receive, starting from the size of the jewellery to how well it would fit, before ordering their precious diamond jewellery online.

We realized that many of our customers were not able to visualize the exact size of the jewellery from the pictures and videos provided at Viranigems.com alone. Some customers still missed the whole “Touch and Feel” experience of jewellery shopping. Therefore, we introduced our unique “Try on a 3D printed model before you buy” feature.

Using this feature, you can simply request an exact physical 3D printed replica of a Virani jewellery item you love and try it on in the comfort of your home before making an informed purchase.

Requesting a 3D printed model is easy. Simply click on the “Request a 3D Printed Model” right beside the bright red “Add to Cart” button on the product page.

Once you are on the “Request a 3D printed Model” page, you can simply press “Add to Cart” and request your first 3d printed model FOR FREE using the coupon code: Free3D

At Viranigems.com, we aim to enhance the overall jewellery shopping experience by merging art and innovation. Instead of having a multi-million dollar inventory made of diamonds and gold and charging customers for inventory maintenance expenses, we combined 3D printed models with our unique zero inventory-made to order business model to help our customers save up to 20-30% on diamond jewellery compared to traditional retailers.

When you find a particular design you love at Viranigems.com, we have added multiple ways to help you visualize what your beloved Virani jewelry item looks like in real life.

To help you visualize your precious Virani jewellery item, we have provided multiple features. You may view the design you love from multiple angles.

You may even choose a different metal colour from Rose, Yellow or White Gold and view both pictures and 360 degree videos of that particular jewellery item.

To give you a better idea about the exact size and the dimensions of a piece of jewellery, we have added scaled images.

And finally, if you still miss the whole “Touch and Feel” factor before making an informed purchase, you can simply take advanced of our unique “Try on a 3D printed Model Before You Buy” feature from the comfort of your home, and be absolutely sure of what you would get when you place that order of your precious Virani diamond jewellery.

Happy jewellery shopping!

While the exact origin of jewellery is yet to be traced, archaeological finds suggest that humans started wearing adornments much before they started clothing themselves. Almost every ancient civilization that has been discovered so far has had some or the other form jewellery  that has been unique to them. As humans have evolved and developed, so have their jewellery pieces as well as methods and styles of wearing their jewellery.

Interesting Trivia: The forms and types of jewellery have evolved and grown over the thousands of years. Yet, some of the earliest forms of jewellery – shells strung on tree bark rope or twine are still around and popular today as fashion and beach jewellery.

While the earliest forms of jewellery were nothing more than stones, sea-shells or animal bones strung together on plant twine, jewellery from then until now, has been a mark of status, stature and wealth in every culture. It is believed that jewellery was first worn nearly 100,000 years ago. Simple necklaces or charms made of sea-shells strung on bark rope or twine have been found buried with the remains of people from long lost civilizations. These finds have also been a proof that man’s love for jewellery started long before he understood the importance of wearing clothes.

As mankind progressed and civilizations moved inland from the sea coasts, minerals and metals were found. This also led to major changes in the kind and manner in which jewellery adorned the bodies of humans. The range of different ornaments being worn also increased. As men learnt how to work with metal, the simple trinkets and charms made of shells were replaced by varied adornments such as rings, necklaces, earrings, nose rings, bracelets, and other jewellery.

The use of jewellery also went through many changes. In some cultures, it became a form of currency, in others, an expression for artistic talents. When religion was found, specific ornaments became a symbol for certain religions.

The Birth of Modern Jewellery

Egypt and India are both credited with giving birth to modern jewellery. However, the art of metal working was first developed in Egypt. It was also the Egyptians that realized the value of gold, silver and other precious stones and started storing them as a form of wealth. Almost every Egyptian pharaoh that was buried had huge treasure hoards buried with him in the pyramid. Similarly, there have been innumerable stories of unspeakable treasures in the form of gold, silver and other ornaments being found from ancient Indian forts, temples, and palaces.

Once diamonds were discovered around 3000 years ago in India, these shiny rocks soon became major adornments for the wealthy. Over the course of time, the art and styles of jewellery kept undergoing changes. More and more types of jewellery items such as headgears in the form of crowns, bands and bracelets for the upper arms, as well as waist bands, and many other articles were introduced. After the Egyptians, it was the Romans and Greeks that took the jewellery tradition forward by bringing in further intricacy into their ornaments. Both these cultures utilized jewellery as an important form of trade and business.

Then of course came the period when the true value of gemstones, including diamonds, was recognized, and precious jewellery took a permanent turn for the better. Studded diamonds and gem stones jewellery pieces in gold, silver and platinum were created, and are very much in demand and use even today.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu.

Our journey also started with a very small step. We had a very humble beginning with our first exhibition with close family and friends. We had only 40-50 designs

Initially people weren’t too comfortable buying diamond jewellery online, especially from a new brand since the Average Selling Price (ASP), was slightly higher than other products being sold online. We understood that the customers not only wanted the convenience of shopping from home, but they also wanted to be absolutely sure of what they would get when they place that order.

We realised that the more information we provide, the more we educate our customers about their jewellery, the more transparent we become the more comfortable our customers would feel before buying a high value product online. Therefore, we started providing jewellery details online which not only included the number of diamonds or grams of gold being used in a particular piece of jewellery, but also mentioned how much we charged for diamond, gold and making of that jewellery .

The fact that all of our jewellery is made with conflict free diamonds that are also cut and polished in-house, and that every single piece of jewellery we sell is 100% certified by the most respected gemmological labs worldwide such as GIA and IGI, customers started trusting us even as a new brand in the market.

Some of our customers weren’t sure about the exact size of the jewellery from the pictures and scale provided online alone. They missed the whole “touch and feel” experience, so we introduced innovative features such as “Try a 3D printed model before you buy”. Using this feature, customers can order an exact 3D printed replica of their jewellery and try it on in the comfort of their homes before making an informed purchase.

June, 2014: The Perfect Proposal

Virani was incepted when our Founder Chirag Virani proposed to his childhood friend Hetal Virani at the beautiful Taj-Mahal.

April, 2015: Launch of Viranigems.com

Viranigems.com was launched by combining a ‘zero inventory’ business model with an efficient vertical integration from rough diamonds to jewellery retail helping customers save up to 30% on diamond jewellery.

April, 2015: Launch of Viranigems.com in Canada

With no more than 50 designs, Viranigems.com was first launched in Toronto, Canada with close family and friends.

May, 2015: Launch of Viranigems.com in the U.S.A

After receiving overwhelming love and support from Toronto, Canada, Virani was launched in the U.S.A. in May 2015.

June, 2015: Launch of Viranigems.com in India

To make the affordable luxury a reality for all of our customers worldwide, Virani was launched in India in June 2015.

We realized that there were still many limitations in the current models that existed in the jewellery retail industry and the customers were simply not getting the quality experience they should when making such a high value purchase.

For instance, many online marketplaces lack transparency in terms of where they get their diamonds from or how much they charge for gold, or making or even who the real person is behind that digital company that you are buying your precious jewellery form, which you are going to gift to your wife or mother.

And when we looked at the offline, brick and mortar retailors that carry millions of dollars of inventory, we saw that some of them were charging ridicules amounts of mark-ups. Even after a having large physical inventory, they still lacked the flexibility in terms of providing multiple sizes or variations of the same design. They usually didn’t offer any customization on their pre-set jewellery in terms of changing the quality of diamonds or colour or purity of metal.

We asked ourselves, can we solve these problems using technology? Can we give our customers the best jewellery shopping experience by not being just another eCommerce store, but by introducing innovative features such as trying on a 3D printed model at home before buying the actual piece of jewellery, or viewing their jewellery in a complete 3D 360 Degree environment online?

We wanted to be a brand that merges art and innovation. We wanted to offer thousands of design options with full flexibility of changing diamond quality and metal colour for each of the designs, but without having a multi-million dollar inventory of diamond and gold.

Experience our cost effective, completely transparent business model that offers fully certified jewellery made with conflict free diamonds only at www.viranigems.com.