Yellowknife (Feb 19/03) - You may think there are only so many things that make a wedding ring unique. Think again.

Gold comes in different colours. Do you want one stone or several, a simple, slim band or something wider and ornate? What about a platinum band with the gold?

The choice comes down to what look you like and how fat your wallet is.

Joanne Lamont at Eldonn Jewellers said the key is to have some criteria -- or even vague notions -- of what styles you like before you come into the store.

Lamont said people can save themselves and the dealer a lot of trouble by bringing some ideas of what they want.

"Just an idea of what you might want goes a long way," she said. "We have stacks and stacks of catalogues."

The basic designs offer multitudes of different options, so coming up with something unique is just a matter of choosing a combination of elements.

Lamont said the most popular new design is the tension set diamond, which features a diamond held snugly in place by the two arms of the ring.

"However many ways there are to reinvent the diamond ring, this is the latest," she said.

Lamont said totally new designs are rare because of prohibitive costs.

"Oh I don't know, you could pay a few thousand to tens of thousands for a new design," she said.

More and more people who come look for local diamonds and local gold.

"Yellowknife gold is very popular lately," she said. "People really like the colour. It's a bit brighter because it has some silver in it."

Hau Huynh, operator of Arctic Jewellers, said this is the time of year his business really picks up.

"People get married in the summer, so they start shopping now."

Huynh said many customers from other provinces come into Yellowknife to buy local diamonds and gold.

He said this year most people want the polar bear diamonds that are etched with a serial number.

"You're out at a party, you take your ring off to wash your hands and forget it, and somebody takes it," he said. "Your ring is gone, but this way there's still a chance you can get it back."