How to Choose the Right Wedding Band
You’ve heard the “4 Cs” of smart diamond buying. But think about the wedding band? Wedding bands aren’t probably the most expensive wedding purchase you will make, nothing like spending between $1,000-$10,000 on that beautiful sparkling diamond rock. You may not spend a lot of time researching the marriage band purchase, but many people end up wearing their wedding band more often and on each day to day basis compared to their engagement ring.
Make an informed decision when purchasing your wedding band.
Do you prefer a normal plain wedding band or a design wedding band?
Do you wish to budget in for a designer name brand or do you would rather forgo the brand and opt out for fundamentally the same ring minus the “name”, thereby significantly reducing costs?
Wedding Band Scotland Pricing Your STRAP.
Plain Wedding Bands
You might want to look at a plain band if you need a simple design or aren’t a large “jewelry person”. As a jeweler, I often get women searching for their husbands wedding bands who are considering a plain band because their husband “does not like jewelry”. I usually recommend a narrower plain wedding band, like a white gold or yellow gold 4mm wide band. Although a wider 6mm, 7mm, or 8mm band is standard for some men, someone who will not wear plenty of jewelry may feel convenient in a narrow band. (Wedding bands are usually measured in millimeters. A 4mm band is approx. �” wide).
If someone is looking for something with a little more of a design, but still wants an easier band, I might even steer them towards a more subtle design, for instance a hammered strap. Hammered bands remain understated, but a little more exciting than a traditional plain band.
Design Band
There are many types of design wedding bands to select from, such as braided wedding bands, hammered design bands, paisley bands, along with other unique designs, for instance a Celtic wedding band.
The type of design band wedding you select is really a personal choice. You’ll find nothing scientific or practical in selecting a design wedding band apart from primarily deciding which kind of design you merely like.
The only real practical considerations that you might want to make in choosing the wedding band with designs is in knowing that trends come and go and you will be wearing and looking at the design hopefully forever. Another consideration is in deciding whether you’ll wear your ring on a regular basis and what kind of wear and tear your ring can safely sustain. This usually depends on the type of work or career or regular hobbies.
Do you work with your hands a lot? Do you do construction work or do you have an office job that is not taxing on your own hands? In purchasing a design band, if you are planning to wear your ring to employment that is challenging you really should consider a hammered design band or perhaps a similarly rugged design that may withstand deterioration. You might want to stay away from a braided wedding band, for example, if you are a police officer and desire to wear your ring on the job! For anyone who is “outdoorsy” and rugged, you might want a far more solid band with less design that could get damaged.
Keep in mind these are acute cases. Most braided wedding bands are tougher than they appear and you will be fine under most conditions.
Design Band or Designer BRAND NAME
Most wedding bands which are on the market today are actually not designer brand name rings, yet they’re, in my opinion, the same quality because so many designer name brand rings. The difference with a designer name brand and a generic version is principally the price. Most design bands range between $300-$350 vs. $600-$800 for the precise ring made by a known designer name.
However, if paying 2-3 times more isn’t a significant difference for you, you really should consider a name brand simply for the security or status that the name you get can provide you. In shopping for a wedding band, whether it’s a designer name or not, be sure you understand your wedding or jewelry store’s policies, warranties, and guarantees. Often, the generic brand will offer you exactly the same security, quality, and warranties. So why spend the extra?
Yellow Gold, White Gold, or Two-Tone
This too is mostly a personal choice, but there are many points to consider in selecting your wedding bands’ color or metal type.
White gold is often more suitable for those who are not normally big jewelry wearers. White gold can be somewhat more sophisticated, although trends claim that yellow gold may be returning strong into fashion. Ultimately, whether you choose yellow or white gold should be determined by your personal preference, rather than following any trend, since trends come and go and you plan to wear your ring forever!
You may also want to consider two-tone gold. Two-tone marriage rings are a fantastic compromise between subtle and rich tones and they serve one additional purpose that people tend to overlook.
Two-tone wedding bands give you the flexibility of both yellow and white gold colors to be able to match many different other jewelry with your wedding jewelry. In the event that you buy a white gold strap, your entire future jewelry purchases will tend to be white gold. Wearing gold or two-tone together with your white gold ring may clash. The same could be said of pure yellow gold. But with a two-tone wedding band, it is possible to wear an all yellow gold bracelet or watch, for instance, and interchange jewelry and colors. This adds great versatility to your jewelry line-up.