Men have many more options when choosing a wedding band than you think! Many guys tend to choose something simple and basic, which is fine if that is what you like. But you don’t have to! I am going to break down some fun, alternative wedding band options for men who are looking for something a bit more interesting. Hopefully, this will help provide some inspiration!
If you're looking to create a custom wedding band, do send me an inquiry at info@fineandflux.com and I will be happy to help you create something that you will love!
Men's Wedding Band Width & Pricing
Before getting into the different designs, with men’s wedding rings you can always choose the width. This means your ring can be as thick or as thin as you want. It is important to think about this in advance and have an idea of what you would like before reaching out. The prices will tend to revolve around the thickness X the size of the band. The larger the size and width, the more expensive it will be. This is just because you are using more raw material.
Hammered Wedding Bands
One of my favorite styles is a textured wedding band. Hammered designs are becoming more and more popular, and it is not very hard to see why. This is a great option for someone who does manual labor because if it ever does get scratched or bumped, you aren’t going to see it. There are two different options for hammered designs: with a bevelled angle and without a bevelled angle. Having a bevelled edge helps encase the texture and adds a level of refinement to the piece.
Crushed Stone Inlays
This style is so cool because you can add essentially any stone as an inlay into your band. Most of the time, I use Gilson Opal - a synthetic kind of opal that can come in almost any color. After the stone is crushed, it is laid within the band and set with resin that is hardened by UV ray, giving you an extremely durable piece. For this design, I would recommend staying above the 6mm width, any thinner and you wont have enough space to put the opal in the middle. A small little strand of color will not look as good.
Cigar Bands
Cigar bands make a great wedding band for both men and women. If you are choosing this style for a man, my recommendation would be to start at 8mm thick. For this design you need a bit more thickness to get a nice imposing look. Cigar bands are supposed to be quite wide, lean into it!
Very Thin Wedding Rings
Big contrast compared to the extra thick cigar band. You could go as thin as 3mm! This is a great option if you are someone who doesn’t really want to feel their ring. Because you are taking up a lot less real estate with a smaller band, you don’t have as much room for design liberty. If you wanted to elevate this a bit, the best option would be to add a bevelled edge. It looks so much more sophisticated like this when compared to a thin band without a beveled edge.
Men don’t think about stacking, but as seen on Denzel Washington's wedding bands, two thin bands stacked together looks so good. He stacks one 18k yellow and one platinum and it looks great! Something to consider if you want a more fashion forward option, that will still go with everything you own.
Engravings
I often do floral engravings on women’s bands and it adds such a nice personalized touch. But engravings are not limited to women. Men - you can put basically anything you want, along as it fits within the confines of your chosen band thickness. For example this client's ring as seen below, was a request to engrave a forest & mountain scene. Send me any drawing or text and we can make it happen. If you want more contrast, we actually darken the engraved portion with black rhodium for an extra pop!
Lord of the Wedding Ring
For all of my Lord of the Rings fans out there, I am about to make your dream come true. I get a lot of requests for this ring. It is a simple domed band, you can get it matte or high polished. Still, it is a subtle and elegant choice, not to mention perfect to pair with an engraving.
Black Enamel/Resin
A lot of the time I see people trying to achieve this look by using black rhodium. This is actually something to keep an eye out for because it is a huge faux-pas. Rhodium should only be used below the surface of a piece, for example when filling the outlines of engravings, as seen above. When using black rhodium superficially it will wear off. You will waste so much money getting the black rhodium replated every 6 months - and it is expensive. So it is great to use for engravings, but if you want a black surface, use black enamel. That black enamel is never going to wear off, it is extremely durable and if it scratches, it is very easy and inexpensive to have it polished.
Pavé
Adding a bright-cut diamond pavé row is such a classy way to elevate a timeless piece. Lots of men tend to avoid stones because they feel it is a more feminine aesthetic, but I don’t think that is the case. Having a row of diamonds or even black diamonds, adds a sleek edgy feel. If you are looking to get a matching set with your spouse, this is a great option to consider. You can use the same stones but set them in different ways to have custom pieces that you both love.
Unique Style Inspiration
Also, I wanted to share some unique styles to potentially inspire you to try something a bit more out there. I think men have the tendency to pick things that are more modest, but you really don’t have to! Things like a dark blue centre stone, emerald, black diamond look very masculine, just to show you don’t always have to go the simple route.
DON’T DO THIS
Seriously. Stop buying these styles. Whenever you go to a run of the mill jewelry store in the mall looking for men’s bands, they will pull out the catalog. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT shop the catalog. All of the pieces here will be made by machines with cutting in the metal in some attempt to give it a style or texture - think the Versace pattern ring. These are very dated styles. A lot of them will also come in two toned. This is another style to avoid because it very frequently goes in an out of fashion. And men, unlike women, are not often changing their rings, so it is always better to go with something timeless that you love.
If ever you have any questions, or need help looking for a wedding band email info@fineandflux.com to get started. I specialize in custom jewelry and would be happy to help. You can also view our ready to order men’s jewelry.