You've heard the "4 Cs" of smart diamond buying?cut, color, clarity,
and carats. But what about the wedding band?
Wedding bands are not the most
expensive wedding purchase you will make and you may not spend a lot of time
researching your wedding band purchase. But many people end up wearing their
wedding band more often and on a day to day basis compared to their engagement
ring.
Make an informed decision when purchasing your wedding band.
+ Do you prefer a traditional, plain wedding band or a design wedding band?
+ Do you want to budget in for a designer name brand or do you prefer to forgo
the brand name and opt out for essentially the same ring without the "name",
thereby significantly reducing costs?
+ Pricing Your Wedding Band.
Plain Wedding Bands
You may want to consider a plain band if you prefer a simple design or are
not a big "jewelry person". As a jeweler, I often get women shopping
for their husband's wedding bands who are considering a plain band because their
husband "does not like jewelry". I usually recommend a narrower plain
wedding band, such as a white gold or yellow gold 4mm wide band. Although a
wider 6mm, 7mm, or 8mm band is standard for most men, someone who does not wear
a lot of jewelry may feel more comfortable in a narrow band. (Wedding bands
are usually measured in millimeters. A 4mm band is approx. ¼" wide).
If someone is looking for something with a little more of a design, but still
wants a simpler band, I may even steer them towards a more subtle design, such
as a hammered wedding band. Hammered bands are still understated, but a little
more exciting than a traditional plain band.
Design Band
There are many types of design wedding bands to choose from, such as braided
wedding bands, hammered design bands, paisley bands, and other unique designs,
such as a Celtic wedding band.
The type of design band wedding you choose is a personal choice. There is nothing
scientific or practical in selecting a design wedding band other than primarily
deciding what type of design you simply like.
The only practical considerations that you may want to make in selecting a
wedding band with designs is in understanding that trends come and go and you
will be wearing and looking at the design hopefully forever. The other consideration
is in deciding whether you will wear your ring on a daily 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 hands? In purchasing a design band,
if you are planning to wear your ring to a job that is physically demanding
you may want to consider a hammered design band or a similarly rugged design
that can withstand wear and tear. You may want to stay away from a braided wedding
band, for example, if you are a police officer and want to wear your ring on
the job! If you are "outdoorsy" and rugged, you may want a wedding
band with less design that could get damaged.
Keep in mind these are extreme cases. Most braided wedding bands are tougher
than they appear and will be fine under most conditions. And if not, they can
easily be repaired (we offer a one year warranty and inexpensive repair service
after the warranty period). Out of the thousands of braided wedding bands we
have sold, not even 1% have been returned for repair and often only by people
who are tough on their jewelry.
Design Band or Designer Name Brand
Most wedding bands that are on the market today are actually not designer name
brand rings, yet they are, in my opinion, the same quality as most designer
name brand rings. The difference with a designer name brand and a generic version
is mainly the price. Most design bands range between $300-$350, for example,
at http://wedding-band-ring.com vs.
$600-$800 for the exact ring made by a known designer name.
However, if paying 2-3 times more is not a significant difference to you, you
may want to consider a name brand simply for the security or status that the
name you purchase may give you. In shopping for a wedding band, whether it is
a designer name or not, make sure you understand your wedding or jewelry store's
policies, warranties, and guarantees. Often, the generic brand will offer you
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 a few things 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 is also somewhat more contemporary, although trends suggest
that yellow gold may be coming back strong into fashion. Ultimately, whether
you choose yellow or white gold should depend on 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 wedding rings are an
excellent 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 so that you can match a variety of other jewelry with your wedding jewelry.
If you buy a white gold wedding band, all of your future jewelry purchases will
tend to be white gold. Wearing yellow gold or two-tone with your white gold
ring may clash. The same can be said of pure yellow gold. But with a two-tone
wedding band, you can wear an all yellow gold bracelet or watch, for example,
and interchange jewelry and colors. This adds great versatility to your jewelry
line-up.
Price Benchmarks
Use the below benchmarks to assess if your selected jeweler is charging you
too much or if their prices are reasonable.
Expect to spend between $100-$150 for a plain, traditional wedding band.
Expect to spend approx. $300 for a standard, but high quality design wedding
band.
Expect to spend between $600-$800 for a designer name brand.
Remember, you may not want to dish out the additional cost for a designer name
brand when you can find virtually the same ring without the "name".
Above all, this should be a choice that you make yourself or with your spouse.
Forget about trends and think long-term. $300 over 50 years of your life is
less than a penny a day! Don't get caught up too much in the price. Opt for
the ring that you really want. You plan to wear your ring forever.
Afshin Yaghtin graduated as an English major at UCLA and furthered his education
at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth with a M.A. in postmodern American
literature before starting his own business at http://wedding-band-ring.com.
He lives in California with his wife and 3 adorble, rambunctious kids.
