There is a whole range of different choices to be made when choosing the right wedding ring. Whether you are a guy or a girl, you’ll need to consider material, profile, width, finish, and possibly shape. If you’re planning on wearing an engagement and wedding ring alongside one another, making the right decision is especially crucial. Just as the correct picture-frame complements a great painting, the perfect wedding ring will enhance the beauty of an engagement ring. To help you find the right ring for you, it’s helpful to answer the following questions:
What material is right for me?
We sell wedding rings in silver, gold, palladium, platinum, titanium and wood. A number of factors will determine the options available to you:
Budget Silver, wood and titanium rings tend to be priced at the lower end of the spectrum. 9ct gold rings tend to come next, followed by palladium, and then 18ct gold, with 22ct gold and platinum rings fetching the highest prices.
Durability
If you’re looking for a wedding ring to sit alongside an engagement ring, a practical choice would be to select a wedding ring in the same metal as your engagement ring. Some metals are softer than others, and wearing a softer metal next to a harder one can mean that the softer one is worn away over time.
If you’re choosing a wedding ring to wear on its own, think about how often you intend to wear your wedding ring, and how bothered you would be if it needed to be re-furbished or replaced over time. If longevity is very important to you, platinum might be the best choice, although titanium and palladium are relatively robust metals at a lower price point. Alternatively, you may be planning on wearing your wedding ring only on special occasions, or perhaps you don’t mind the idea that your ring will gain bumps and scrapes over time, in which case you may decide that a silver or wood ring suits your needs.
Colour
If you decide you’d prefer a ring in a white metal, you can choose between silver, steel, titanium, 9ct or 18ct white gold, palladium or platinum. All of these metals are subtly different in terms of colour, ranging from the deep gun-metal grey of titanium to the lighter, whiter colour of platinum. When it comes to white gold, you may decide to have your ring rhodium plated, which gives (naturally yellow-ish or grey) white gold a whiter appearance. If you like the colour of yellow gold, bear in mind that 9ct yellow gold is a subtler, paler colour than 18ct. And when it comes to rose gold, 9ct is a deeper, more coppery colour than 18ct, which has a softer, pinkish tone.
What profile am I looking for?
The term ‘profile’ describes the shape of the cross-section of a ring. A ring with an ‘oval’ profile (sometimes called ‘comfort fit’) will be slightly rounded on the inside and outside. A ring with a ‘rectangular’ section will have a flat inside and outside, with straight edges. A ‘D-shaped’ ring will have a flat inside and a rounded outside. As it’s name suggests, an oval ‘comfort fit’ ring is a good choice for someone for whom comfort is a priority, as its rounded shape means that the ring has no angular edges. If you are choosing a wedding ring to sit with an engagement ring, it often works best if both rings have the same profile (though there are certainly exceptions to this rule).
What width would suit me most?
Some hands are most flattered by a narrow ring, and others suit chunkier, wider styles. It’s only by trying on different rings that you’ll get a sense of what suits you best.
Do I want a straight or contoured band?
If you’re intending to wear your wedding ring alongside an engagement ring, you may need to consider what shape your ring needs to be. Obviously, if your ring has a straight band then things are relatively simple – you can take your pick of the plethora of straight wedding bands out there! But what do you do if your engagement ring doesn’t have a straight edge? Sometimes the designer of this kind of ring will have designed a matching wedding ring to sit alongside it. But not always. If you have an engagement ring without a straight edge (and your ring has no pre-designed matching wedding ring), you have two choices:
- a) A straight band. It’s often the case that a straight band will look great alongside an engagement ring with interesting contours.
- b) A wedding ring that fits around your engagement ring.
Prism Design produces an extensive collection of ‘contoured’ wedding rings, and also offer a bespoke design service.
What finish am I looking for?
When it comes to choosing the finish of your wedding ring, the options are endless. From rings with a rough, hammered, organic finish, to those with a fine matt texture, to those that are highly polished – we have something to suit your requirements.
Visit Us
At Polka Dot Jewellery Gallery we have a wide selection of wedding rings to choose from, and we are well practised at helping our customers find the right rings for them. We would always encourage you to come into one of our galleries and spend some time trying on different options, as this is really the only way to know what will work best for you (and it’s often not what you might expect). We look forward to your visit!