Designer Wedding Rings for Men

High-end stylish jewelry makes an important statement for the wearer. It says: I appreciate the finer things in life. I appreciate the art of the jewelry designer, and I can afford to indulge myself. Hopefully it also says that I have taste. Unfortunately money can’t buy that.

Some jewelry is functional, such as medic alert bracelets or military metals and the infamous “dog tags”. But in general, it is used either as a personal expression, a decoration, or a symbol.

Any designer creating high-end jewelry of any kind must take into account the value of the piece that they are creating. The settings are usually crafted in precious metals such as gold and platinum. North Americans and Europeans generally set these two metals as the standard for men’s and women’s wedding rings and other luxury jewelry.

There are unique problems in designing men’s jewelry, since personal adornment for males is only emerging today after decades when a watch was the only acceptable male accessory. Today wedding rings for men have become popular, and the majority of married men wear them.

The delicate filigree possible in the setting of a woman’s engagement and wedding ring is not an option for a man’s wedding ring. The style must embody a strongly masculine element while expressing the refinement of the wearer. This can be a great challenge for the designer of high end men’s wedding bands.

The designer cannot rely on the beauty and brilliance of a good quality center stone, as use of a spectacular gemstone as the outstanding feature of a ring is usually reserved for the woman’s engagement ring. Of course, men’s engagement rings are making a slow appearance on the market, but are still not as universally worn as the wedding ring.

A man’s hand is larger than a woman’s, and like a watch, the man’s wedding bands are considerably heavier and thicker than the woman’s ring. How wide the design should be depends on the size of the hand and the comfort level of the ring. A wedding ring is not like a pair of shoes, where it is acceptable to grin and bear an uncomfortable designer label product for one night. A man’s wedding ring is something that is worn every day, and for many years.

It is obvious that the designer and manufacturer of stylish men’s high- end wedding rings, has some limitations and unique concerns that do not exist in the creation of women’s bridal jewelry. It is true talent and the work of an artist when a men’s wedding ring can express the class and importance of a man, be suitable for jeans or a suit, as well as being comfortable and long lasting. More and more men are choosing rings with accent diamonds, and it speaks well of a design that the wedding band can maintain its masculine elements while introducing top quality gemstones.

Best Anniversary,Engagement,Wedding Rings

Here’s an interesting story: in the 1960’s, De Beers were forced to buy a large stock of Russian diamonds so that they could maintain their control on the diamond market. They had successfully marketed diamonds as THE symbol of eternal love in engagement and wedding rings, but these were larger stones. What to do with all these small stones?

That is how the De Beers ten-year anniversary ring came into being. This was a solid band set with diamonds that was to symbolize the love still strong in the marriage at the 10^th anniversary. Having been an important element in the popularization of the diamond engagement ring, as well as wedding bands set with diamonds, the company approached the marketing of this new product with fervor.

In actual fact, eternity rings, which are the same design as anniversary rings, were in existence as far back as the time of the Egyptians. They symbolized eternal love and commitment with an unbroken circlet set completely with diamonds. The original rings were “flush” mounted, set directly into the metal. This made the rings comfortable to wear.

Today the channel setting is very popular for anniversary or eternity rings. The stones are held in place by “channels” metal, creating an even surface that is easy to wear without hurting the adjoining fingers.  Diamonds set with prongs could be extremely uncomfortable, so the design of some anniversary and eternity rings evolved so that only the front half of the ring was set with stones.

New designs and settings have improved the comfort factor of the pronged setting so that a band fully set in pronged diamonds is now a viable choice.

De Beers marketed these rings as a tenth anniversary gift, but today they are used to commemorate the birth of a child, or any other important event in a couple’s life. They are very popular in place of traditional wedding bands as part of the bridal set.

There is no set way to wear an anniversary or eternity ring. You can use it in place of a wedding ring, or combine it with your existing set. If the new ring does not match the engagement and wedding ring in size or complexity of design, you might choose to wear it on your right hand instead of left.  Your choice of how you wear your anniversary or eternity band will be dictated by the style of the existing rings, and how comfortable they feel. It would certainly be a bad idea to think you are fated to wear an uncomfortable eternity ring for…well… eternity, just because a fashion dictated a particular style.