How To Choose A Wedding Ring
A lot of your choices around your wedding ring will depend on your engagement ring. Decisions around setting, shape, and even centre-stone size have a huge bearing on your wedding ring. This guide will walk you through my recommendations depending on your engagement ring — and how to ensure you pick a wedding ring that is comfortable to wear and meaningful.
Personal Question: How Often Will You Wear Your Engagement Ring?
One of first questions you need to ask yourself is how often you are going to wear your engagement ring. Yes, your engagement ring. If you have a maximalist or large stone engagement ring, then wearing it every day may not be that practical.
With that in mind, you can either decide to complement your engagement ring or pick out a wedding ring that can hold its own.
For example, one of our clients got this stunning maximalist engagement ring. It features a marquise cut with asymmetric emerald cut diamonds in a halo.
The couple decided that the wedding ring, just like the engagement ring should be worn on its own. The contrast however is that the wedding ring is a lot simpler.
How To Pair An Engagement Ring With A Wedding Ring
A lot of hints to know what type of wedding ring to buy comes from your engagement ring. Little details of your engagement ring have a large bearing on what will look good. The colour of your band, the setting height and the size of the stone are the key things you need to consider.
If you have a solitaire engagement ring with a low set centre stone, then your best bet will be a contoured wedding ring that follows the shape of your engagement ring. If you have a high set engagement ring with lots of accenting stones, then a simple plain band may be your best bet.
The bridal set below features a low set simple round solitaire engagement ring with a contoured infinity band. Both simple pieces on their own but absolutely stunning together.
These are general principles that we live by but by no means are they rules on how you should pair your engagement ring and wedding ring.
What Is The Best Wedding Ring Metal?
This will depend on your skin undertone and the band metal of your engagement ring. If you have blue veins then opt for platinum. If you have olive veins, then yellow gold. At the same time, consider if you want to match or juxtapose your engagement ring band. The four options are:
Yellow gold
Rose gold
White gold
Platinum
Yellow gold wedding rings
Yellow gold is the most common metal and colour for a wedding ring. The amount of gold can influence the colour of the gold itself. The higher the karat, the more yellow the gold is likely to be. Also, there is a happy medium between colour and strength.
At Four Words we believe this is at 14 karat. This ensures that the gold is strong enough for every day wear, but also at a high enough quality to get you the finish that will ensure that it will last you a lifetime. In saying that, we also do 9 and 18 karat as we understand there are budget and personal preferences.
All our gold is also hypoallergenic. This means that our gold won’t irritate your skin.
Rose gold wedding rings
Rose gold is a combination of copper and gold. The lower the carat, the more “rosy” the gold will be. A rose gold wedding ring is a popular choice when the engagement ring band is also in rose gold.
White gold vs Platinum wedding ring
If you are going for an ice-white finish, then you have two choices: white gold or platinum. White gold is yellow gold coated with Rhodium. Over time this can rub off and does require re-coating — typically every 3 - 5 years. Platinum on the other hand isn’t coated and maintains its icy finish.
So which is better? White gold or platinum? In my opinion, while white platinum is a bit more expensive, it is worth the investment because you won’t have to continuously re-coat it. White gold is cheaper, but over the long term, the re-coating costs do add up.
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Is Mixing Engagement Ring and Wedding Band Metals Popular?
While this trend has been talked about a lot, I wouldn’t consider it mainstream. Most couples that I see in the Four Words studio end up matching metals. And this makes intuitive sense as they see their engagement ring and wedding band part of a bridal set.
But does that mean that mixing metals is wrong? Absolutely not. We have seen this done well by playing into contrast. While it does take a bit of confidence and pizzazz, leaning on your designer here will pay off in spades.
Wedding Ring Width: Is There A Right Answer?
The right answer for you will depend on your engagement ring, budget and your taste. But there is definitely a wrong answer. Any engagement or wedding ring below 1.8mm is likely to snap. And at Four Words, we don’t work with any width below 1.8mm for this reason.
If you rock a solitaire engagement ring then you have the freedom to go thin or thick. Thin wedding bands give off bridal set vibes especially if you are going for a dainty look.
Thick wedding rings on the other hand provide a nice contrast that feels classic but unique — just like your engagement ring. The contrast isn’t gaudy or overstated. And after doing hundreds of consults and designs, I reckon this combination slaps.
If you have a multi-stone engagement ring, or halo, then you will need to make a pretty tricky decision.
Going for a thin wedding ring will keep the focus on the engagement ring. This is probably a good thing because your engagement ring should be the focus.
But that leaves the conundrum of going thick. It can come across as gaudy if you don’t play your cards right. Working with a designer here is going to be important. There are multiple things to consider:
If, and how your wedding ring will contour to your engagement ring, especially if it is set low.
Your engagement ring and wedding ring finger profile — does it take up
too much finger real estate?
Is your bridal set practical for everyday wear?
The other thing with going thick is price. And this makes intuitive sense. The more gold a ring has, the more expensive it is going to be.
Wedding Ring Styles
Thickness is just one component of a wedding ring style. And just like an engagement ring, there are hundreds of possible designs. Here, we will cover off the different themes in which you can take your wedding ring.
Simple wedding rings
Simple wedding rings are plain in their appearance and have no diamonds or gemstones on the outside. They can vary in thickness and metal but don’t have any eye-popping feature. They suit most engagement rings.
Contoured wedding rings
A contoured wedding ring is typically one that follows the shape of your engagement ring to give a flush finish. Typically thin, we see contoured wedding rings paired with dainty engagement rings, usually a pear or kite cut centre stone.
Open wedding rings
An open wedding ring is one that isn’t a complete circle. While this may sound tacky, they look stunning with any low-set or elongated cut engagement ring. This is a perfect choice when contouring is too drastic or doesn’t make sense. A good example of this would be with a low set solitaire oval or emerald cut engagement ring.
Diamond wedding rings
Diamond wedding rings are typically thin but can come in a wide range of designs. If you are looking for a contoured or open wedding ring, we usually see diamonds featured at the top of the ring, whereas if you have a simple wedding ring, the diamonds can go all the way around.
When the diamonds or gemstones go all the way around, they are considered eternity bands. The diamonds and gemstones are very small, so the price is not that much different from a solid gold band.
Wedding ring profiles
The most subtle feature of a wedding ring is the band profile. This is contouring of the metal itself. And while you may be familiar with the “knife edge band” there are dozens more.
At Four Words, our standard rings come with the half-round profile, however if you have a specific preference, then we can cater to it.
What is the best wedding ring style?
The best wedding ring style will depend on your engagement ring. The height of the setting and number of gemstones on your engagement ring will give you all the hints you need.
The general rule is that if you have a low set engagement ring, consider a contoured or open wedding ring. If you have a high set engagement ring, a simple wedding ring will do well. Adding diamonds or gemstones will depend on how blingy your engagement ring is and if you want to amplify or complement it.
In New Zealand, the general vibe is not to be too blingy so if you are considering a maximalist engagement ring, then going for a simple wedding ring is a wise choice.
Picking a wedding ring in New Zealand
Whatever design you have in mind, the best thing that you can do is to work with a jeweller that lets you design your wedding ring in exactly the way that you want. Going through a custom design process also means you can have your wedding ring sit flush against your engagement ring.
At Four Words, we have had hundreds of clients who have got their engagement ring from one jeweller and got a custom bespoke wedding ring from us. Why? Because they value our design process. So if you are interested in designing your dream wedding ring, you can start today by booking an obligation free appointment either in our Auckland studio, or via Zoom.
Common Questions
The best way to do so is to go to the jeweller that you want to work with. There can be slight variations in sizes across jewellers, and in the method that they measure size.
The best way to do this is to work with the same jeweller that made your engagement ring. While all jewellers will agree on what 14 or 18 karat looks like, not all agree on what the remaining metals are which means that the gold can vary in colour.
The most popular metal for a woman's wedding ring is yellow gold. If you are looking for an ice-white finish however, platinum would be the best metal of choice.
Wedding ring sets are essentially bridal sets. It includes your engagement ring and wedding band and talks to how they work together. Bridal sets are typically cohesive in design, material and aesthetic.
A wedding ring is a ring given to each other at the wedding. An eternity ring is typically given to a woman on a special occasion after the wedding such as the birth of the first child or an anniversary. They are typically an infinity band.
