In this blog, our jewellery designers explain the symbolism behind wedding rings, help you determine how to choose the right metal to use for your wedding band, and provide advice on how to create your wedding set with complementary or unusual pairings.
Wedding Ring Symbolism
Wedding bands are spherical, and circles are a typical representation of eternity, infinity – all that which is never-ending. In the past, wedding rings were made or cast in a variety of ways, but importantly, there was never a visible seam – to symbolise that the union of love was nothing short of pre-ordained with no beginning and no end.
A wedding ring serves as a symbol of your love and faithfulness to your partner as well as announcing your committed partnership publicly. Your wedding band signifies your desire to be with your spouse forever as well as the vows you exchanged on your wedding day. While your engagement ring represents the promise of marriage, your wedding ring celebrates your unbreakable bond and announces to the world that “it’s official”.
Women’s Wedding Rings
Many of our clients enquire about the appropriateness of diamonds in wedding bands, but the fact is, it’s totally up to you and your personal preference! At Mark Solomon Jewellers, we have numerous wedding ring designs with diamonds set in the band, as well as several unadorned designs crafted in various precious metals.
The choices for a woman’s wedding ring range from a relatively straightforward precious metal band to significantly more ornate designs, such as a diamond eternity ring. You can get a good idea of our most popular designs by reaching out to our talented jewellery designers who will assist in narrowing down your options according to your desired specifications. Our wedding ring styles will have you spoilt for your choice and include traditional platinum and gold bands, bands with micropavé diamonds, French pavé diamond eternity rings, various U-Claw designs, as well as vintage-inspired designs with millgrain and fancy-shaped diamonds.
Men’s Wedding Rings
Wedding ring options for men are rapidly evolving. While traditional, plain men’s wedding bands made of platinum, white, yellow, and rose gold are among our best-selling options, we’re also delighted to offer stunning designs that incorporate channel-set diamonds, diamond pavé, and engravable designs. A special note is that we don’t work in metals such as silver, tungsten, or titanium. Silver is too soft, doesn’t offer longevity, and is prone to deforming (going out of shape). While tungsten and titanium are marketed as more affordable and stronger options than gold, these metals cannot be soldered after being cut, and are therefore nearly impossible to resize or repair. While tungsten is one of the hardest metals, the fact is that this is actually a disadvantage because the harder the metal the more brittle it is, meaning it will break or crack if enough force is applied to it.
How To Match Your Wedding and Engagement Rings
Purchasing an engagement ring is incredibly exciting, so much so that it often takes precedence over the wedding ring, however, it’s a good idea to start thinking about how your engagement and wedding rings will actually pair together at this point too. Both practicality and aesthetic appeal are important factors, so you may even find it more helpful to consider the purchase both rings at the same time.
When choosing the ideal wedding band, there are a few factors to take into account, regardless of whether you want the wedding band to contrast with the engagement ring or you want to preserve a cohesive style. These include the metal kind, the setting, and the band’s thickness. Most importantly, you should pick a style that distinctively captures your and your partner’s individuality.
Solitaire Rings and Wedding Rings
With its gorgeous silhouette, the traditional solitaire engagement ring is one of the easiest-to-match styles and will look stunning with either a simple band or, if you want to add more sparkle and glamour, a pavé diamond band or a contoured diamond band. For the rings to sit flush and create a lovely ring combination, as solitaire rings frequently have a tiny cross-section, you may want to consider a tapered wedding band that narrows elegantly towards the middle of the band.
Halo Engagement Rings and Wedding Rings
Halo engagement rings are often a distinctive statement piece even before being paired with a wedding ring. Choose a straightforward wedding band if you don’t want to overshadow the beauty of your engagement ring. Combining it with a pavé diamond wedding band, however, will further up the glitz factor. Because the diamonds in a halo engagement ring frequently sit a little higher, use a thinner wedding band to ensure the rings fit comfortably next to one another.
Vintage Style Engagement Rings and Wedding Rings
There is something inherently romantic about a vintage-style engagement ring, whether it is from the 1920s or 1930s, Victorian, Edwardian, or Art Deco era.
To honour both their traditional and modern shapes, be daring and creative by adhering to the “something old, something new” tradition by wearing a vintage-style engagement ring with a modern wedding band. Alternately, keep the vintage-style engagement ring’s natural elegance by wearing it with a slim millgrain design or braided wedding band.
Contoured, Curved, and Notched Wedding Rings
If your engagement ring’s setting is low, this will mean that the band cannot sit beneath the central stone. With contoured and notched designs, you may still have a band that fits snugly against the ring.
A wedding band with a contour is made to follow the curve of your engagement ring, fitting neatly against the edges of your ring and is often custom crafted to match your engagement ring to achieve a sleek and seamless look. A notched wedding is entirely straight up until where there is a small dip in the metal to accommodate the stone in your engagement rings, allowing your rings to slot together in much the same way as puzzle pieces.
Pairing Couple Wedding Rings
One of the more interesting trends our jewellery designers have noted is that more and more couples are shopping for rings together, and in many cases, they are considering how their choice of wedding bands and engagement rings synchronise, both aesthetically and symbolically. Wedding rings are being paired, without being exact matches of one another, in some exceptionally romantic and unique ways.
Wedding Ring Metals
We provide wedding bands for both men and women in classic sleek-metal designs as well as more ornate varieties with diamonds or other precious stones. Numerous variations are available in platinum, yellow gold, white gold, and rose gold.
Platinum is 95% pure and 30 times rarer than gold, which is one of the reasons why platinum wedding bands are so adored. Platinum is naturally hypoallergenic and feels precious and important due to its bulk and weight. Additionally, platinum wears well over time.
Mixing Precious Metals in Your Engagement and Wedding Ring Set
Feel free to be as creative as you like when it comes to matching the metals of your rings, there are no rules, and combining metals is a contemporary, trend-forward alternative to traditional ring pairing. A charming romantic impression can be achieved, for instance, by combining white gold or platinum with a warmer tone metal, such as rose gold. Layering white and yellow gold is a good option if you want to create a more understated fashion statement.
Keep in mind that rhodium is a valuable metal that is coated on white gold to give it that crisp and bright colour, so your wedding band may need additional upkeep every few years to maintain its colour.
Finding Your Ring Size
When possible, we recommend popping into our jewellery store for the most accurate ring sizing, but there are a few options you can do at home to get an approximate estimate of your ring size. Before getting started, keep these tips in mind:
- Choose a snug fit – As jewellers, we usually say the ring should “go on easy, come off hard,” which denotes that it fits you perfectly and is appropriately suited for your finger to reduce the chance of loss.
- Consider the seasons – Your fingers will swell up a little during the summer, so keep that in mind so the ring doesn’t become difficult to wear during those months. Your fingers tend to vary in size over the year, especially during the summer and winter.
- Take the band’s width into account – It is advised to go up .25 to .5 sizes for rings with wider styles because the wider the band, the tighter it will fit.
- Warm up your hands – For the most accurate ring fitting, warm your hands to room temperature if you’ve just come inside from the cold or have naturally chilly hands.
- Go bigger – The best course of action is to select a little larger ring size and, if you can visit a jeweller for advice.
Method 1 – Using wire or paper to measure your ring size
Measuring the appropriate finger using a piece of wire or piece of paper and converting the measurement to a ring size is the simplest method. To determine the correct circumference, mark the location where the two ends meet and measure the length against a ruler.
By measuring the inside circumference and following the same steps as above, you can also use a ring you already own.
Make sure you measure the correct finger because your fingers typically vary in size between your right and left hands.
Method 2 – Using A Ring Sizing App
Available on both App Store and Google Play, this app from John Withers is a great alternative to the paper and wire method. While not foolproof, it is possible to estimate your ring size by placing a ring your already own on the screen and adjusting the slider to arrive at a measurement. Make sure the arrows are slightly touching the edges of the ring and that blue (or white circle if you’re using dark mode) is ever so slightly visible along the inside edge of the ring.
Wedding Rings in Cape Town
Regardless of what engagement ring or wedding band you choose, it’s the significance of the rings is what matters most. Each of us has a unique narrative, and your engagement and wedding rings represent the story you have as a pair. They serve as a physical memory of the memorable events, feelings, and experiences you have shared. Your wedding and engagement rings, which have no beginning or end, are a special reflection of you and your spouse as soulmates and a representation of your eternity together, now and forever.
Contact our jewellery designers for more information on our range of wedding bands
