Author Topic: Men's wedding ring help  (Read 14652 times)

livetogive

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Men's wedding ring help
« on: January 22, 2014, 03:06:25 PM »
Hi All,

been a while, I hope everyone is well.  I'm in the process of buying a men's wedding band.  I like plain "comfort fit" bands with nothing fancy and I'm told I should go with 5mm even though I think I prefer 4 due to my hand size (they're pretty big). 

I'm an active person who lifts weights a lot so would probably have to take it on/off anyway since i'm not sure if its safe to lift with any kind of jewelry, so i'm not sure the durability is a huge concern.

So for those who have purchased rings, did you go with Gold / Palladium / Titanium / Stainless and how do you feel about the purchase X years later?  I'm debating between buying a ring from the store that sized me (most expensive), buying a similar palladium ring on amazon for about half the price, or buying a look alike in Titanium for almost free (I think they're between $20 - $50).  Any reason I shouldn't go with Titanium?

Thanks!

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2014, 03:17:15 PM »
I wouldn't even touch gold now that it's so expensive. Mine is at least 5mm. Only time I ever notice it is when it's loose after a period of weight loss (have needed a resize twice).

I wouldn't worry about working with it, unless you're worried about it scratching. Tungsten carbide is most durable, if I remember correctly. Stainless is junk. Titanium is okay.

livetogive

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2014, 03:20:31 PM »
yeah gold isn't really on the table.  Is yours gold?  Are you happy that you went with a precious metal vs whatever's cheap?

seattlecyclone

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2014, 03:21:24 PM »
I bought a plain 6 mm white gold band from Amazon for a little under $300 when I got married. No regrets. Increases in the cost of gold since then have pushed the price for the same ring up to $379 these days. For an item I plan to wear every day until I die, I think $379 is a very reasonable price.

Bottom line: pick something you and your spouse-to-be like. If you like a titanium ring, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

the fixer

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2014, 03:31:31 PM »
Safety warning about titanium: those things are extremely tough to cut off in a medical emergency.

I use a stainless steel wedding band I bought on eBay for $6.50. I thought I lost it once, so I went ahead and ordered two more. I have lots of spares now :)

Stainless is also probably difficult to cut, but I haven't heard much about it. My ring is slightly oversized because I have large knuckles and I'm paranoid about that sort of thing.

Frankies Girl

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2014, 03:39:45 PM »
We bought stainless steel rings from a wholesaler at a flea market for $8 each. They are plain, with a brushed finish overall except for a shiny indent on either side (sort of hard to describe, but there's two different finishes).

Been wearing them for several years, and you'd have to really examine it closely to see any wear at all. We both take our rings off for heavy lifting or dirty jobs, but they look fantastic and were quite worth what we paid. Stainless steel is also hypoallergenic, and extremely strong. I'd say that stainless steel is definitely not junk, and if you can find a nice looking band you are happy with, it's a good choice.

http://www.overstock.com/Jewelry-Watches/Polished-Stainless-Steel-Ring/6354632/product.html
Nice polished steel one for cheap...

Our SS rings were 10th anniversary presents technically. I had a standard yellow gold with the stick-way-up diamond mount and he had the matching men's version for his band and honestly? I was sick of it, and husband was tired of getting water trapped up under the diamond mount in his and getting the wedding ring rash. I knocked the crap out of it and broke prongs off and it got soap and gunk trapped in there and so did his ring and gold is SOFT so it scratches too easily, and we both just wanted rings that were simple and would stay looking nice and not worry about having to clean the damn things all the time. We LOVE our SS rings, and I can't even tell you how many compliments we've both gotten (I'm wearing a 5mm version of the husband's because I loved the thicker band look and got tired of the thin delicate bands that made my hands look like baby hands)
« Last Edit: January 22, 2014, 03:42:07 PM by Frankies Girl »

Ohio Teacher

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2014, 03:45:03 PM »
I have a tungsten carbide wedding band that I got on Amazon.  It looks great and for $25, you can't beat it. 

Even better, it's easier to get off than a precious metal if there were a medical emergency.  Because it is very hard, it is also very brittle.  As a result, it can be cracked off with a pair of vise grips as in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poM423pewRE

Daniel

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2014, 03:56:28 PM »
Size: 5 or 6 mm. Only because it's the size my dad had. I think 4 looks really thin and 8 looks really thick, but it's all personal preference, definitely try a few on. Maybe buy some really cheap ones from Amazon and to see what width you like.
 
Metal: Titanium. I actually wore a tungsten band when I got engaged for a while ($30 on amazon), but it was pretty heavy, and the edges were sharp and really irritated my pinky finger (slowly wore the skin away). When I got the titanium band ($100) it was so much lighter, definitely worth it. You think it's silly and you won't notice, but you do. The fear about titanium being unbreakable/uncuttable is misinformed, both hospitals and jewelers have tools to remove titanium rings. Titanium rings are not made of the same intensely hard alloys as rockets. The only downside is that you can't resize them. Also titanium is way cooler (in my mind) than gold or platinum (though palladium would be cool, but it's also pretty expensive).

Also I don't power lift, but I went through a phase of working out a bunch with free weights, and it was fine with a ring, it got scratched a little, but I shudder to think of how much more scratched it would be if it were gold or silver.

In conclusions: Go with Titanium. Don't buy it from a jeweler.

Daley

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2014, 04:40:19 PM »
Metal: Titanium. I actually wore a tungsten band when I got engaged for a while ($30 on amazon), but it was pretty heavy, and the edges were sharp and really irritated my pinky finger (slowly wore the skin away). When I got the titanium band ($100) it was so much lighter, definitely worth it. You think it's silly and you won't notice, but you do. The fear about titanium being unbreakable/uncuttable is misinformed, both hospitals and jewelers have tools to remove titanium rings. Titanium rings are not made of the same intensely hard alloys as rockets. The only downside is that you can't resize them. Also titanium is way cooler (in my mind) than gold or platinum (though palladium would be cool, but it's also pretty expensive).

Actually, it depends. A lot of cheap titanium rings are made out of the very same sort of hardened alloy used in aerospace, and can even be ordered as such from custom makers as well. That said, even in the case of aerospace titanium, most of it can still be cut.

I did pure commercial grade titanium myself, not once regretted the decision over the years and outside of minor scuffing has held up well and isn't noticeable much anyway due to the matte finish. Good price and way more comfortable than gold ever was. Our bands are from Cascadia Design Studio out of Washington state. Ed Ferguson does some beautiful work and the prices are quite reasonable, even if they're not as cheap as you could potentially spend on titanium elsewhere... but the quality is top notch (especially the inner comfort fit shaping) and he's well established and one of the longest online titanium ring makers out there.

AccidentalMiser

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #9 on: January 22, 2014, 06:24:19 PM »
I have had a 5mm titanium band for about 10 years.  I work with my hands frequently and take no special care of my ring.  It looks as good today as it did when we bought it.  I don't remember how much it was but I really like it.

Fireman

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2014, 06:29:37 PM »
I had a tungsten carbide ring that is 4-5mm with a little design on it and it ran me about $100.  The nice thing about TC is that it doesn't show wear.  I wore it at work and it held up well against many abrasive surfaces.  Second Ohio Teacher's post about ease of breaking.  A significant blow will shatter the ring whether you want it broken or not.

It's a size 10.5 if you know anyone in the market!

FuckRx

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2014, 06:56:54 PM »
stainless steel nut with inside shaved out...
$1.55...


AccidentalMiser

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #12 on: January 22, 2014, 06:58:16 PM »
Ever think about selling those on Etsy?

CanuckExpat

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #13 on: January 22, 2014, 07:04:17 PM »
I/we bought mine on Etsy: It's titanium, with a coloured finish and engraving on the inside; cost about $35 IIRC.
Incredibly light and comfortable, has held up well, looks nice to my eye. No complaints.

Koala0924

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #14 on: January 22, 2014, 07:08:43 PM »
I have a tungsten carbide wedding band that I got on Amazon.  It looks great and for $25, you can't beat it. 

Same for my husband and I. Our "fancy" rings are tungsten carbide with a blue carbon inlay. $25 for the pair. We have received several compliments on them. I have a plain tungsten carbide ring I wear to work. DH can't wear a ring to work so he only has the fancy version.

eman resu

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #15 on: January 22, 2014, 07:12:49 PM »
I lost my wedding band this past summer. Got a tungsten carbide replacement: 5mm, comfort fit, brushed finish.  It has been comfy so far and has held up to daily wear-and-tear just fine... though I haven't punished it with any major blows or scrapes that I can recall.

They warned me at the store that it couldn't be re-sized, but that seemed the only potential drawback. If my digit fattens up too much I figure I can spring for the tens of dollars to buy a re-replacement. 

chicagomeg

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #16 on: January 22, 2014, 07:29:59 PM »
My husband originally got a $35 Titanium band from Overstock, but I personally didn't care for it so we hunted for a better compromise. He ended up with an etched band from e-weddingbands.com in 10k gold. I can't personally see any difference between 10k/14k/18k but we saved a pretty penny that way. It coordinates nicely with my own wedding band. I wish aesthetics mattered less to me (or that I just had cheaper preferences haha) but we paid about $350 in the end. They also had very fast shipping of both the ring & the free ring sizer, which was good because we made the decision to find a different ring about 3 weeks before the wedding!

MrsPete

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #17 on: January 22, 2014, 07:35:29 PM »
I have little knowledge about jewelry, but I know that my husband made a big deal about the "comfort fit" when we bought our rings, and he has made a point of telling other people that they should really get this feature. 

Greg

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #18 on: January 22, 2014, 07:52:08 PM »
What about a tattoo?  No safety problems or cutoff problems, always the right size.

Daley

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #19 on: January 22, 2014, 07:53:44 PM »
I have little knowledge about jewelry, but I know that my husband made a big deal about the "comfort fit" when we bought our rings, and he has made a point of telling other people that they should really get this feature.

It's important with wider bands above 4mm, and even more important that it's done right. A proper comfort fit should be curved across the entire inside of the band instead of a pipe fit with rounded edges. Makes it more comfortable to wear and remove as ring size fluctuates, and makes it far easier to remove in general as less skin is pinched up directly on the inside of the band. It also doesn't cause the finger's skin to bunch as you make a fist/bend your fingers.

livetogive

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #20 on: January 22, 2014, 09:08:13 PM »
Thanks everyone!  It looks like I can get a titanium and a tungsten carbide ring from Amazon for under $100, so I'm going to get both and return 1.

The palladium seemed nice but its even nicer knowing I'll be just as happy spending less than 50 bucks!

FuckRx

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #21 on: January 22, 2014, 10:06:22 PM »
Ever think about selling those on Etsy?

No but it would be really interesting and when I wear it I get asked about it several times a week so I'm sure there is a market for it.

dragoncar

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #22 on: January 22, 2014, 10:35:44 PM »
I'd probably go with tungsten for cheap/durable or platinum for $$$/fancy.

Ashyukun

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #23 on: January 23, 2014, 11:39:54 AM »
Ever think about selling those on Etsy?

No but it would be really interesting and when I wear it I get asked about it several times a week so I'm sure there is a market for it.

Definitely would be- there's LOTS of bizarre and cool stuf on Etsy.

Mine hasn't arrived yet since it's having to be custom made, but it's a Damascus stainless steel ring we had the maker customize a bit. Should be very cool and unique, and hold up to stupid amount of abuse.

As far as keeping track of it when you take it off, look at RingSafe on Kickstarter- don't necessary have to get it from them, but the idea is pretty good. You could probably do something similar with a small caribiner and a necklace.

the fixer

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #24 on: January 23, 2014, 03:12:19 PM »
What about a tattoo?  No safety problems or cutoff problems, always the right size.
My wife is planning on going this route. She just resized a family heirloom ring that was her wedding band, and now her finger's changing size.

Exflyboy

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #25 on: January 23, 2014, 06:39:16 PM »
After having a friend nearly loose his finger when he put a wrench on the cable lug on the starter motor of his car... left hand on steel to +ve battery terminal.. backside of wedding ring touched the chassis.. The ensuing current flow ( I estimated at about 1200amps!) literally partially melted the ring and the ensuing 3rd degree burns were no fun at all!

 As I am always welding, machining or working on cars I decided they were too much of a risk.

Thankfully my Wife agrees..:)

Frank

LDoon

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Re: Men's wedding ring help
« Reply #26 on: January 23, 2014, 06:51:34 PM »
Quote
After having a friend nearly loose his finger when he put a wrench on the cable lug on the starter motor of his car... left hand on steel to +ve battery terminal.. backside of wedding ring touched the chassis.. The ensuing current flow ( I estimated at about 1200amps!) literally partially melted the ring and the ensuing 3rd degree burns were no fun at all!

Don't forget about ceramic rings.  I think they look good, won't scratch, and are fairly inexpensive.