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While my sweetie and I DO want to exchange rings, we DON'T want to spend a lot of money on them, and we have no interest in traditional, mainstream wedding rings.
We want something simple, and different.
We live in a town that doesn't have anything like that, so online is our best bet.
But once we start looking around for wedding bands, all we find are expensive, boring, overly-decadent gold and diamond style rings…
There's just too much online to know where to start! -Sara
I applaud your decision to go the non-diamond, inexpensive route for your wedding rings!
Diamonds are grossly overpriced, and of course there's that whole blood diamond thing, so you're so much better off going for either a different stone or no stone at all.
First things first: are you SURE there aren't any custom jewelry makers in your neck of the woods?
Stone-less engagement rings that still ooze glamour [Updated!]
My partner and I are searching for my perfect engagement ring, but with one rule: It can't have any stones. I'm super tough on jewelry,... Read more
There's nothing more awesome than designing your own bands, and if you find a good jewelry maker they can usually work within your budget.
Plus, it's cool to support a local artisan.
That said, if there really aren't any around, you're right: there are TONS of online options. We feature tons of our favorites in the our Vendor Guide!
Here's a first tip: Don't look for “wedding rings” — they always cost more! There's this strange phenomenon of somehow if it has to do with a wedding it costs twice as much. Seriously. This isn't just for rings, it's for dresses, flowers, suits, chair rentals, everything. It's a total racket.
So when shopping online for rings, don't search for “wedding bands.” Just look for rings that you like.
Let's start with non-traditional wedding rings that are a bit gothic minded…
‘Til death do we part can be a more literal vision for your wedding ring. We've got coffin-shaped stones, skull-minded rings, and more things!
Next, how about some geometric wedding rings?
We've seen some amazing hexagonal diamonds and kite-shaped gemstones, all with intricate and bold angular settings and dramatic shapes. From Bauhaus-inspired to Art Deco to the Mines of Moria, these geometric-inspired rings are ready to change the way you look at nontraditional wedding rings…
Want even more?
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My fiance and I are going to the wedding ring workshop, where we’re going to make our own rings. A jewler coaches you through melting the metals, shaping, and polishing. It’s about as expensive as a wedding ring set (engagement ring, and both bands). We’re super excited!
Wow, Elaina — what a cool concept! More info at http://www.weddingringworkshop.com
My fiance and I designed my engagement ring with Brilliant Earth, a San francisco company that makes rings with conflict-free Canadian diamonds, recycled metals, and who donates 5% of their profits to a charity in Africa. It was not cheap, no doubt, but I love it 🙂
How about stainless steel? A plain or black anodized stainless steel band with a CZ tension setting runs $5.50, $2.00 for a plain band. I’ve seen many around $4.00 with tribal etching, and there are rainbow anodized or eternity bands with rainbow hued stones for $12.00 tops.
I like some of these ideas – thanks. I do wonder why you would get a ring in order to say “fuck you” to some one who’s just trying to make friendly conversation. Why not get a ring because you like it, and accept that some people ask about your ring because they’re trying to be nice. Thanks.
Check out http://www.GreenKarat.com. That’s where we’re getting ours. Everything they use is either recycled (the gold, platinum, and white diamonds), or lab-created (all the other gemstones). We’re getting custom rings, but some of the non-custom rings are way affordable, and there’s the added bonus that they don’t mess with the environment at all (apparently this place even uses wind power for its offices!) and you don’t get “conflict diamonds” or other jewels mined by people in the Third World who live like slaves.
I just noticed that Green Karat was already mentioned above. But it says they’re expensive!!! What?! We ended up going with custom rings, but they have gold wedding bands as low as $125: http://www.greenkarat.com/detail.asp?product_id=WBRG001
Also a bunch in the $400-$500 range, from totally normal looking: http://www.greenkarat.com/detail.asp?product_id=RCG002 to totally offbeat:
http://www.greenkarat.com/detail.asp?product_id=CD007
I dunno, that seems reasonable to me. Particularly in this world of $5000 or $10,000 diamond solitaires (ack!!! what a waste of money!)
Good point! When I was going through the gallery, all I was seeing was rings in the $500-$2k range — thanks for pointing out their more affordable bands, as well. Not sure how I missed those!
My fiance decided he wanted something in a “geek metal” so he’s going with something from titaniumrings.com. They’ve got a LOT of styles from plain to funky. Prices are midrange, I’d say…not cheap but not insanely spendy.
We got ours from them- they had the pattern that my fiancee and I have had since our first fight and bonding, which is what we wanted on the ring. Their prices have come down since we first looked- and even found mine on the supper sale ($100 off the lowered price). Beautiful work, great people, fast, throughly happy!
check out rings by sally brock of fancy in seattle:
http://www.fancyjewels.com/wedding.php
i like her binary ring even better that green karat, and her robot bands make me so so happy. (also, i am a different sally than the sally who owns the store, lest you think the poor girl is running around the internet shamelessly self-promoting)
We had a heck’va time finding a ring. We found a local jewler who was going to design something for us, but as soon as I said “wedding” & “engagement”, he lost any sort of creativity. I had pictures of rings by Jamie Joseph & Pippa Small as inspiration…and he went round and round with me, telling me I couldn’t do something like that and it had to be gold and it had to be either sapphires or diamonds (because of how “hard” the stones are).
I don’t like being told I “can’t” do something, and eventually gave in and just bought a Jamie Joseph ring that’s gold, silver & labradorite. I will wear a wedding band once we get married (moving the engagement ring to my right hand). I love my ring because it is entirely me, even though it wasn’t designed specifically for me.
I have found a few really cool designers on etsy (I wish I’d found this earlier)…
PowderMillStudio makes lovely rings, and this silver ring based on a tree branch is one of my favorites {& if you ask her, she can make it in gold}:
etsy’s a nice compromise–you can support an artist directly, but still buy online.
[…] Offbeat Bride | Non-sucky wedding rings of money on them, and we have no interest in traditional, mainstream wedding rings. We’re getting custom rings, but some of the non-custom rings are way affordable, and there […]
[…] Offbeat Bride | Non-sucky wedding ringsAnd as Chris Pirillo wrote about his Tungsten ring, ?My wedding ring is the … but some of the non-custom rings are way affordable, and there?s the added … […]
My fiance mined sunstones in Oregon and had an artist cut and set them for him. It cost him the trip (for which he got a great story), and very little money to pay the artist since he also gave him a lot of the stones he mined for his use when he finished my ring.
More info:
http://www.dustdevilmining.com/
We’ll be exchanging simple titanium bands for the wedding.
My fiance and I were in a similar situation, and after some pretty frustrating searching stumbled upon something perfect for us. We hike a lot, and so Jesse found an artist who makes beautiful, simple jewelery out of found stones, and had her set a tiny pebble we found hiking into recycled silver. We also had her make the band so that it nested with my little wedding band, and she made his band while she was at it – all 3 rings for less than $450. Wahoo!
Okay, these are definitely not cheap – but if you want something unique and absolutely beautiful, check out the mirror-image mokume rings by George Sawyer. My fiance and I got these for our wedding bands and we LOVE them! (The images on the website don’t do them justice – if you’re near one of the stores that sell them, I’d suggest checking them out in person.)
http://www.georgesawyer.com/Mirror-Image.asp
I have an acquaintance who makes titanium rings and when I saw his etsy shop I was blown away. They’re really quite pretty and really fun! I’ll be sure to leave his etsy shop link around for my boyfriend in the future 😉
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5232205
http://WWW.RARU.COM!!!
I LOVE this site. My best friend and I both got our engagment and wedding bands off this site. It does a lot of celtic stuff, but they let you design your own ring, celtic or otherwise, and it is really reasonably priced, especially if you don’t like diamonds or have an heirloom stone to use. They do a great job, they are friendly, quick and affordable.
I met a couple one time, and the husband had taken a piece of a canoe they had had an early date in on a lake and moulded the metal into two rings for their wedding rings. It brought a tear to my eye hearing the story..
I got my hubby a tungsten ring for his wedding band. It’s gorgeous. I wish my platinum one was as scratch resistant to his.
Here is a link to his tungsten band. I just love how shiny it is in the light!
I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of these guys, but Little King Jewelry in New York does some really gorgeous custom work. I’m sure they’re far from inexpensive, but…drool!
I have a question – does anyone know the name of a jewelry designer/artist who designs engagement rings using wood and diamonds – rough cut stones. She also did bracelets and necklaces. I remember her being based in New York. The pieces were really beautiful. Our computer crashed and they weren’t able to get all the memory back so I can’t find her.
Check out this website:
teeda.com
They are a silver wholesaler and have awesome rings and other silver jewelry (we both dislike gold). We got our wedding bands for under $50!
Note: If your order is under $100, they will charge you a $10 handling fee in addition to the regular $9.95 S&H.
I found my ring set from ebay and went with a company that I got my birthstone ring from awhile back, I checked out their feedback and was able to trust them for the wedding ring set that I got from them and it turned out great. There are alot of online companys to check out but just becareful by checking for feedbacks or for past customers comments to see about ordering from them.Hope this helps anyone!!
Forgot to mention that sterling silver rings from places like walmart or ebay ( some companys) dont tarnish and alot of them look great and not expensive either.
My fiance bought my engagement ring from Brilliant Earth, and I absolutely love it. It’s made from recycled platinum and has 12 fair trade sapphires from Australia in a channel setting. It’s absolutely beautiful — totally me. He said their customer service was great and the prices are fairly reasonable. I would recommend them! http://www.brilliantearth.com
[…] Wedding/engagement ring alternatives […]
My fiance and I just picked out my ring – I wanted a clear stone, but not a diamond for ethical reasons. We found Moissanite to be cheaper, and you get to make all the jokes about space rocks and kryptonite you want! 🙂
http://www.moissanite.com/
Here’s some advice that I like to give:
Don’t forget about palladium. Palladium is a naturally white and affordable metal that is a better choice over white gold if platinum is not an option!
Also keep in mind that any consumer’s best option is to educate themselves about all the common metal choices for wedding bands, engagement rings and jewelry – platinum, palladium, gold and even sterling silver. After all, jewelry can be considered and investment, and an educated consumer is the jewelry industry’s best customer. It’s good to also realize that metals’ prices fluctuate – kind of like how oil and other commodities do.
For Celtic styles check out The Claddagh Store in Dublin. They have beautiful jewelry, not just rings. Their designs range from the classic Claddagh Irish Wedding Band to some really funky modern designs, and hundreds of styles in between. Sterling silver options begin around $30, but they also do higher-end gold, platinum, and even diamonds. My fiance forgot to inlude my size when he ordered, and they contacted us right away to sort it out. We even got to talk to a real person, not just a computer!
I’m in Houston, Texas and were looking for green conflict free ring for my fiancee and found two local companies in Texas. Green Karat and Green ORO, i went to their respective websites i.e http://www.greenkarat.com and http://www.greenoro.com. I found the prices on Green ORO much more reasonable then Green Karat. I save over $ 500 by buying from Green ORO as they are the direct manufacturers of Green Jewelry.
Few things i found and personally visited:
Pros and Cons:
Green Karat
1) Pros:
Green Karat: been in business and internet for long years
Cons:
1) Higher Prices
2) No In house retail showroom or store
3) Green Karat ETA time is much more then Green ORO
4) Don’t offer high end created diamond settings or jewelry repairs
5) No Physical Location to visit , everything is Online
Green ORO:
Pros:
1) Reasonable and Cheaper Prices then Green Karat
2) Direct Manufacturer and willing to work with you on Custom Jewelry
3) Repairs are much faster on all green jewelry
4) no outsourcing to any middle man , everything is done within their showroom and have work labs
5) ORO Certificate of Authenticity to Back 100% recycled gold and process.
6) One Tree & One Ring at a Time – i really love this concept as they will put one tree towards the purchase i made. Highly impressed with their unique concept.
7) ETA is much less then Green Karat
8) You can visit their physical Location and Showroom and can see the Green Process
I hated every ring in every jewelry store. I want to wear this thing everyday of my life, I want something I love. I found this jewelry store out of austin, tx at ringsunique.com and i actually had to narrow down my top 11 favorites and wittled it down til I picked mine and made some slight changes…like my center stone is a $25 citrine, and the owner was totally supportive unlike the “well we could do a yellow diamond, or yellow sapphire” comments I got from other jewelers. Check it out their collections are so diverse!
We got our wedding bands off of ebay. The guy handcrafts them from Ireland. Our rings have the Claddagh on them and are white and yellow gold. Also he engraved them for free which says “My Love, For Eternity.” Our rings cost $400 and are great quality. Love it!
Me & my fiance are making our own wedding bands! We found an Instructable (http://www.instructables.com) on how to make rings out of silver quarters, so that's what we're working on now 😀
diamond and gold rings are traditional… but if you are searching for something new in the market.. tungsten ring which is 4 times stronger than silver and 5 time stronger than titanium… i got it with life time guarantee.. for more you can visit
regards
sam
you can opt tungsten ring as wedding ring…. it will keep your marriage or wedding memories for long time…I never used to take off my tungsten ring from finger for last two year and you will not find even single scratch on it…
so.. I have had the worst time trying to pick out styles of engagement rings I like. I went from traditional, to non-diamond, to pearl.. and I'm tired of all of them! HELP!
A friend of mine had some cool rings made by a jeweler on ETSY, they are blackened silver with black diamond. Very alterna! Handmade, really nice work and not expensive.
http://www.phbeads.etsy.com
We bought our rings from Isabel Rucker, http://www.isabeljewelry.com, who uses recycled gold and silver and works out of Wyoming.
She makes hammered (3 types) and smooth rings in different widths and also custom designs them. Her designs are on the simpler, earthy side with a classic flair (a plus!). I think she’s tackling more complex ring designs in her spring line, which is coming out soon. Price-wise, her rings are affordable–my 3mm smooth gold ring was around $200, and my other one (yes, I got two) is a hammered peridot cabochon silver ring that cost around $150.
What about lifegems? (.com) My friend just pointed them out to me as “this is what I want you to do to me when I die..”, but it only requires a lock of hair to incorporate into your gem o choice: I really love the idea of lovers’ dna being in eachothers love-rings! Conflict free, too!
Most diamonds coming into the states are conflict free. the only way would get a conflict diamond is if it’s smuggled in or if you bought some at Liz Taylor’s yard sales.
Raz, can you provide some sources?
We got a black diamond engagement ring through Bell Jewels. I really love it. It sparkles, looks amazing with white gold, and is really unique while still looking like an engagement ring to me. Plus, they’ve been pretty cool to us so far.
http://www.amazon.com/Fancy-Black-Diamond-Engagement-Ring-White/dp/B001TJGJGK/ref=sr_1_48?s=jewelry&ie=UTF8&qid=1307671497&sr=1-48
My ring is a black diamond and I LOVE IT!!! my wedding ring is a full eternity style with all black diamonds!! can not wait to wear it!!
We found an amazing ring at Jared’s through Niel Lane collection. I think we both fell in love with it.
I went with my friend for the setting and my own family jewels. If you don’t have your own, she has some environmentally friendly options for stones and metals.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/singleBbeautiful?ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=single+b&ga_order=date_desc&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade
My husband and I bought our from http://www.secrets-shhh.com they are created stones, so conflict/blood-free and had so many different designs, it was hard to choose. I got a 2ct brilliant cut solitaire for $520 in a white gold setting and matching band…..the same size diamond ring would have cost me a house…..!!
I bought my rings from etsy- they were 100$ and $125 and love them soo much ! Plus my fiance didn’t like the ones the seller had listed so we had one custom made!! For no extra charge! Anyway my ring has a white sapphire and it looks like a plain white diamond but without the $$$. I am not really a diamond type girl anyway. The seller is downtothewiredesigns and I cannot recommend him enough. The seller’s name is Gary go check out his stuff! I’ve bought earrings and necklaces from him before because I love his designs.
There’s a picture of the ring I bought at
http://www.etsy.com/listing/62513090/white-sapphire-engagement-ring
I tried to read all the comments, so pardon me if I repeat a website, but http://www.gemvara.com is amazing! So many non-traditional styles and completely customizable. My boyfriend (soon to be fiance) and I both chose rings we love at great prices.
I am happy I found this post!! I am recently engaged and my new fiance purchased my amethyst engagement ring from http://www.gemvara.com! I love it!! I love its different and non traditional..
My honey and I are similarly cash-strapped and not especially enamored with traditional rings for many reasons. Our solution is to have something made from old jewelry our families contributed to the cause. It sounds unsentimental, but melting down old stuff that never sees the light of day is a way of giving something with a family history new life. It’s also a great option if you’re interested in going green, or if you want to design something unique.
I love colorful wedding rings made from different stones than diamonds! So pretty and unique. I have a traditional ring, I love it but my other side of me would have loved an emerald or ruby ring.
My hubby and I had a very hard time finding rings that would be meaningful and appealing to us–until we arrived at custom wooden rings by Touch Wood Rings. Both bands are olive wood on the outside. Mine is lined with willow and his with curly maple. And DON’T PANIC is written inside them both. 🙂
They require more care than metal rings, including periodic refinishing, but we actually like that about them. The conscious care that the rings require helps remind us that our relationship also requires conscious care–and not to take it for granted.
Plus, Nicola Finch is about the most lovely person ever! She manages the correspondence for Touch Wood, and her husband, David, makes the rings.
http://www.touchwoodrings.com
And our rings are here: http://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/t1.0-9/s720x720/484391_3678352409682_456036979_n.jpg
🙂 My fiance and I are getting the melda rings, elvish love rings in tungsten. Its a shared love of ours, and for tungsten… I don’t usually wear rings I always am breaking, crushing them so… Perfect for me. (I have destroyed 6 engagement rings. No really. >< I originally had our birthstones for my engagement but opal is fragile, so this current one he went diamond as its the hardest mineral…) Anyway! My fiance is a chef so he needs a tough ring too. I felt a bit sheepish at first. Especially as my sister is 100% traditional. Which is not bad she just keeps razzing me each thing I say I am thinking of doing. Including non gold wedding bands… This article, and many like it have made me feel so much better about some of my quirkier choices.
as a jewelry designer I often get requests like Sara’s. We offer unique custom designed silver wedding bands for 399 usd. our speciality is listening to the customers needs and desires and designing something simple, special ánd exclusive!
Just a word to the wise, I have been told by more than one jeweller to not buy a tungsten or titanium band for my fiancée. If ever there is an accident neither of these can be cut off like any other band. So I have opted for a brushed sterling silver band for my future husband. Just wanted to share to all for safety sake, because an injury can happen to anyone no matter what they so for a living, it can even be a home accident.