Before I launch into this week’s LOVE/HATE, I have to admit that I’m not typical when it comes to rings. I had two engagement rings, both with semi-precious stones, and I wear them when they happen to go with the day’s outfit. I sometimes wear a beautiful ruby ring I received for my birthday last year in lieu of my wedding band. And that wedding band? It’s not even the one The Beard put on my finger on the day we said our vows. So suffice it to say, my opinions regarding finger baubles for the bride probably cannot be considered normal.

That said, I really cannot stand engagement ring wraps. Big HATE from NtB’s corner! I will never, ever, ever tell someone they shouldn’t wear one, nor will I look down upon those who think they are just spiffy. I’ll even smile and say I adore your ring, because I’m a sweetie like that. It’s all a matter of preference, right? You can love them, and I can loathe them, and we can all be friends and go for cocktails.
For those unfamiliar with the concept, the engagement ring wrap is basically a wedding band — with or without gemstones — sporting a hole in the middle that accommodates a solitary stone set in the usual way. They come in various metals and with various stones. They can be simple like the one shown above or rather complicated. There are single shank wraps, circumference wraps, and dual shank wraps. But whatever sort they are, their job is to make two rings look more like one for those who dislike two ring bling. Oh, and they can also safeguard more delicate rings by acting as a sort of bumper.
What say you? An easy way to customize an engagement ring? Or a great way to ruin one?
My engagement ring is an odd shape, slowly growing wider in the center, diamonds in a row of 3 flowers with the one in the middle the largest. As a result, trying on straight bands felt uncomfortable on the palm side of my hand. My wedding band doesn’t wrap around like the one pictured above, but it does kind of bend out(?) to accommodate. I care much more about how it feels on my hand then anything else, and am very happy with it.
I think the only person whose opinion matters on this one is the bride’s, so I just hope that everyone gets to pick their own band as they see fit.
jstar: If you love it and it’s comfortable, that’s all that really matters!
I’m definitely with you — although in the case of an engagement ring with an unusual shape, as above, it certainly seems reasonable to get one that is contoured to the engagement ring if you plan to wear them together. The “wraps” do look weird if they’re not with the engagement ring, though! I think I prefer an engagement ring and wedding band that you can wear together or each one by itself without it looking wonky, which excludes really anything like what you’ve pictured above. I also think it’s sort of strange to have the two fused together, which I’ve read about some folks doing… Anyway, to each his/her own, but I feel you on this one!
I have a wrap as my wedding band. I love how a multi-stone ring looks but (strongly) disliked how two different bands looked next to each other. When DH and I got engaged, we shopped for the engagement ring together and quickly realized we wouldn’t be able to afford the multi-stone ring I desired. So instead we opted to purchase a solitaire and then planned on getting a wrap as the wedding band. I can see why people don’t like them, they do look goofy without the second ring. But I guess I always saw it as a unique symbolism of how DH and I were two units becoming one.
With you in your general dislike, but also very much with you that it’s a completely personal choice. The only thing that really matters in the choice of the ring is that the person wearing it is happy and comfortable wearing it…and the person paying for it can afford it reasonably.
I would, however, recommend never attempting to wear the wrap on its own. That just looks dorktastic.
I’m also with you in personal dislike (but can definitely see certain situations where you might want one). As a matter of fact, other than my choice of metals, the only ring hint I gave to my husband was that I wanted to be able to wear a wedding band alone.
While I do wear both my wedding band and my engagement ring together all the time (and they are a set, so they coordinate), I like the idea of being able to wear the wedding band alone (I plan on only wearing the band for a couple of months with a newborn to avoid scratching delicate skin too much).
My grandmother actually has two wraps – one for her engagement ring that was a 40th anniversary gift from my grandfather, and one for the diamond-set wedding band that she got I don’t know when, but she’s had that for as long as I can remember. One of them looks great (the engagement one is a circumference wrap that makes the solitaire look like it’s in the center of a flower), and the other is just a slightly curved band of diamonds that goes with her wedding band.
With that as a model, my opinion of them is mixed. I don’t think it’s something I would do personally, but I think it can look very nice.
The one pictured here, though, I would lie to compliment – I have an irrational dislike-bordering-on-hatred of baguettes.
My engagement ring was my husband’s maternal Grandmother’s ring. It is a big honkin’ 1.75 carats Marquise Cut diamond ring on a platinum band ( I was floored when he proposed to me, he was but a poor grad student and I assumed I would never get one. My first thought was yes and then good lord what bank did he knock over to get this). A normal wedding band would never fit right, so we had one custom made with a v shape for the diamond to slip into. It’s very simple and looks right. The band can be worn alone, but it looks a bit naked, and really I can not think of not wearing both. The engagement ring has such a wonderful history, they were married for over 50 years and were deeply in love right to the very end.
Yes some wraps can look very dorktastic, but sometimes it is the right way to go.
I’d never openly mock someone’s choice in their engagement rings of course, but as a dispassionate choice this config just screams “Zales in a cheap New Jersey Mall to me” to me.
And apologies for those who are devotees Zales or New Jooisey.
See, I really like the single-wrap above. Dorktastic? You betcha. I dig the negative space and just the oddness of it, and there’s a bit of art deco in there, by accident.
I honestly didn’t know there was a term for these rings, but I remember my aunt had one and as a child I was dazzled by the interlocking-aspect of it (as a child, I liked anything interlocking – I asked for a dustbin/brush set for a birthday because I liked how the brush snapped into the pan).
As I never wear rings, and am single, I guess my admiration will only be theoretical, but yeah – I like it.
Of course the only opinion that really matters is that of the wearer (and her spouse) but I also hate engagement ring wraps. I realize that they’re functional, and that it can be difficult to wear a wedding band with a large or uniquely shaped engagement ring, but I believe that the wedding band is the important ring, and it shouldn’t be relegated to the status of accessory. You say your vows with the wedding ring, not the engagement ring, it’s the symbol of your bond. If you really want a ring with a great big honkin’ diamond that makes it impossible to wear a band, you could always make that your wedding ring. Unless you’re like my husband and believe in the Jewish tradition that the wedding band should be an unbroken circle of precious metal (ie, no gems) that symbolizes the unending, unbroken nature of the wedding vow. I did want some diamonds, small ones, in my wedding band, but it sounded so romantic the way he said it, and I wanted to make him happy, so my wedding band is a plain platinum band. And I’m glad I did it that way in the end–I never take off my wedding ring, I don’t have to, I don’t have to worry about getting the stones dirty or losing them. And it’s really comfortable, I forget I have it on.
Hmmm. I never gave much thought to the idea of engagement ring wraps. It seems to me utterly pragmatic and sensible that, if one wishes to wear one’s engagement ring together with one’s wedding band, the shapes should work together. Speaking as someone who is prone to whapping her hands against any nearby unyielding surfaces, a ring which acts as a safeguard for a more delicate ring doesn’t seem like a bad idea, either. I use my hands enough that any ring I wear every day should have about it a certain sturdiness for withstanding life’s vicissitudes (and my activities). Boy. There’s some really romantic rings in my future! Or maybe not.
Pencils: …the wedding band should be an unbroken circle of precious metal (ie, no gems) that symbolizes the unending, unbroken nature of the wedding vow.
Aw. That is nice! But maybe for an anniversary or birthday you can get the other ring, too: the band with the small diamonds, symbolizing the bumps in the surface of life’s road – also endless, but always overcome!
I can’t stand them either!
I’m actually thinking of not getting a wedding band at all. My engagement ring is so beautiful, any thing else would detract. Hm.
midwestelle, there’s no reason at all you can’t use your engagement ring as your wedding ring, too. If you love it that much and don’t want to add anything, that should be up to you. After all, it’s your finger; you should love how it looks. Talk it over with your honey.