Wedding band material (the ring, not cover songs)

[chachi]

Got SWMBO platinum, but white gold for this guy. Looks the same (to me), makes a clanking sound when I grab the shower door handle...I like to call it my "reminder". If the type of metal is important to you or you really see a difference in the types of metal then get what you like. I didn't care one way or the other and went white gold.

 

[TexLaw]

I have the yellow gold comfort fit band, as well. It gets scratched and scuffed, but it still looks fine. I had to get it resized a couple years ago, and they polished it. Within a couple months, it looked just like it had after ten years of wear. In other words, it looked fine.

Titanium does look nice, but it feels like plastic. I do not like that. Then again, it's not my ring.

And, do like Ed said. Get the date engraved. I don't think I will ever spend all the points I've earned for knowing the date when SWMBO didn't.


TL

 

[chillHayze]

Titanium. Lightweight. cheap, and as bird said, it looks manly with all the scuffs on it.

n.b. It seems fingers swell/shrink with temperature so they may be a big snug in the summer/loose in the winter. Maybe not a big problem in GA but something to consider for sizing.

 

[Evan!]

PEWTER!!!!!

Seriously, the OP's "con" with regards to titanium only applies IF you get it polished. I got mine brushed, so now I just take some super-fine (#0000) steel wool to it every couple months, it looks like new.

And I think I paid all of $80 for it, and it looks super-badass.

 

[jfrizzell]

I have a simple titanium band and love it. It's so light weight it's ridiculous and yeah it will scratch, but if you go with brushed, the scratches all just blend together and you don't even see them unless you're looking up close and personal. I haven't tried the steel wool on mine yet, but might give that a shot.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I wish. She wouldn't let me get off that easy.

It should never be about the money......if she wants you she'll take a cigar band and be happy...

 

[Stratotankard]

My friend spent $12k on a custom ring to match the heirloom engagement ring (his great grandmother's I believe) he gave his wife. She said he could pick any ring he wanted for himself, so he grabbed a titanium ring with some cool engraving. She picked it up and said "it feels like plastic, you're not getting it." He's now wearing a 8mm platinum comfort band with yellow gold inlay she picked out that cost like 5x what the titanium would have.
As for me simple white gold. SWMBO has a white gold channel set that matches her engagement ring. She also has a plain silver one that matches mine she wears when she deploys.

 

[Thalon]

+1 to the 6mm Comfort Fit plain 14K gold band. I didn't even look at any rings made out of other metals. It is exactly what I have always thought of as a wedding ring for a man. I didn't want any fancy designs or engraving, although getting the date engraved in the inside does sound like a great idea for the next time around. The Comfort Fit style band is very comfortable to wear. Mine held up great for the 5 years we were married. I wore it all the time including on the job working with hand- and power tools, never had a problem with it. Yeah it picked up some scuffs and scratches, but like Germey said it just adds character. Never had to have mine resized, though I did notice times when it was tighter than other times. The main thing about the sizing is if your lifestyle is such that you maintain the same general weight, you shouldn't have to have it resized at all if it was sized properly in the first place.

Congratulations on the marriage!

 

[the_bird]

C'mon, we're a bunch of homebrewers, and no one has proposed stainless steel yet?

 

[Buford]

Ours are sterling silver claddagh rings. They were engagement rings first, just worn reversed. They cost about $40 each. If they get damaged or lost it's no big deal to replace them.

 

[adx]

I have a titanium with a platinum insert. The titanium was always a brushed finished so you can't even see the scratches in it. I like it because it's nice and light. All platinum is pretty heavy.

 

[DUCCCC]

Platinum for SWMBO, white gold for me.

I manged to somehow tweak mine a bit out of round, but since it was gold the jeweler was able to easily repair is. It polishes up easily. I'm told that if it was Titanium it wouldn't be easily repaired or polished, but that could very well be FUD from the jeweler.

 

[kornkob]

And even if the titanium ring wasn't easily fixed, it's so cheap it hardly matters. If it gets broke, replace it. In fact that could be used as an excuse to renew vows.


+1 on 'it shouldn't be about money'
If a wedding ring was still a way for a new couple to have a little ready cash for 'just in case' then having an expensive band made would make sense. But it isn't that-- its a symbol and there's no reason to spend exorbitantly on rings. Frankly, you're probably better off dropping a few hundred on rings and bumping the other stereotypical '3 months salary' in an IRA or a high yield investment so you can retire that much sooner.

 

[Neomich]

I've got a titanium ring, it's the only piece of jewelery I can wear. It's very light. I don't even have to take it off during martial arts classes either since there's not much of a chance of it getting damaged.

I've actually seen someone almost get their fingers smashed with some concrete. Luckily, they were wearing a titanium/tungsten ring and it saved their fingers. You can still cut the metal off, it just takes longer and someone with some patience to do it. You've also got to make two cuts since you can't bend the metal apart but seriously, how likely are you to be in a position to need it cut off? I'd probably have other problems if I was in that bad of a situation.

 

[Professor Frink]

And even if the titanium ring wasn't easily fixed, it's so cheap it hardly matters. If it gets broke, replace it. In fact that could be used as an excuse to renew vows.


+1 on 'it shouldn't be about money'
If a wedding ring was still a way for a new couple to have a little ready cash for 'just in case' then having an expensive band made would make sense. But it isn't that-- its a symbol and there's no reason to spend exorbitantly on rings. Frankly, you're probably better off dropping a few hundred on rings and bumping the other stereotypical '3 months salary' in an IRA or a high yield investment so you can retire that much sooner.

My buddy has lost his titanium ring a couple time. Last time he lost it, he just ordered 3 on Ebay.

 

[Buford]

Really it all boils down to "what do you like" and "can you afford it". It's just a symbol and doesn't have to be expensive. Some people like gold, platinum, etc. My wife is incredibly pale (it's all that Irish) so white metals like silver look good on her but yellow ones don't. It's not the metal, but what it represents. We went the claddagh route because of the Irish connection (although I'm not Irish myself), and silver because we're incredibly cheap

 

[Baron ken]

...Titanium: cheapest, scuffs easily, cannot buff out scuffs.....

That is a common misconception. I have had a polished titanium ring for 5 years now. Yes, it seems to scuff easily and after several months it may start looking like it's brushed (depending on how much abuse of it), but I just take it in and tell the jewelry shop to buff it up for me. They give me the old "you can't buff titanium" line and I tell them, "yes you can, I have it done all the time." 3 minutes later they come out with my ring all shiny new-looking again.

I used to have it buffed about once every 6 months. It's been almost 2 years since the last time though, definitely time to get it done, though it's still fairly 'polished'.

 

[Beerrific]

Update...
I went with the 6mm 14k white gold comfort fit band. She got the same but smaller. It has scuffed up a little, but that dosen't really bother me. Not completely used to wearing it, but getting there.

 

[mcaustin]

+1 on the Tungsten. Mine's by Artcarved, and (like the others previously mentioned) they replace it with a different size if my finger gets fat. Plus, they replace it if it gets scratched. I can open beer bottles with it, and all that happens is that it gets a very slight scuff, which I can just rub off with my fingers. Plus, it's a cooler color than than most of the other rings I looked at - darker than silver and more distinct.

 

[JVD_X]

Get one that feels comfortable on your fingers... you will be wearing it a long time. Excellent choice on the white gold comfo-fit - that is what I got and I now don't even feel it anymore.


Personally - I think too much emphasis is put on the material and not enough on the workmanship and design. I went with a Hawaiian design since my wife grew up in Hawaii.