If you have ever even casually glanced at the engagement section of any respectable jeweler's, you will have noticed that there are hundreds if not thousands of styles to choose from! In this modern age where individuality is celebrated from the rooftops, most bride-to-be's want "something different."
Even if you have the most basic, classic and timeless style, -the Solitaire- you may want to dress it up a bit, or personalize it to your liking.
For this reason, there are several options for your wedding band:
Tracer Bands are wedding rings that follow the contours of the engagement ring, either on just one side, or on both. This means you don't have any awkward gaps between the two rings, and the design flows nicely and looks purposeful. The downside to this is that you either have to purchase both rings as a set, or you need to have a custom tracer band made for your specific engagement ring. If "unique" or "one-of-a-kind" is your goal, then this isn't actually a downside, but it is good to know from the start!!
Wraps are wedding rings that have stones or designs that come up and over the engagement ring (usually on either side of the center stone). This offers some amount of protection to the center stone, while aligning the additional stones/designs with it. The result is that the overall appearance looks more like one ring than 2 separate elements. Wraps work best with solitaire styles, but can often be customized by a professional jeweler to fit with certain other styles!
Ring Guards are similar to wraps, but fit on either side of the engagement ring forming a type of "sandwich" effect. This is perfect for those of us who desire symmetry! The engagement ring slides down between the two sides, and the result is, again, purposeful and gives the appearance of one design!So, whether you choose a simple, straight style, or want to have some level of interaction between your 2 rings, this hopefully helps you to know what is out there, and the terminology for it!!
