Choosing a Band

No, we’re not talking about going back (or forward) to your wedding day – that’s a completely different situation all together.  This decision is much easier, and concerns your choice of diamond ring, or any stone for that matter.  Along with the stone and the setting, one of the most important aspects of choosing a ring is the band.  One has to consider the size, thickness, and the metal of the band.

The size of the band is the easiest decision to make.  Choose which finger the ring will be worn on, and have a jeweler size that finger for you.  All of your fingers are going to be different sizes (or, at least, there’s no guarantee that both your ring fingers will be the same size), so make sure you have the size of the exact finger that you want.  There’s a chance that your finger will be between sizes, of course, so you may need to have the ring resized to fit your exact finger.

Along with the size, the thickness of the band is also important.  More than anything else this is an aesthetic choice, as different people like different styles.  The most common thickness for women’s rings is 3mm or less, and for men it’s usually 4mm or 5mm.  Obviously the band thickness should compliment the hand it goes on.  Men have larger hands, and therefore larger bands look more natural.  The smaller your hand is, generally the smaller band thickness you will want for you ring.  Also consider, however, what you wish to do with your ring.  If you would like to have a large stone mounted, perhaps the thinnest popular band is not the right choice.  Also, if you wish to have the band engraved immediately or at a later time, you will need one thick enough to hold the letters, and for them to be readable.

The final decision to be made is the metal of the band.  Here you have several choices, including yellow gold, white gold, silver, platinum, and titanium. One of the major factors in this part of the decision is durability.  Silver is softer than gold or titanium, but has its own special luster.  If you’re going to wear the ring at all times, perhaps a harder metal is in order.  Gold is rather durable, but 24 karat gold is semi-soft and easily damaged.  You would need 14 karat gold, which is 58.33% gold, and the rest is made of other metals.  Platinum is the strongest metal for ring making, but it is also the most expensive.  Because it is so think and dense, it is difficult to work with, and requires special training and special skills to work it into a useable ring band.  Titanium is probably the middle ground, being more expensive than gold, and less expensive than platinum.  It has a silvery color, but darker than regular silver, with less shine.  Titanium is popular mostly for men’s rings.

If you’re choosing gold for your band, you’re faced with a color decision: yellow or white.  White gold is, at the maximum 18 karats, because it needs to be mixed with other metal sin order to achieve the whitish color.  Yellow-gold is mixed with silver to make it harder and more durable.  White-gold is gold mixed with nickel.  It has the same value as 18 karat yellow-gold, it is just allowed with a different metal, therefore making it a different color.  In fact, most straight white-gold actually has a yellowish tint to it, as it is virtually impossible to maintain the value of the gold while simultaneously mixing it with enough nickel to change the color.  To conceal this yellowish tint, white-gold bands are often electroplated with a thin coating of Rhodium, which is a member of the Platinum family.

So whatever your preference, consider these few important factors.  Buying a ring is a major decision and requires a lot of thought and consideration.  After you choose the band, you will still need to chose the stone (including color and cut), and the setting.