Wedding Rings For Men Who Don’t Wear Jewelry

The Men bedecked with golden link bracelets on their wrists, chains with dangling pendants of their favorite saint or crucifix on their hairy chests, and even men with a visible golden tooth, were normal where I grew up. Fingers with jewelry were more common than those without, and the only wedding rings for men that stood out from all the bling, in most cases, were not the most wild or dazzling, but those that were too simple and plain to be anything but a symbol of a married man. That was Latin America (and Spain, but not quite so pronounced). Then in Asia, much the same. By Asia I include the subcontinent of India and the outer realms of Pakistan – especially known for gigantean gemstones (not always real) and diamonds (quite often faux) set in deep-deep, yellow-yellow Asian gold or a reasonable facsimile thereof. Then onto Africa. Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania…also the men were bejeweled. Poverty? That’s no excuse. In fact, the poorer you are the more you need to appear as if you’re not. The solution to poverty most assuredly rested in MORE jewelry. So you might imagine my utter shock and dismay, after years of being surrounded by veritably bejeweled men, to decide to marry a man whose largest piece of jewelry ever worn on neck or wrist or finger wasn’t even an item that would touch his skin – a tie pin. That got me to wondering: what kind of wedding rings for men are available for those odd fellows who don’t usually wear jewelry? And that’s how I discovered an awful lot about mens wedding bands.

At the end of this post I’ll tell you what I decided to buy my husband as a wedding band, and why I chose it and what his reaction was, but first I’m going to take you to some of the places where my search began. You see, I was living in Asia at the time, and along the streets of every tiny village or massive city there were cheap jewelry stores that spread their wares across sidewalks and alleys and some even ventured a short ways into the street traffic, causing cars to swerve about the tables and honk, but in Asian delicacy, no more than that. The trays and tables, always covered in bright red cloth, usually velvet or satin or some kind of luminous silk, were arrayed in gold…always gold. Very, very yellow gold that the west isn’t used to. “It’s too GOLD”, most foreigners would whisper as they passed. Anyway, on these tables where the too-gold gold jewelry was displayed halfway into the street, there were mens wedding rings. There were some with carved dragons and phoenix, matching sets of bracelets and tattoos in similar motifs in a store just up the street; and there were dazzling rings that were not at all gold but looked like they were and weighed almost nothing and sparkled white neon-like fire, but were not diamonds but the latest 25 million carat flawless CZ gemstones, right out of the Taiwanese cubic zirconia factory assembly line. There were also the little alleyways in mountain villages that had displays of wedding bands and bridal sets for her and lots more for him, in tribal symbols with snakes and what might have been a shrunken head but was likely a Halloween style skull. And there were rings that were fine and delicate, in puzzling styles that made me wonder how the ring might be worn. In any case, the verdict was, that large, dazzling CZs and massive bling and flashings CZ radiance or tribal significance, were simply not right for my man.

It was a final shop, a seclude nothing of a little room with a small peony painted on the wooden door at the far end of the street where the heavy-duty, blinging, singing, pounding, red and gold cheap jewelry stores ended, that the simple painted peony looked very attractive. Inside, sitting on a small mat at the back of the shop was a jeweler, a silversmith who worked with a few tools at a small low table, with just a little showroom out front displaying the most delicately crafted pieces I’d ever seen. Their beauty was simplicity. A concave in the center of the ring yet engineered to feel at if it were flat when worn. The center convex hugged the finger a little, like a belt would hug what would be the waist of the finger, should a finger also have hips, and the outer edge of the band was ever so gently flared out. So subtle. So silently almost invisibly subtle, like the man I was about to marry. Artistic but polished and smooth. Sleek with a hint of curvy sensual style. And that’s the ring he received with delight in a small ceremony in Hong Kong and has worn ever since (although it’s only been 4 years).

If you want to go to the little shop, where the artist crafts these rings in silver, and has a peony painted on his small wooden door, I’m sorry. I won’t tell you where it is. He has enough business from those drop by wandering along the street. And that’s all the business he wants. He doesn’t have a website and doesn’t want one. He loved it when someone sees what he makes and falls in love with the smallest detail that he designed, even when it may be scarcely noticeable. But anyway, since you can’t go and shop where I did, unless you stumble across it on your own, I have a couple other suggestions for simple great designs. Jewelry Vortex has some good items, just that you need to be careful about selecting the metal you want. There’s mostly titanium, white gold, and some blends of yellow and white and stainless steel too. Titanium is one of the best bets, and that’s what I would have chosen if the ring I found hadn’t been silver. Speaking of mens band, titanium rings for men are really and honestly one of the best choices because of their strength and their simplicity of care. They’re also scratch free. That’s one thing about the ring I gave my hubby. It scratches….it doesn’t tarnish much and it still looks somewhat smooth after polishing but it does have some nicks and scratches that will one day make it not be so fine.

You deserve to know the secrets to buying wedding rings that will please men who don’t usually wear any jewelry but want to give wearing a wedding band a go.

1. know the man and what’s important to him and how it will affect him at work

2. in general, keep the ring very simple but with one unique attribute

3. unique attributes may pertain to a singular shape or simply the metal choice

4. aero-grade titanium or stainless steel tend to be hits because they are masculine metals

5. stay away from diamonds and gemstones unless he requests them

6. don’t try to convince him into a style that matches your bridal set, matching sets are fine but if you love jewelry and want something dazzling and he’s not into it, someone is going to have to give in. Why cause stress over rings. Get what you want for yourself and something simple and practical for him