5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Custom Wedding Band

We are happy for you!  You have decided to turn away from the same old-same old boring wedding rings you see on so many fingers as you walk down the street.  Your love is unique, so you need a unique wedding ring to symbolize that love.  At Minter & Richter Designs, when we say “custom”, we truly mean it!  Not only can your wedding ring be completely of your design, it can even hold within it material that is personal to you and you only.  Our nature inspired wedding rings are a great example of that.

Following are the top five things we think you should consider when designing your own custom wedding ring with Minter & Richter Designs.

CHOOSE YOUR METAL

No matter what you hear from those factory jewelry stores, here at Minter & Richter Designs we will tell you the truth.  The two best base metals for Custom Inlaid Wedding Rings are Inox Steel and Titanium.  Both are just as hard and durable as each other.  Neither will shatter like Tungsten Carbide.  Neither will deform like gold and silver and platinum.  That is what makes them perfect for long term durability.  Their differences are to be found in their color and weight.  

Titanium has warm gray undertones, easily recognized in Minter & Richter Designs rings like Sleek & Simple and is extremely lightweight.  Inox Steel is slightly heavier (though nowhere near as uncomfortably heavy as a gold ring) and has the bright white color of platinum or white gold as you can easily see on rings like Beluga.

Sleek and Simple Titanium Rings

Beluga Inox Steel Ring

CONSIDER WHAT YOU DO WITH YOUR HANDS ALL DAY

What you do all day might affect your choice in inlay material.  It is important to take a little time to think about what you do with your hands all day every day.  If you are a person who digs through gravel all day, swims to the bottom of the sea and back or even hangs out in a hot tub for hours on end, you may want to consider choosing materials like stone or mokume gane or resin that are naturally resistant to moisture and scratches than, for example, wood or antler.  Still, if you really love wood, you may want to think about whether you will wear a silicone ring or not for those times when you know you are going to be hard on your hands.  Minter & Richter Designs woods are all stabilized under 65,000 pounds of pressure and impregnated with acrylics, but on planet earth stone is still less permeable than wood and that’s just facts.  Titanium Wedding Bands are as durable as wedding rings can get.

Stone Wedding Rings

What you do all day might affect your choice for WIDTH.  It is easy to get caught up in all the wonderful colors and materials on our website, but you may want to think about how much width will work for your lifestyle before you order a 12mm ring with 5 wide inlays, which is gorgeous to behold but isn’t practical for everyone.

Bright Lion Wedding Rings with 5 Inlays

Do you ride a bicycle or motorcycle constantly?  Is your hand always in a grip formation to the point where that extra width will annoy you?  Are you a pianist or guitarist?  Lots of musicians discover that they prefer a narrower band so as not to impede their playing.  Are you a policeman or armed robber?  People who find they need to draw their gun quickly often take that into consideration when choosing a width.  Are you a chef?  People who have their hands in steamy conditions for hours on end often choose a narrower ring so as to avoid moisture build-up beneath the band.  While it is true that the wider the ring is the more you can see, it is also true that narrower bands still provide a lot of pop and color.  3.5mm, 4.8mm, 6.4mm and 7.9mm all provide plenty of space to see your ring in all its glory.

  3.5mm

 4.8mm

  6.4mm

 7.9mm

The great news is that Minter & Richter Designs is here to help you choose a width.  Once we know your approximate size and the ring style you are considering, we will send you Custom Sizers in a variety of widths that will be proportional to your approximate ring size as well as to the ring you are having custom made for you.  Minter & Richter Designs is the only company in the country that makes their own Custom Sizers.  Factory made sizers tend to size smaller than accurate and do not accommodate for width or fluctuation.  We do everything custom from beginning to end.  Whether you purchase from Minter & Richter Designs or not, do not trust factory made sizing systems.  If a company sends you factory made sizers, that means that they are not hand making your ring custom for you.  They know that if the size does not work on the ring they send you, they can just pull another from the shelf.  That is not the way we do it here.  We make each ring totally custom for you, so we really do care that it fits perfectly for you the first time.  So, while our Custom Sizers may not be gorgeous, they are super reliable.  And that is the most important thing.

CUSTOM SIZERS

CHOOSE HOW MANY INLAYS YOU WOULD LIKE

The word “inlay” refers to any material that is in the ring that is not made of your base metal (either Inox Steel or Titanium).  You may want a simple ring with just one inlay, or you may want to up the excitement with two inlays, three inlays, four inlays or more!

 One Inlay

 Two Inlays

  Three Inlays

 Four Inlays

CHOOSE YOUR INLAY MATERIALS

Now for the fun part!  We have literally thousands of materials you can choose from, but more than that, at Minter & Richter Designs, you have the entire planet and even beyond at your disposal.  Because each ring is truly custom and truly made from stem to stern by a single master craftsman (rather than a factory full of makers and machines of mass production), there really is no limit to what we can put in your ring.  Whether you like the natural pull of a wooden wedding ring, the deliriously beautiful colors of a stone wedding ring, the outer space awesomeness of meteorite wedding ring, the exciting tones of a copper ring and a bronze ring, the call of the wild from  an Antler wedding ring or Horn, the prehistoric shock of dinosaur bone rings and woolly mammoth tusk ring, or even just the sand from your favorite beach, Minter & Richter Designs can make your ring dreams come true.

CHOOSE YOUR FINISH

The term “finish” refers to the process applied to the metal in your ring, which creates shine or texture.  There are 4 finishes available to inlaid rings - Mirror Finish, Satin Finish, Sandblasted Finish, Glassbead Blasted.

 Mirror Finish

  Satin Finish

  Sandblasted Finish

  Glass Bead Blast Finish

For rings that have more available real estate on the exterior, you can consider stronger finishes like wire wheel, hard brushed or hammered!

 Wire Wheeled Finish

 Hammered Finish

And don’t forget, unlike almost every other titanium ring store in the country, Scott and I are real people, we are not a factory, so we are always here and happy to help you.  It is easy to contact us.  You can call us in our studio at 617-326-6671 with any question.  If we don’t answer right away, that simply means we are in a Ring Consultation and we will absolutely call you back if you leave your number and email address slowly and clearly.  You can also email us at sales@minterandrichterdesigns.com .  You can also click on BOOK YOUR VIRTUAL SESSION or BOOK IN-PERSON VISIT at the top of this page.  You can even book a Design Session and Shop tour by clicking here!  We would love to help you design a ring that is 100% unique to you just like we did for this beautiful couple below.