This guide comes to explain all about wearing rings. Yes, men do wear more than one ring, most usually stick to their wedding ring. There are a plethora of rings available for many different reasons, and quite a number of men wear more than one ring. However, most men do not wear a ring just for decoration, and there are many materials and designs such as silver men’s rings to consider.
History is rife with rings and man, for some reason, modern society is split between schools of thought, those that think the ring is feminine or too flashy, and others that don’t. The main issue with rings is in the design and in the purpose. The reason that rings have been given a “bad” vibe is based on their history. Rings were the jewelry of the rich and powerful, specifically of the clergy and royalty.
Everyone else didn’t wear them, and in fact, modern society, from around the early 20th century (Victorian UK influence) saw a decline in the use of male jewelry, even the upper and royal class would shun any form of showing off. Which came in line with the slow reform of society during Victorian England and spread across Europe and America.
The fashion of wearing rings in the 21st century has changed. Ever since the 1960’s and the hippy revolution, into the computer and internet age, clothing and jewelry have been given a new place in society. Today, rings are commonplace, and in some instances, many rings and other jewelry are considered part of a societies status symbol.
A great site I recommend to view many designs and styles is silver men’s rings
Symbolism
Rings provide different functions, and I present here a brief description of each ring group. Rings are worn to send a message, some perform two functions, being decorative as well as symbolic. Size, weight, material, and complexity all interweave to deliver a different status and message within each ring group. The moon is symbolized by silver men’s rings, while the sun is represented by gold.
Religious and Cultural Rings
One ring identified with religion are wedding rings. While most western religions don’t require a wedding ring, it is woven into the tradition and ritual. Wedding rings are traditionally bands of metal, usually gold but now come in a variety of possibilities as well as designs and sizes.
The best types of wedding rings are simple bands, not usually over seized, and are usually worn as a sign of trust in the tradition of marriage.
Other religious rings can include symbolic rings that show off crosses, stars and other symbols representing the religion or mystic section related to the religion such as astrological signs and Kabbalistic or other magical symbols.
Affiliation Rings
Membership in a group or society has been traditionally represented in clothing and jewelry including rings. The most common affiliation rings include fraternities, colleges, schools and universities, military, and sports clubs. Some societies and institutions also offer rings to members that feel a close relationship with the society.
Affiliation rings tend to be descriptive and well decorated, where the central motif is the symbol or letters representing the order represented by the ring wearer. Most affiliation rings tend to be similar in design, with a large stone centered around wording or a central motif, either a shield or crest which represents a specific order. Sports rings, such as tournament winners tend are sometimes considered collector items due to their rarity.
Most affiliation rings are large and bold, they are meant to be noticed and will be hefty.
Family Rings
Family rings represent the “order” of a family. In medieval times royal or noble families had a crest, whether you were a simple Baron (lowest in the noble line) or an Emperor (Highest in the royal line), you would have a family crest. This crest would be found on all objects including a ring with a specific design denoting your position and affiliation in the family. Crests have a whole subgroup of designs to show if you are the head of a family or a first-born son or other positions within the familial group. In other words, there is a whole pecking order involved with family rings.
Wearing a family ring is now quite chic, even if you got it as a gift from someone that visited a flea market in Bremen. On the other hand, you can now go online and order a family crest, and get a ring specifically designed with your personal family crest on it.
Designer and Art Rings
Designer rings are more uncommon in men since they denote an association with fashion, which is still considered effeminate by most societies. However, it does take a bold assertiveness to wear whatever you like without considering what other people think. In fact, a true “he-man” doesn’t care what others think of him and will wear whatever “the hell” he likes. These rings come in every size, form, and material that you can think of, and in fact, you can design whatever you like and wear it. Among these rings you will find the skull ring as well as the lion ring, in fact, you will find every kind of animal designed ring, which makes for a great conversation piece and most wearers wear them for that reason.
Buying a Ring
Buying a ring is straightforward, first decide what kind of ring you want. You can go online and check out idea’s or if you know what you want then just go to a jewelry shop to get your finger measured. It is important to buy a ring that fits well on your finger and is not too loose or tight.
Once you have measured your ring finger size, you can now decide whether to buy the ring from a shop or online. For affiliation rings, all you need to do is check the ring finger size and send the request.
Now let’s look at the process in more detail:
What do you want or need?
You must know what you want before you buy it. The variety of rings that can be chosen from is vast. What is the reason you want a ring? Once you have understood what it is you want to wear and why you want to wear it, you can then decide on an actual design.
Design requires you consider the material, the size, and the complexity of the ring. It also demands you make a budget. Budget is important since it can mean the difference of buying a 24kt gold ring with large diamonds inlaid into delicate designs costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, with a simple stainless-steel ring costing a few cents. You can also find similar if not identical designs in different materials that can make the difference in the budget extreme. Once you have set your budget, you can then filter your materials to match it and then concentrate on actual design and color scheme.
Size and Finger
Now that you know what you want and roughly how much it will cost you within your budget, it is time to match the ring to the finger. You have ten fingers, and guess what, they are all different in circumference. They might seem similar, but a slight difference can make a ring comfortable, tight, or loose. Some fingers have larger bones and can be an obstruction. Don’t try to self-measure and then order online. If you make a mistake you will need to adjust the ring, and that can be expensive, and in any event, will weaken the tensile strength of the original ring, which means the ring can break.
Once you have measured your fingers and noted the bandwidth of each one, you can decide what size of the ring you want to buy. The finger also determines the size of the ring you place it on. For instance, a Pinky ring is not usually as large as a thumb ring. However, the design can change the ratios completely.
Material and Color
You know your design, you have your ring size, and which finger it is on. Now it is time to decide on materials. Materials include both the ring material, its color, and the stones you will embed.
Gold
This is the oldest and most respected of all materials used in jewelry. It comes in three colors, and each color can come in different shades. These are rose, white, and yellow. Yellow gold is the purest, which is 24KT, the impurities in the gold define its color, so if you have a white gold ring, it means that there is either nickel or manganese mixed in with the gold. For pink it means the gold is alloyed with copper. The karat value is the percentage of gold in the material. 24KT is 100% gold and is soft and yellow, 18KT is around 75%, and 12KT is 50%. Even a 9Kt ring can look like real Gold, but it only has 37.5% gold content.
Silver
This is the second oldest metal used in rings and is the cheaper metal. It was a highly abundant metal in ancient and classical history and was used quite a lot to denote wealth and importance, but it never reached the level of Gold. It also tarnishes, which requires it to be cleaned quite often.
Silver comes in many purities; the most common is Sterling silver, which is represented by the number 925. This stands for 92.5% silver content. Since silver is a very soft metal, wearing pure silver is not practical, and that is why it is alloyed, for strength purposes, not for color. Silver is always recognized as white metal. Silver men’s rings are usually polished daily to retain their sheen.
Platinum
Platinum is a precious metal. At some stages has been worth as much as gold. In general is always more expensive than gold and considered to be an expensive material to use. It is harder than gold and is silver/grey in color, like stainless steel. Platinum is also represented in Karats, and it is used more for its “boast” value since it replaces white gold as a medium in jewelry design.
Stainless Steel
This is the affordable metal, it is stainless, which means it won’t rust and it is hard. It is greyish, looking like platinum and is now more common in use since it looks like platinum. Costume jewelry is made up of SS, and since it looks so good on film, it infiltrated the streets slowly but surely. In fact, today, a lot of very affluent people wear costume jewelry rather than endanger the real thing, which they keep in their safes at home or in the bank. SS 316 is the preferred alloy; this is sometimes called surgical steel, it is harder and more resistant than other alloys. Some people have an allergic reaction to SS when there is a higher percentage of nickel in the alloy.
Titanium
This metal is lighter and as strong as SS. It is a fashionably cool material because it is used in Space and Avionics, and can be colored like gold, with color ranges including black, white, and copper. It is marginally more expensive than SS but will be sold at a much higher price than its real value, only because it sounds good. Titanium is hypoallergenic, resistant to most reagents as well as water and does not oxidize unless you take it to extremes where a most human cannot survive.
Tungsten Carbide
This is metal tool material; it is a very hard and slightly brittle material that comes in black metal color. Tungsten is a very heavy metal, and this material comes in powder form and is alloyed or “cemented” with other metals to make a ring. Due to its industrial heritage, its considered a “manly” material and is usually found in bulkier heavier rings.
Palladium
This is considered to be Platinum’s younger brother. Its price fluctuates, and it can sometimes be more expensive than Platinum. Having stated this, it is one of the materials used to alloy with gold, rather than nickel, since Palladium is hypoallergenic. Palladium is sometimes used by itself in jewelry, but finding it is hard and is usually a specially ordered metal.
Ceramic
These are made up of silicon or tungsten carbide powders that are sintered into a ring. They are brittle and will shatter when enough force is applied. They are extremely tough and resilient to scratches, but totally improbable for alteration. As the name suggests, they are nonmetallic, which makes them hypoallergenic, but again, as the name suggests, they are breakable.
Cobalt Chrome
This newcomer to the jewelry scene is a very shiny grey silver material that resembles platinum. It is used in dentistry and is therefore hypoallergenic unless you are allergic to cobalt. It is substantially cheaper than platinum but is harder and more resistant to starches. I doubt if you will find many items made from this online or in shops.
Now let’s take a look at gemstones
The color and price of gemstones are extreme. From specially colored diamonds to glass. Hues, depth of color, cuts, impurities, and perfections are all terms used to define gemstones of worth and value. Gemstones are also associated with star signs, emotions, and moods. There are also a large variety of special stones that are unclassified due to their uniqueness and rarity. The basic rule of thumb here is budget. The color and shape can be determined by the design and preference, but the material will be defined by the budget.
The price: To buy or not to buy
Now that you know what you want, you know which material and which stone you desire, its time to add up the elements and check out the price. Since you defined a budget to start off with, the components that make up the ring will be found within the limits you set. Remember, if you are ordering a designer ring, and you have given in the design, make sure that you follow up on every stage of the design process. Do not let a ring maker take a design and then give you something else. You must get a rendering from them, show what they will make for you. Make sure it matches your design and hat heh materials you requested are used.
Whether you are buying a ring or designing one to be made, make sure you get the certification of all materials. Not just for insurance purposes, but for proof of design and profile integrity.
