Crafted to capture the intangible – the love and promises, the past and future – no piece of jewellery holds more meaning than your wedding rings. At Chupi, we create all our precious wedding rings with meaning in mind, and in a variety of styles and finishes to reflect myriad styles and personalities.
To help you get started with your wedding ring search, we sat down with Sarah Keating, Chupi Customer Experience Specialist, and Kayleigh Forsythe, Bespoke Client Service Executive from our gold team. Below, read their expert advice on choosing the ring you’ll wear forever.
To help narrow things down, it can help to figure out what overall ring finger aesthetic you gravitate towards. “You can start by considering the size and shape of your engagement ring and how you'd like the engagement ring and wedding bands to interact with one another,” says Sarah. "Some people want to really add to their engagement ring, perhaps creating a whole new look and maybe plan to add to their stack over time, while others want to pair their engagement ring with something really simple.”
“For a bit of wow factor, You, Me & Magic teamed with the Crown of Hope make for a gorgeous pairing,” says Kayleigh. “They look so good together.” For something more subtle, the elegant thin band of the Classic Flat Wedding Ring could be a good fit.
“Always ask yourself: is this me? Is it my style? Am I going to like this in 10 years’ time?”
Get to know your existing engagement ring
Your engagement ring’s setting will inform whether you go for a wedding band that is straight or curved. “If your engagement ring has quite a wide or low setting – which means it’s not lifted up off your finger – it might mean that if you went with a straight band there would be a little gap will be present,” says Sarah. “A wedding band that curves or has an inbuilt curve in it, like the Crown of Sky, would close this gap.”
“If your engagement ring is gallery set, meaning the stone is quite high up, it gives you more options when it comes to wedding band styles,” adds Kayleigh. “Rings with a high setting often taper and thin as the band gets closer to the stone, so a straight band would slot in there beautifully and sit flush with the engagement band."
Though Chupi settings have changed over the years, our wedding ring collection is extensive, meaning there will always be a wedding band that suits your Chupi engagement ring.
Be careful mixing metals
Different metals have different levels of hardness and softness. If your engagement and wedding rings are going to be sitting beside each other day in and day out it’s important to make sure that one isn’t going to wear down or damage the other. “The higher the karat number, the softer the piece of jewellery is,” explains Sarah. “For example, 24k pure gold is incredibly soft and not suitable for daily wear. We use 14k gold here at Chupi.”
“A 14k gold ring is quite strong – robust and suitable for everyday wear,” says Kayleigh. “It’s a lot more durable than 18k gold, which is more prone to get dented and scratched, especially if you have an active lifestyle.”
From a style perspective, mixing and matching is all down to personal taste. “If the karat is the same, then you should be all good,” affirms Sarah. “You can, for example, mix white gold with yellow gold, but they just have to be the same karat, or the lower karat will slowly start to erode away the higher karat, as it’s softer. So if your engagement ring is platinum, your wedding bands should also be platinum.”
Consider your lifestyle
It’s really important to make sure that the ring you choose isn't too delicate for your lifestyle. “It can be something a lot of people don't realise,” says Kayleigh. It’s particularly important when it comes to metals of course but is also worth considering when it comes to pieces with large stones too. “Always ask yourself: is this me? Is it my style? Am I going to like this in 10 years’ time?”
Our talented team can chat you through your options via an in-store and virtual appointment, and suggest what pieces from what collections best suit your day-to-day life. “Sometimes it’s about finding that nice middle ground between something that’s visually delicate but still robust enough to wear every day,” says Sarah.
A tip for vintage engagement rings
“A lot of the vintage engagement rings we see in-store have coloured stones, such as emeralds, sapphires, or rubies,” says Kayleigh. “You can often make these stand out a little bit more with some diamonds around them, or through a shaped wedding band.”
If you have an extremely unique or ornate vintage ring, a simple style of wedding band can help showcase it without competing too much with it.
Figuring out the right metal to pair with your vintage ring might require some expert help too. “If you were able to pop into the store, we would be able to quickly identify the carat for you, which can sometimes be tricky,” says Kayleigh.
It’s okay to mix and match
“I often get people asking me if it’s okay to mix a polished band engagement ring with a textured twig band ring and my answer to that is always yes,” laughs Sarah. “It’s very much about your personal preference, so you don’t need to worry about being matchy-matchy – I love mixing and matching textures, so if you love it, go for it.”
To find your wedding bands, consult our collections or dedicated jewellery experts, who can assist in all your wedding jewellery needs.
