A bespoke contour wedding band with lots of sparkle
This one will be a rather personal story, as it’s about my own contour wedding band.
First of all, you might ask yourself, what is a contoured wedding band?
If you have an engagement ring with a very small gap between the stone setting and your finger (or maybe none at all), you might want to think about a contoured or curved wedding band. If made bespoke, a contour wedding band will sit snuggly around the curves of your ring and complement your engagement ring. It will have an elegant arch or even a dip or twist and sit nicely next to your ring. A bespoke curved band is the perfect solution for an engagement ring with an unusual shape or as jewellers call it a ‘non-wedfit’ ring.
The engagement
In 2020 my partner John proposed to me with a beautiful engagement ring. It’s a 4mm pink padparadscha sapphire with granulation and is embellished with diamonds. I was so surprised and super delighted to have this one-of-a-kind engagement ring.
Why I didn’t design my engagement ring? The answer is easy. I wanted it to be a surprise!
I told my other half the stone I wanted and the designer I loved, the rest was up to him. On Christmas Day 2020 we went for a walk in the forest with our 3-month-old son. Next to a little hut we stopped, John went down on one knee and proposed.
Of course, I said yes!
Wedding Planning
In 2022 we started looking for venues and booked our wedding day for August 2023. If you’ve stumbled across this blog post, chances are, you’re currently planning a wedding yourself. Therefore you know how much there is to consider. One of those things is your wedding bands. Of course, as a jeweller, this was very important to me.
You will wear this ring for the rest of your life and therefore it should be as special as the day itself.
One piece of advice I would give to you is to always stick to the same metal as the engagement ring as some metals are harder wearing than others. For example, a platinum band will wear down a gold engagement ring as it is a harder metal.
Another word of advice, do as I say not as I do! We left thinking about our wedding bands till the last minute. The usual turnaround time for bespoke pieces is 6-8 weeks from finalising the design till you have the ring in your hand. So get in touch early enough!
Designing the wedding bands
Now when it came to our wedding bands, of course, I wanted to design and make ours myself. John knew he wanted something simple and practical. After our first consultation, which when it’s your own husband-to-be, we did during dinner time, I brought a few different styles of bands for him to try on. A D-shape, a flat comfort fit band and a court shape in three different widths.
John tried them on and knew immediately he wanted to go for a court shape in 4mm width. To make it a bit more personal, we decided to both have our wedding day engraved in the ring.
For my own ring, I wanted to go with a bespoke curved band to complement my engagement ring. I always wanted a textured band with lots of movement to it.
As you know, I work in CAD (computer-aided-design) which enables me to make contour bands very accurately. I took photos of my engagement ring from the top view and the side, with exact measurements of the stone and bandwidth. I uploaded these into the smart little program I use to design my jewellery. This way I was able to trace around the engagement ring and design a snug-fitting, perfectly contoured wedding band. The rest of the band could have been straight but I decided to go for an undulated design based on my Orno 3mm full diamond wedding band.
To reflect the colours of my engagement ring I sourced a mix of ethical pink sapphires, baby pink sapphires and white diamonds from my trusted stone dealers. Both rings are made using the same technology and cast in the same 18ct yellow gold metal. The beauty of this softly curved wedding band is that it can also easily be worn on its own.
The wedding
Needless to say, we were both super happy with our bespoke wedding bands. Our wedding itself was the most beautiful and special day in our lives. It really is incredible how every one of your friends and family makes the effort to come and celebrate you as a couple together.
To cut a long story short, designing and creating a wedding band is always a special experience. Working closely with a jewellery designer like me will make this part of your wedding journey even more unique. By choosing a contoured wedding band you will ensure that your engagement ring and wedding band complement each other perfectly. Whether you choose a textured or simple design, a delicate intricate ring or a wide ring, your wedding band should be as special and unique as your love story.
