From traditional gold wedding bands to extraordinary rings made from Damascus steel, here are 13 magnificent men’s wedding rings that you’re guaranteed to fall in love with. And you can pair your ring with a fantastic alternative ring box to really make it pop!
Men’s Wedding Rings: 13 Magnificent Wedding Bands
A lot of thought goes into choosing the right wedding ring—not only do you want your ring to match your style and personality, but you’ll want it to last for a long time. While there’s a wide variety of precious metals to choose from (including silver and gold, platinum and titanium) that have their own pros and cons, there are also some more unique materials too such as wood, iron, and even modern Damascus steel.
1) Platinum Wedding Bands
Platinum is an extremely popular noble metal for wedding rings owing to its beauty and durability. However, it’s also one of the rarest metals (and therefore one of the most expensive), which is just one reason why it gives its name to the traditional 70th wedding anniversary milestone: the Platinum Anniversary. Platinum is hard, heavy, and strong and will last a long time without fading or changing colour. It’s also naturally hypoallergenic, which means it’s unlikely to cause allergic reactions and so is great for anyone with sensitive skin.
Featured above: Hammered Milgrain Comfort Fit Wedding Ring in Platinum by Blue Nile
2) Silver Wedding Bands
Silver, or Sterling silver, is a traditional, affordable, and very beautiful metal that has been used for a long, long time by jewellers for both women’s and men’s wedding rings. Pure silver is a rather soft and malleable metal and is usually alloyed with other metals such as copper to make it more durable as, unfortunately, it’s quite prone to scratches and tarnishing. However, with proper care (and perhaps a special rhodium plating) you can keep your silver wedding ring in top condition.
Featured above: B39 Finish Wedding Ring from Wedding Rings Direct
3) Titanium Wedding Bands
Titanium is a rather contemporary wedding ring metal and an increasingly fashionable one. Titanium wedding rings are lightweight but extremely durable and, like platinum, naturally hypoallergenic. These properties, as well as the lustrous silver-grey colour, make titanium rings incredibly popular as men’s wedding rings, however the hardness of this metal does mean titanium rings can be a lot harder to shape and resize. Knowing the pros and cons of your chosen wedding ring is vital—here are ten questions you should ask before buying your wedding rings.
Featured above: Titanium Wedding Ring with Celtic Design from Wedding Rings Direct
4) White Gold Wedding Bands
White gold is a stunning metal made up of pure yellow gold that has been alloyed with other, “white” metals like silver or palladium to add durability. This gives the ring a shiny, silvery, polished finish. The ring is then often plated with rhodium (which is hypoallergenic) to help protect it and provide an extra lustre. Since gold is a highly malleable metal, white gold allows jewellers to create more complex designs than harder metals.
Featured above: Single Diamond Wedding Ring in 14k White Gold by Blue Nile
5) Yellow Gold Wedding Bands
Yellow gold is one of the most popular metals for men’s wedding rings and other traditional accessories for him, and it’s also one of the most classic. While pure gold is too soft for jewellery, it can be combined with stronger materials like copper and silver to give more strength and durability. However, depending on the different ratios of metals, you can get different shades of gold too.
Featured above: Mid-weight Comfort Fit Wedding Ring in 14k Yellow Gold by Blue Nile
6) Rose Gold Wedding Bands
Rose gold has been an incredibly popular wedding colour scheme for a few years now, and its popularity in jewellery grows increasingly fashionable too (which makes it a fantastic gift idea for your partner!). Not only is it a very beautiful metal, but because it’s made up of pure gold and copper (a very strong material that’s also more affordable than a lot of other wedding ring metals) it’s also very durable.
Featured above: Matte Modern Comfort Fit Wedding Ring in 14k Rose Gold by Blue Nile
7) Copper Wedding Bands
Rather than having a mix of gold and copper to make rose gold, some people opt for a copper wedding ring. Copper is a very strong metal and makes a charming men’s wedding band.
Featured above: Hand Forged Copper Wedding Band with Lines by MountainUrsusDesigns on Etsy
8) Palladium Wedding Rings
Palladium, with its lovely polished lustre, is part of the same family as platinum (but is a lot more affordable) and is a very durable material that doesn’t tarnish. Being naturally hypoallergenic, palladium is also kind on sensitive skin. It also looks incredibly beautiful and will complement the groom’s fashion perfectly.
Featured above: Style 69 Palladium Patterned Wedding Band by Luv Olivia Jewellery
9) Zirconium Wedding Bands
Like Titanium, Zirconium is a beautiful grey-white metal that’s lightweight, non-toxic, and extremely durable. It can also be treated to become Black Zirconium, making it both scratch-resistant and very eye-catching.
Featured above: Zirconium Wedding Band – 6mm Medium Weight Court Wedding Ring from Wedding Rings Direct
10) Tungsten Wedding Bands
Tungsten, a lovely steely-grey metal, is an incredibly hard metal and a popular choice for men’s wedding bands. It’s very scratch- and tarnish-resistant, very durable, and can be made even more so by mixing it with carbon to make tungsten carbide (which is also hypoallergenic). However, tungsten’s hardness means that it can also be quite brittle, and it’s very difficult to have tungsten wedding rings resized.
Featured above: Satin Finish Wedding Ring in Grey Tungsten Carbide by Blue Nile
11) Steel Wedding Bands
Not only is steel a classic metal that makes some great gifts for the groomsmen and gifts for the father of the groom (e.g. steel flasks and pocket watches), but stainless steel makes some beautiful wedding rings that are strong, durable, scratch-resistant, and hypoallergenic.
Featured above: Steel Wedding Ring with Two Silver Inlays from Wedding Rings Direct
12) Wooden Wedding Bands
If you’d like to step off the beaten track, wooden wedding rings are beautiful alternatives to the traditional metal wedding rings and would especially suit a woodland wedding theme. Shaped and polished wood may not be as durable as metal, but it does give some stunning effects. Furthermore, many different woods come with a host of symbolism and properties that will be perfect when shopping for your wedding ring.
Featured above: C518 – Ebony with Cherry Wedding Ring by Eco Wood Rings
13) Damascus Steel Wedding Bands
Damascus steel creates some gorgeous effects—stunning ripples through the metal that, these days, come as a result of something called “pattern welding”—and no two rings will ever be the same. Damascus steel is both hard and flexible, and looks phenomenal.
Featured above: Damascus Steel Ring Wedding Band by Stonebrook Jewellery
More Ideas For Men’s Wedding Rings
There are so many other materials that you can have your rings made out of too (and not just your own ring, as some couples opt for matching wedding rings). It’s all dependent on your taste, style, and budget. You could have brass rings, chrome rings, carbon fibre rings, cobalt rings, iron rings, tantalum rings—even bone rings, or rings made out of meteorite. Many modern rings also boast brilliant combinations of different metals/materials to give striking finishes and a far more unique, personal wedding band.
Featured above: Monique Lhuillier Milgrain Edge Two-Tone Band in Platinum and 18k Rose Gold from Blue Nile
Aren’t these wedding bands beautiful? They’d be the cherry on top of a perfect wedding proposal, and you can see a full expert guide on wedding ring metals here.
