Wedding Bands 101: Finding the Perfect Band for Your Bridal Stack
You have officially begun the hunt for the perfect wedding band to compliment your dazzling engagement ring. Maybe you are looking for extra bands to create a stack or an engagement ring/wedding band set to present to the love of your life as a packaged deal. Wherever you are on your wedding band shopping journey, you need a wedding ring that both symbolizes your everlasting love and sparkles on you or your partner’s finger.
Let’s talk wedding bands 101. If you prefer visual content, you can watch our YouTube video, below:
Wedding Band Styles
Before we dive into the specific features of wedding bands, we will take a look at the different band styles.
There are four categories of wedding bands: the plain band, the eternity band, the ½ or ¾ band, and the multi-row band.
Plain Bands
Plain Comfort Fit Wedding Band
The plain wedding band style is exactly what it sounds like: a plain metal band without any gemstones. The elegant simplicity of this wedding band style may appeal to the bride with a staggeringly glamorous engagement ring, the bride with a minimalist aesthetic, or a more traditional, conservative bride.
Plain wedding bands don’t have to be simple; they may feature minimal adornment like a braided detailing, a flat-edged design, and more as seen in our 18k Rose Gold Plain Twisted Wedding Band, below.
18k Rose Gold Plain Twisted Wedding Band
Eternity Bands
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum from plain wedding bands are eternity bands. These types of wedding bands boast diamonds around the entirety of the ring. Eternity bands can feature diamonds and other gemstones in a wide variety of shapes, settings, and carat sizes for endless customization opportunities.
If you or your partner plan to frequently wear your wedding band without your engagement ring for any number of reasons, the eternity band can provide an elegant statement as a standalone piece.
Delicate Pave Diamond Eternity Band
4.30 Carat Emerald Cut Diamond White Gold Eternity Band
Half or Three-Quarter Bands
The ½ or ¾ way band features diamonds lined ½ or ¾ of the way around the wedding band. This band style is a great option for brides who would like to highlight band metal color while maintaining a comparable “wow” factor to the eternity band.
As with the eternity wedding band, ½ or ¾ way bands offer countless options for customization including diamond carat sizes, metal color, diamond settings, diamond shapes, and more.
Half Way Emerald-Cut Diamond Wedding Band
.75ct Round Diamond Platinum Pave Wedding Band
Multi-Row Bands
Round Diamond 3-Row Pave Eternity Band
The multi-row wedding band features two or more rows of diamonds stacked one on top of the other. Multi-row wedding bands generally stack between two and five rows of diamonds, with a five-row wedding band offering maximum glamor and bling.
Wedding Band Metals
All Lauren B wedding bands are customizable in 14k or 18k white gold, yellow gold, rose gold, or platinum band metals. The perfect band metal for your wedding ring is completely dependent on you or your partner’s aesthetic preferences.
14k or 18k yellow gold has a warm hue and is often associated with the traditional bridal set. The higher the karat, the more pure gold is used in the mixture, 24k gold being the highest—100% pure gold. The same holds true for both 14k or 18k white gold and 14k or 18k rose gold.
White gold is alloyed with palladium and silver and plated with rhodium for extra protection against the elements. The result of this formula is a bright, white band appearance similar to platinum.
Platinum is considered the standard for wedding band metals. While a more expensive option for band metals, platinum is exceptionally durable, hypoallergenic, and will never fade.
Gaining in popularity is rose gold, a coppery hue of yellow gold that gives a rich, warm hue to wedding band styles and ring stacks.
Wedding Band Stone Settings
Wedding bands come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, metal colors, etc. A key factor when determining the best wedding band style for you or your partner is setting style. The setting style determines how the gemstones are secured onto the band metal and can make a significant difference in the overall appearance of your wedding band.
There are six primary categories of setting styles: pave, prong, closed basket, airline basket, U-shape, bezel-set, and channel set.
Pave Settings
0.55 CT Round Diamond Pave Eternity Band
Pave diamonds are held in place by metal beads that are barely visible in order to create a seamless effect. Most pavé diamonds are actually called melee (pronounced like belly); melee is a collection of diamonds that weigh than ⅕ carat, or 0.2ct. Under this umbrella are different styles of pave settings.
The classic pave diamond eternity or ¾ way wedding band is classic and elegant, pairing nicely with an engagement ring featuring pave diamond band detailing. If you prefer a more substantial wedding band that can easily stand alone (sans engagement ring), our 2.5-3mm thick pave wedding bands offer more surface area and finger coverage. We also offer multi-row pave diamond wedding bands with beautiful stacks of pave diamonds for the bride with a taste for glamor.
Prong Settings
Pear Shape Diamond ‘North-South’ Eternity Band
The prong setting is a traditional wedding band setting featuring four to six prongs extending from the band to hold each stone in place.. Prong settings are notably secure allowing more flexibility with stone shapes, specifically fancy shapes, as seen with the Pear Shape Diamond ‘North-South’ Eternity Band featured above.
The prong setting has a higher lift than other band settings, which may visually interfere with lower set engagement ring center stones.
Open Airline Basket Settings
4.50 ct Round Diamond Prong Basket Eternity Band Ring
The open airline basket setting has small openings (air gaps) only noticeable from the ring’s profile.
Closed Basket Settings
3.25 carat Round Diamond Closed Basket Eternity Band
The closed basket setting has no open airline or air gaps and is completely encased in metal. Since the stones are completely encased in metal, this setting style has a lower profile than the open basket setting and sits flush with most engagement ring styles.
U-Shape Settings
2.1 ct Diamond Low Profile ‘U-Shape’ Eternity Band
Just like the name implies, the U-Shape setting forms a “U” under each gemstone in the band allowing for a “U”-nique top view and side profile. The “U” shape of the setting creates room for more light to enter the stone, which maximizes sparkle and gemstone brilliance.
Emerald Cut Diamond U-Shape Eternity Band
Bezel Settings
Oval Diamond Bezel Set Yellow Gold Eternity Band
A bezel setting completely encases each wedding band stone in metal. The metal casing effectively protects each gemstone from damage and highlights the shape of each band stone. Bezel set wedding bands appear vintage or retro and look striking with yellow or rose gold metals.
Channel or “Bright” Cut
Channel Set Baguette Cut Eternity Band
A channel setting refers to a row of stones set along a track between two walls of metal. to one or more rows of diamonds, generally round or emerald cut, set into a metal channel. Channel set wedding bands reached their peak of popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. While this setting style is less popular than it once was, the channel set wedding band would make a classic addition to your bridal stack.
What Style Wedding Bands Do You Fancy?
With so many wedding band style options at your fingertips, how do you choose the perfect wedding band for your stack?
Our Lauren B sales team is eager with anticipation to help you find the wedding band to compliment your engagement ring. If you have a specific style in mind, you can customize any one of our wedding bands to the exact specifications you desire!
