I melted down my engagement ring. Don’t worry — my husband knows. In fact, it was his idea. When he decided to propose, he reached out to a fellow metalsmith and had her craft a ring of 24-karat gold with the sole purpose that I would melt it down to make my wedding band.

There are two ways to make your wedding band: fabricate or carve. I picked the latter; I carved a mold of my wedding band out of wax and then poured the melted metal into that mold.

Neither way is better than the other. The choice is informed by the design that you and your partner want to make. I detail both fabricating and carving rings more thoroughly — including a preview of what to expect during our ring-making workshop — here: Handmade Wedding Rings.

But that doesn’t answer the bigger question: Why do we wear wedding rings at all?

Once upon a time…

The origins of the tradition of wearing a wedding ring vary but most accounts point to the ancient Egyptians. Back in their heyday, the Egyptians believed in the “vena amoris,” or the “vein of love.” This vein, they thought, ran from the fourth finger of your hand all the way to your heart. Put a ring on it and, well, you get the symbolism. 

The Egyptians hardly had a monopoly on rings, though. For time immemorial, human cultures have used rings as a way to signify any number of major commitments.

In ancient Rome, rings denoted social status; only certain classes could wear gold. Signet rings were all the fashion during the Middle Ages. Such a ring might be a part of any number of religious, legal, and commercial decisions. It might even sign a letter in a world before caller ID. Today, of course, rings are often worn to celebrate a couple’s commitment to one another.

How did we get here?

The romantic origins of the wedding band are murky but the tradition of wedding rings is longer than the somewhat more popular modern-day tradition of engagement rings.

Thanks to the engagement bling of celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor or, more recently, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, we now often equate the start of wedding planning with the exchange of a ring.

Which is all fine and good. What I’m most interested in — and the reason I started Ringed — is to help a couple create a piece of art imbued with their love. I wanted to make the artisanal craft of metalsmith and jewelry-making accessible and to help people access rad designs, no matter what their situation. 

In this spirit, I have helped couples make all types of wedding rings. Intricately carved landscapes including jeweled moons. Triangular points of solid gold. Dual metal wonders. Each set of bands has a story. It’s my goal with Ringed to help a couple access that place of wonder and story and love.

Want to talk design? Let’s do it!