Help my engagement and wedding rings get along!

January 14, 2008 1:56 PM

Is there a name for the ring you wear between a mis-matched engagement ring and a wedding ring that serves to adapt the round form of one to the flat form of the other? Where do I get one? In San Francisco, preferably. Bonus if the jeweler specializes in vintage pieces.

I have a beautiful vintage filigree engagement ring that looks something like this (well, mine is prettier!). My mother has generously offered her mother's wedding band as the complement to it. It looks more like this. So the two pieces won't stack flat against each other because the engagement ring has a bulge in the middle whereas the wedding band is flat. I know I've seen these sort of "adapter" rings before. They are worn between two rings and have one curved side, in the reverse of the curve of your own ring, and one flat side. This middle ring fills in the gaps between the two and makes the two sit together nicely. What is this called and where do I get one? I'm assuming there needs to be some degree of customization but I don't even know what to ask for.

posted by otherwordlyglow to clothing, beauty, & fashion (14 comments total)

I think they are called ring guards.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 1:57 PM on January 14, 2008

hmm it looks like ring guards isn't quite right. I find two kinds of ring guards, those that are fitted inside a ring that's too big (I need one of those too so this is actually helpful) and those that consist of two pieces that sit on either side of a ring to provide an enclosure for a delicate setting.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 2:04 PM on January 14, 2008

This person seemed to have the same problem as you, and the answer seems unsatisfactory there as well. I guess you could have yours tack soldered.

I've been searching through jewelry sites and people seem to be able to custom create a "joiner" ring that matches the contours of each side. I don't know jewelers in SF, but you could go into some stores that feature store-made jewelry that you like and have them make one for you.
posted by rmless at 2:39 PM on January 14, 2008

Something like this? Apologies if you've already seen this; as I just looked at the site you linked. This page has a bunch of wedding sets with the kind of curved ring you seem to be describing (albeit quite expensive). They also mention custom work. Unfortunately, they don't seem to give a specific name for this kind of ring.
posted by MadamM at 2:50 PM on January 14, 2008

rmless - I think what that couple is looking for is slightly different. They want something that clips the two together. What I was thinking of is a ring between my two rings that doesn't physically attach to either of them. it just sits between them, filling in the gaps created where the curve piece of the one ring hits the flat piece of the other.

MadamM. That's not quite it either though those are pretty. The ones you linked to carry the curve on both sides of the ring.

I did a very crude drawing of what I'm looking for.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 3:51 PM on January 14, 2008

It's probably not common enough to have a name of its own. I'd just ask for "a custom ring of plain metal that has a shape cut out of it to fit, like a puzzle piece, between two other rings", and send in your diagram and photos of the two rings. That should be sufficient to get some guess-quotes by email.

Maybe make one yourself out of a cardboard business card or something to show them. Cut a strip the right width from the edge of the card, cut it to the right length, tape it together, cut the piece out with small scissors. This will let you take you the measurements, or you can unroll it, put a ruler next to it, and scan or photograph it to email them.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 4:12 PM on January 14, 2008

Go to Shreve & Co. downtown and ask for advice. They may send you upstairs to one of the many estate jewelers in the building if they can't be of assistance directly.
posted by judith at 5:58 PM on January 14, 2008

I know exactly what you're talking about, otherworldlyglow; I'm wearing one now. My engagement ring sticks out a little bit (not as much as the one you pictured), and then I have a flat mother's ring. I'd post a picture of it but flickr does not seem to want to accept pictures from my cell phone right now. My husband bought it for me for Christmas a few years back, but can't remember where he got it.

There's also this at Amazon.com, where it's called a "wrap ring". I call it a "jacket ring" and I've seen it as a "ring guard".
posted by Lucinda at 7:20 PM on January 14, 2008

To add to my post, there are more single-sided jacket/guard/wrap rings here.
posted by Lucinda at 7:24 PM on January 14, 2008

And finally, to complete the hat trick, here is a (blurry) picture of mine.
posted by Lucinda at 7:29 PM on January 14, 2008

It seems to me like this would have to be a custom job, whether there's a name for it or not. There are so many ring shapes and sizes.
posted by iguanapolitico at 7:33 PM on January 14, 2008

I honestly thought I had the name of what you were looking for JUUUST on the tip on my brain... but I think I was imagining something I've seen before in reverse, which is the engagement ring /wedding ring "jacket" , also referred to an insert, ring guard or ring wrap. (some examples.). So, they're kind of like the bridal sets mentioned earlier, in that the engagement ring and band will fit together. Except, here the difference is that the solitare ring fits inside a bracket or half of sorts, and that could fit more neatly against your band.

I also learned that apparently many people get them welded together, which sounds a bit odd to me. Your idea seems much niftier.

Anyway, the googling I did to solve my brain-itch about this wrappy-ring-thing also let me to two forum threads (here & here) where rings and their permutations are discussed in every possible detail. So much so that the board users abbreviate like crazy -- and there was indeed a thread discussing someone's "e-ring" rubbing against the band, but at the point that posters suggested getting a whole new set, my brain started to explode so I had to stop reading. ;)

Uhm, hope that helps :) congrats!
posted by NikitaNikita at 7:34 PM on January 14, 2008

And while I was linking- up that massively long answer, someone validated it. :) Brain itch solved!

Agreed about a custom job being a more snug, neat choice.
posted by NikitaNikita at 7:36 PM on January 14, 2008

I guess what I'm envisioning isn't ornamental at all. It's just a simple metal piece between the two; no stones, no craving, nothing to further "enhance." All I want is the space to to be filled in. So I guess I'm looking for a custom job.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 9:58 AM on January 15, 2008