Simple wedding band type ring

August 9, 2023 9:41 AM

For a cousin's impromtu wedding, I've been tasked with trying to find a shop on the North Side of Chicago where one could walk in and easily buy a plain or minimally designed type silver-looking wedding band for under $300 that would still be quality? Stainless steel was mentioned but I know nothing of these things.
posted by tiny frying pan to Shopping (15 answers total)

Tungsten seems to be popular with the kids these days.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 9:45 AM on August 9, 2023

92.5 sterling silver is pretty inexpensive, I wear a plain silver band in place of my real wedding ring (inflammation issues) that I got at essentially a random imports & jewelry shop for 25 GBP. Anywhere that sells silver jewelry is likely to have something appropriate to what you’re looking for for 20-40 USD, but seconding that you do need to know the size you want!
posted by cabbage raccoon at 10:05 AM on August 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: (This isn't an Amazon situation, the need is to walk into a Chicago store and purchase, thanks! The future owner of this ring will be present and can be sized, presumably)
posted by tiny frying pan at 10:13 AM on August 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: This is a small jewelry store in my neighborhood on the north side. The owner is very friendly and will talk to you by phone about what you are looking for and whether she can do it on your timeframe. She makes jewelry and can probably re-size a ring on the spot.
posted by Mid at 10:16 AM on August 9, 2023

Best answer: We got our gold wedding bands at Bryn Mawr Jewelry Co. They were very reasonably priced - we paid $600 each (extra cost to have our fingerprints engraved on the band). So I expect plain bands would be very affordable. In Andersonville at Foster and Clark, right off the Blue Line.
posted by ailouros08 at 10:27 AM on August 9, 2023

Just to add, if you get white gold, that needs replating quite regularly! We have sterling wedding rings for this reason.
posted by lokta at 10:51 AM on August 9, 2023

*Bryn Mawr Jewelers is off of the RED line in Andersonville, not the Blue line.
posted by photovox at 10:56 AM on August 9, 2023

Best answer: I would contact Rebecca Zemans and see if she is available to show her jewelry at her studio at the Lillstreet Art Center. She has a variety of options featured online under textured section or the even simpler wide bands collection.

In terms of what I would suggest for a wedding band - it would be the following:

• slightly rounded inside band - essentially for anything wider than 2mm. This is also called "Comfort Fit" like this small 3mm or this silver domed ring which are both 150$.
• platinum is a lovely silvery color, lightweight, strong and generally great but many jewelers will struggle to either size it or repair it and it remains relatively expensive and less common
• 10k white gold: durable for rings, low maintenance and not particularly expensive
• 12-14k white gold: acceptable durability and alloys are often extra shiney, but a 14k piece worn on the hand will soon show wear
• sterling silver: acceptable durability, avoid alloys that contain copper as that gets a patina quickly

Note: modern white gold pieces available for wedding rings in the US are generally not plated and so would not require extra maintenance, but always ask about the metal composition of any work.
posted by zenon at 11:24 AM on August 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Not local so can't provide shopping details but our jeweler advised against stainless as it can't be resized easily. To get the look of steel we used palladium. That was custom and 10 years ago in Austria and i have no idea of the current price, but it might help with your search
posted by pipstar at 11:42 AM on August 9, 2023

Titanium is very cheap compared to precious metals although can't easily be resized (ask me how i know). If the person in question isn't necessarily a ring person, thinner rings will feel less awkward.
posted by mmascolino at 12:11 PM on August 9, 2023

Best answer: Stainless is nice if you plan to keep that finger the same size for the life of the ring, and it's usually cheaper to replace than resize. You do eventually lose the finish, so I'd recommend against a brushed or anodized finish unless you're okay with it getting shiny in places (and equally, against a shiny finish unless you're okay with it getting scratched up...)

My partner (very not a ring person) and I (very much a ring person) have 'we've decided to live together for the foreseeable future' rings - mine is titanium and still going strong, theirs is a kind of black finish zirconium which I really cannot recommend because the finish is rubbing off on the edges and on a couple high points on the design and apparently it's yellow underneath.
posted by ngaiotonga at 12:48 PM on August 9, 2023

Yeah, if you just ask about “white metal,” the jeweler can advise you. A word of caution—my jeweler told me that if you need to have the ring cut off in an emergency, most hospitals don’t have titanium-cutting implements on hand.
posted by corey flood at 1:29 PM on August 9, 2023

Nthing the recommendation for Comfort Fit. I don't think I could wear anything else now, having worn that.
posted by kate4914 at 3:13 PM on August 9, 2023

Go for sterling silver. Many jewelry stores carry them. Very inexpensive. Or white gold is another option. The stores may carry 10 K, which will be cheaper than 14K.
posted by Czjewel at 5:28 PM on August 9, 2023

FWIW, hubby and I got our bands at Fred Meyer jewelers. Stainless steel, and they were... I want to say $60 each? We both dislike gold and wanted something durable and simple, not flashy. I went in thinking tungsten, but we both really liked the look of one of the stainless bands on display, which we ultimately chose. To their credit, the staff at Fred Meyer took their time with us, showing us several options and sizing us properly, making sure we were happy with the fit and the look. We never felt like we were looked down on for selecting inexpensive rings.

13 years later, our rings still look great. I've lost ~90lb in that time, and can no longer wear my ring, as it just falls off. I asked at our two local jewelers, and they both said it would be cheaper to replace it than to try to resize it; I just haven't got around to doing that yet.
posted by xedrik at 9:05 AM on August 10, 2023