With this ring... (part 2)

Here's something about Steve: he's a tree hugger. No, seriously. Check out his blog. See? I told you. He loves them trees :o)

How does this tie into our rings? Well, let me tell you...Over the summer, Steve and I went back to Tiffany's to look at wedding bands for both of us, and while I was sure I wanted to get my band from there to match my engagement ring, Steve quickly realized two things: a) he doesn't have dreams of a wedding band in a little blue box, and b) wedding bands in little blue boxes are EXPENSIVE! So, while he liked a few of the bands at Tiffany's, he decided to look around online for some cheaper alternatives for the styles he liked.

He actually liked the band that matches my ring, the Lucida band for men that has one diamond in the middle. (Guys deserve a little bling, too!) It looks like this:

Nice, right? (Image found here.)

He figured he could find a similar ring from another vendor in perhaps white gold or another cheaper metal to cut costs. He scoured the Internet and found a few nice ones. He even started looking up bands that use conflict-free diamonds, and websites that sell handmade/recycled jewelry. And then he found the mecca of handmade wedding things: ETSY.

I'd been bookmarking things on Etsy for a while, but this was the first time Steve paid attention to what it had to offer. They have wedding bands! Unique, handmade ones! Which are totally green! He found a few good ones that were similar to the Tiffany inspiration. And then he found this on Etsy seller Zoe & Doyle's shop:

Image from here.

It had Steve at Bamboo. Steve loves bamboo, and if you know anything about eco-friendliness (I think I just made that up, hehe), bamboo is the most sustainable natural fiber in the world. How perfect! And on top of that, it was only $160. Score! The metal used is actually titanium, which a lot of men's wedding bands are made from.

When Steve showed it to me, I really liked it too, but I had one issue with it. It's a lot of...you know, wood. I thought that it would be better if it had a better balance of wood and metal. So Steve contacted the seller and asked if it could be customized to make the titanium section larger, to look more like this (another ring from the same seller):

Image from here.

They said they could! So, we purchased the ring and just had to wait and see how it looked once it arrived...

The only other thing about this ring is that the seller says it's durable, but advises men not to wear this ring when swimming, bathing or washing dishes. Steve works in IT so he has to sometimes carry equipment. We decided that Steve should get a back-up ring that can be worn when he doesn't want to worry about damaging this one at work.

In my last ring post, I'll tell you about my band shopping, and show you how Steve's bamboo band turned out...

To read Steve's wedding band experience in his own words, click here. I told you he was succinct!