What is a boyfriend ring? - All you need to know
October 29, 2018Today we are going to answer a couple of questions that we have been getting a lot lately.
“What is a boyfriend ring?” and “Is a boyfriend ring the same a promise ring?”
First a boyfriend ring is a men’s ring given to a boyfriend as a symbol of love without any promise or further commitment intended.
A promise ring is a ring given with a promise. This promise can be anything that couple wants it to be and the ring is the symbol of commitment to that promise.
Do promise rings for guys and boyfriend ring look different?
You may also wonder if there is a difference in how a promise ring for men or a boyfriend ring looks, and the simple answer is no. The only difference is if there is if there is a promise attached to the ring. A promise ring and a boyfriend ring can actually be the exact same ring.
If you want to know more about these rings, keep reading and we will guide you through important details that will help you choose the perfect ring.
What does a boyfriend ring look like?
A boyfriend ring is usually a standard band style ring but can be any kind of ring that you like. This kind of ring can have many different styles and we will cover some of those later in this article. In fact these rings can be used as promise, engagement or wedding bands. They can also be the same as any band that is worn purely as an accessory. This is great because this opens up different color, material and style choices way more than if you had a set look that had to be used.
What kinds of fits are available?
There are two basic kinds of fits when it comes to rings. This is actually a very important factor to take into account when choosing a ring and it is often overlooked.
The first is the standard fit band. These bands are straight across on the inner band usually with a straight outer edge. This used to be how all men’s rings were made but the problem is that they tend to pinch the skin easily when flexing the fingers or if an object pushing on the edges. These have largely faded out but not entirely.
The second is a comfort fit band. This has become the standard style band. A comfort fit band has a slight dome on the inside the lightly tapers off. This cuts down on the pinching effect caused by the straight band. It is important to make sure that a company doesn’t cut corners and that the ring you choose is comfort fit. This is why we changed over all of our bands to comfort fit years ago.
What is a boyfriend ring made of?
There are many kinds of materials in which these rings are made of. It’s important to know what these are and what the difference is. Well cover these for you to help you decide on what is the best choice for you.
Stainless steel boyfriend rings-
When it comes to boyfriend rings and promise rings this is by far the most common. First it is the most affordable yet still stronger and more durable than gold or silver. It is however important that a stainless steel ring be surgical grade. This is important because standard stainless steel can turn your finger green. This is also true of steel and copper based rings. So make sure it is a surgical stainless steel. These will usually be described as something like 316L stainless steel.
Since the price to produce stainless steel rings is lower they have many advantages over other materials. First they are strong and resistant to scratching but there are many more designs on the market as well. They can easily be coated or polished to give wide range of colors and textures to the designs.
Titanium boyfriend rings-
Titanium is an alloy added to steel to make rings. The great thing about these rings is that they are just as strong as the stainless steel rings but much lighter. They just about all the same great properties as above but they cost is slightly more than stainless steel.
There are a couple of draw backs to Titanium. The first is they can be so light that they feel more like plastic than metal. Of course they are much stronger but to some people this feels odd. The other drawback is that although the cost are only a little higher, this seems to keep the variety of styles much lower than stainless steel.
Tungsten boyfriend rings-
Tungsten has become more main stream and this has also caused the prices to become pretty reasonable. Tungsten is an extremely strong element and is mixed with other elements and compressed to make material for rings. Tungsten is about 10 times harder than 18K Gold, 5 times harder than tool steel, and 4 times harder than titanium.
The up side to this is the durability is cannot be beat. The down side is this tends to limit the design choices on the market.
As an added note you will need to watch for fake Tungsten rings. We did test buys on Wish and Ebay on supposed Tungsten rings that were $20 and under. The result was out of 20 purchases only 1 ring was actually Tungsten. The rest were stainless steel marked as Tungsten. We are not saying all of them on these sites are fake but just warning to proceed with caution. We will cover some price ranges later on and if you want actual Tungsten to follow along those prices guidelines.
Sterling Silver Boyfriend rings-
This material should be .925 sterling silver. Silver is too soft to use by itself so these rings are made with 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals (usually copper or nickel).
Sterling silver men’s rings are not near as common as women’s rings. The price range is usually about the same mid-level as Tungsten but 925 sterling is much softer. Due to this they are not usually a good choice for someone that works a lot with their hands.
Gold boyfriend rings-
Gold rings are on the upper level of cost and have some of the same issues as silver. They tend to be softer than the other metals and can be bent or broken easier. I would suggest 18k or lower to add strength to the ring but it would probably be best to go 14k or below. 24k is the closest to pure gold and is very soft by ring standards while 10k will be much harder but have less gold content. As far as prices the higher the gold concentration, the higher the price of a piece of jewelry. We will discuss pricing better later in this article.
Platinum boyfriend rings-
Platinum is the most expensive white metal, even more so than silver or white gold. It is much rarer and much stronger. This means it can take a lot more wear than silver or gold but the price also reflects that.
This is not a common choice for boyfriend rings or even wedding bands due to its price. You can get the same look from just about any other metal at a fraction of the price. While it may be more durable than stainless steel and rarer than Tungsten, the price usually off sets this.
Now that you have general idea of what a boyfriend and the different material options you are probably asking-
How much does a boyfriend ring cost?
As I touched on above, it depends on the material and the ring maker you buy from. I will list a general price range for each material. These prices are based on our years of experience in the market. This does not mean there are not lower or higher prices on the market but are more of a fair price you can expect from a honest seller. We do not use public markets such as Ebay or Amazon because of the quantity of fakes and Chinese sellers that mark rings and other jewelry with fake marks. Again, this doesn’t mean all of them are marked wrong as we even sell on these platforms but I want to make you aware. Please research a seller before making a purchase on these platforms. Feedbacks are usually a great place to start.
Stainless steel boyfriend ring- (not engraved)- $12 - $18 (engraved) $18 - $30
Titanium boyfriend ring- (not engraved) $25 - $50 (engraved) $30 - $60
Tungsten boyfriend ring- (not engraved) $30 - $80 (engraved) $30 - $90
Gold boyfriend rings- (not engraved and engraved) $100 - $300
Platinum boyfriend rings- (not engraved and engraved) $500 - $1500
Personalized boyfriend rings-
One of the fastest growing trends for rings is personalization. People love to add a little something that makes something unique to them and this is the easiest way to do this. There are so many ways to make this unique.
While dates and names are the most common requests there are many possibilities.
Here are 10 of the common engravings we are asked to do on rings.
“I love you” “Forever & Always” “You are my Sunshine” “My world” “I choose you” “To the moon and back” “I promise” “I’ll always love you” “XOXO” “All My Heart”
If you would like to see a list of over 130 engraving ideas check out another article we wrote.
As a side note on engravings, you may want to check with the person engraving for you and see if they have more than one font and if so, what font they will be using. Some companies only have one or two fonts and they may not be the one you want.
I tried to cover all the most common questions related to boyfriend rings. Most of this information applies to men’s promise rings as well.
While you are here, be sure to take a look at our men’s rings collections and even if you already have one picked out somewhere else, I hope this article has helped you out and if you have any questions, you are more than welcome to send us an e-mail – sales@thinkengraved.com and I will personally answer your questions.