So you want to find the perfect personalized mother’s ring for mom! For most of us our moms are the unsung and often most underappreciated person in our life. This guide to choosing a mother’s ring has been made just for you and covers the 6 most important steps / factors for choosing a great mother’s ring.
From the time you are very small, your mom has always loved gifts that are done with love, affection and thoughts of her. This makes a mother’s ring the perfect gift. We hope you find this guide useful and maybe even insightful.
How many birthstones will you mother’s ring need?
The first step in choosing the perfect personalized mother’s ring is to know how many people will need to be included. While a lot of mother’s rings are engraved with their children’s names, it is not uncommon for them to also include the name of their spouse or even their pets ( usually referred to as family rings). Most mothers rings will range from 1 to 6 people engraved on them. It is also important to note that we often see instances where you may not want any names engraved on the ring. 2 birthstone mother’s rings and 3 birthstone mother’s rings are the two most common.
(quick tip) Always make sure to double check the spellings when entering you’re your names. It is actually very common for a name to have a typo. This is not usually from someone not knowing how to spell a name but because of an errand key stroke.
Birthstones are the heart of mother’s rings. Be sure to get the right stone.
The next step is to find out the birth month for each person included, so that you can get the correct birthstone for the ring.
The most common birthstone mother’s rings will have a birthstone for each individual but there are some mom rings that will have 1 birthstone flanked by two names and sometimes (although rare) there can be multiple birthstones with one or two being shared.
Check out this chart for birthstone for each month. Be sure to check with the store you are buying from as each will have it’s own chart showing the birthstones and colors they use for mother’s rings.
Ever wonder about the meaning of birthstones?
January: Garnet
We all know that mom who is like a superhero. She swoops in to care for her children's' every need, volunteers at every school fundraiser, lends an ear to her friends, and still finds time to keep her house spotless and have dinner on the table every evening.
Maybe that mom's secret is that she was born in January, and her birthstone is Garnet.
Those with the Garnet birthstone are known for being go-getters. They are equal parts compassionate and analytical, which makes them great caregivers and even better problem solvers.
February: Amethyst
If you've ever looked into the beautiful, cosmos-like depths of an Amethyst stone, it'll come as no surprise that those born in the month of February are often very spiritual.
They have a pure mind that is often full of happy, positive thoughts. But don't assume that means their heads are in the clouds; those who hold the Amethyst birthstone are often very intelligent, with an excellent business sense.
Around others, they often lend a calming presence that can set others at ease merely by being around them.
The only complaint someone might have about a February baby is that in their rush to see the big picture and take on the world, they may be flaky about appointments.
For more on the meaning of birthstones read this. Wonder what birthstones mean?
You will also want to consider that as with most gems, birthstones come in many shapes and sizes. Some of the most common are the traditional round cut birthstone, the heart shaped birthstone and marquis birthstones. The shape of the birthstone can be an integral part of the overall design on a mother’s ring.
What style of mother’s ring is best for your mom?
Now that you have the basic foundation for your engraved mother’s ring you will need to figure out what style will fit her best. There are tons of styles on the market, they can vary widely from vintage style, traditional, ribbon bands, stackable and many more.
One of the easiest ways to figure out the style that is right for mom is to ask but a majority of the time these rings are Christmas, birthdays or even anniversary gifts, so it needs to be a secret. In those cases there are a few ways to figure out the right style for that special mother. One way is to try to get her to a jewelry store to look at regular rings. See what ones she likes the most and that should give you a good clue. Another way is to secretly take a look at her jewelry box to get an idea of her style.
The truth is she most mom’s will love it no matter what you choose!
What material should you use?
Decide on the material to use. Mother’s rings are typically sterling silver or anywhere from 10k gold to 24k gold. While we could break down each we will simply compare gold and sterling silver. There are a few basic things to look at when deciding.
Price and monetary value- Sterling silver is by far much more affordable but gold will hold is monetary value. The movement has been toward sterling silver since the value in most mother’s rings is determined by heirloom or sentimental value and they are much more affordable to replace.
Sterling silver and gold will last forever. If you are ok with the silver look the sterling is the way to go. It is more durable than most gold and most sterling silver rings will have a rhodium coating to ensure brightness while adding even more durability.
If you go with gold it is usually best not to go above 14k. The reason being, gold is a soft material and the higher the karat the softer the ring will be. This can lead to it being damage easier.
Colors- Sterling silver is just that silver, while gold is available in multiple colors with the most common being yellow, rose, and white. Sterling silver can be plated with these same colors of gold. Both sterling silver and gold are beautiful and have a gorgeous shine.
I have also noticed some stainless steel mother’s rings in colors like black and blue but I have never seen one in person. I can not say what the quality is like on these and would recommend that you go with sterling silver or gold.
Be sure to consider how hard it will be to replace.
Replacement- Let’s face it, mom works hard. It is very common for mother’s to wear their mom rings all the time and with that they can be damaged. While both gold and silver are both durable, sterling silver will be much easier to replace. Another important factor is to make sure the company you buy from has good ratings and guarantees the ring materially. It’s important to make sure that the company you buy from will cover normal wear and also the settings. It is not unusual to lose a birthstone from a ring and a good company will cover this under normal wear and tear but not is circumstances such as the ring being crushed or bent in an un-natural way.
I have personally had to replace my mom’s ring a few times over the years. The sentimental value tied up in these rings is priceless, so be sure to use a company that will be there if you need to get a replacement ring.
Add something extra special.
Choosing a special inner engraving for your mother’s ring. A lot of people do not realize most mother’s rings can be engraved on the inside of the band. This is personalized touch that can really be a home run with mom.
Not only have you taken the time to gather names, birth dates, and style, but you can add that extra touch to show that you really have put some though into your gift. While we offer inner band engraving for free, the price can vary from free to $60 for this service.
The possibilities are pretty much limitless but a few of the common engravings we see are listed below.
“Love you” “Mother” “World’s Greatest mom” “the kids” “Forever our mom” "together&always" “We love you”
Those are examples from a few of the rings we did today. Other popular engravings are dates and names as well.
Get the right size.
Find out her ring size. While rings can always be resized, we know that you do not want mom to have to deal with the hassle. There is a multitude of ways to find out her ring size. The easiest by far is to ask, but as we covered earlier this usually isn’t the ideal way to go. Of course, that doesn’t mean that it can’t be done secretly using creativity. One of our first suggestions is once again use the jewelry shopping option. This opens up perfect opportunities to get her size without knowing your motive. We have a guide to with 7 ways to secretly get her ring size.
How to Secretly Find out Her Ring Size
While this guide was wrote for couples, these same tips can be used for mom as well.
Cleaning and care.
Most gold and silver rings can be easily cleaned with some warm water and dish soap. Simply mix the two into a bowl or cup and use a soft bristle brush to gentle rub away any dirt build up. I know it sounds too easy but this is the #1 way we recommend for people to clean their mother’s rings.
If the ring needs a little more heavy duty way to get it clean you can also use alcohol. If you want to go this route be sure to check out this blog.
Is it safe to clean jewelry with alcohol and how do I do it?
There you have it, our guide on the 6 steps to choosing a mother’s ring is complete. We hope you find it helpful and find the custom ring your mom will love and cherish. No matter who you buy from, we whole heartedly hope you find the perfect heirloom for your family.