Parenting Pointers: Accessorizing with Rings

Rings can sometimes be overlooked when it comes to accessorizing. They're small, so it's easy to think that they might not be noticed. Some people wear certain rings so often that they hardly notice them - or feel weird when they don't. For example, I pretty much always wear my wedding ring, college ring, and the ring I got instead of my class ring.

There are so many beautiful styles of rings available that it can be overwhelming to pick one. Some people have a favorite style, but it's good to mix it up every once in a while.

If you're completely stuck there are many guides out there to help find the best ring for your finger. Many of them are focused on engagement or wedding rings, but the tips they include are often relevant for other types of rings as well. For example, while long fingers can generally wear any style, people with short fingers may want to stick to narrower bands to avoid making fingers look shorter, and people with large knuckles may want to consider chunky rings to draw eyes away from knuckles.

It's also important to consider the metals involved in your jewelry. It used to be that jewelry sets were supposed to be matching, but now mixing metals is less of a big deal. It can still be a good idea to make sure the jewelry coordinates in some way, such as weight, shape, or stones used.

Finally, you need to consider your budget. While it may be tempting to go for a variety of inexpensive rings, sometimes these rings will look cheap or fall apart. I know when I was in high school I bought a ring that I thought was gorgeous because it was incredibly inexpensive. Well, it was also cheap - one of the stones fell out shortly after I got it (luckily they went all the way around the band so I could just turn the ring) and it wasn't long before the band became discolored, so I had to stop wearing it. While you don't have to spend thousands of dollars to find a beautiful ring, if you love a style and will wear it a lot, it makes sense to invest a little more.

I used to work at a jewelry store that had jewelry that was far less expensive than its parent company, but still held to fairly high standards. I often sold engagement and promise rings to people who couldn't afford thousands of dollars at a fancy jewelry store but still wanted something that would look nice. I even got some of their jewelry myself, and I still wear it over a decade later.

How do you pick your rings?

 Disclosure: This post written in partnership with Nakturnal