No right or wrong way to stack — with some bands fitting snugly together, others nestled in asymmetrical layers, and the most popular pack seems to be eclectic combinations of different metals, stones, colors, shapes, sizes, patterns, textures, and more.

There’s tremendous excitement in the wedding band category, with so much variety to choose from, shares A.J. Tosyali for the iconic band brand, Benchmark in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. “Ladies stackable rings are crushing it, the daintier the better,” he says, in styles with stones and without, as well as diverse textures and patterns. He hails mixed metals hot, and the comeback of yellow gold, for real!

New and unique for brides to stack are open-ended bands that fit up to most of the traditional halo and solitaire styles, says Theresa Namie, merchandise manager for the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Ostbye, noting that many order two bands to flank their engagement ring. Bands play a support role for engagement rings, and Ostbye also does well with diamond inserts, she says, which are popular again in updated styles.

Leading wedding-planning outlets — Brides, The Knot and Weddingwire — report the popularity of multi-stone bands too, three, five and seven stones, as well as clustered gems of different types, sizes, shapes and colors in lieu of a central gem. Brides are leaning non-traditional, often choosing a special statement band over an engagement ring.

Like engagement rings, color is also an important trend in bands with gems including blue sapphires, and black and gray diamonds.

Grooms More Adventurous
From gold and platinum to a range of contemporary metals, grooms appear to be more adventurous than brides when it comes to their wedding rings, says Tosyali. In fact, The Knot finds that while white gold remains a popular choice for men, one in three grooms are choosing alternative metals for their wedding ring.  Popular Benchmark collections, Forge and Ammara Stone illustrate the trend in black titanium and tantalumin rings with interesting textures, patterns and motifs.

An advocate for recycled metals, Benchmark is in step with couples focused on sustainability, using clean, previously mined precious metals, guaranteed to be of conflict-free in origin.

Tosyali also describes lab-grown diamonds to be “on fire” in the wedding category, particularly for men who don’t mind if their diamonds are natural, mined or lab created. Weddingwire identifies lab-grown diamonds as one of the biggest engagement ring trends in 2020, so why wouldn’t men consider it in their rings. Men are open to a diverse range of options, and natural, mined diamonds remain high on many lists in multi-stone band styles, notably white and black diamonds, as well as blue sapphire.

Grooms today are embracing their inner prince, as Roopam Jain, president of the branded team at Renaissance in New York, finds in its licensed Disney Enchanted Bridal collection. Elegant to edgy, popular styles include a seven-stone two-tone gold diamond ring, diamond solitaire two-tone crown ring, and black rhodium sculpted raven wing band.

Iconic names in bridal rings like ARTCARVED have known that if you build it they will come, introducing over 70 years ago its signature Lyrics design as a men’s ring, inspired by a beautiful building frieze in New York City. Natalie Engravido, vice president of marketing for Frederick Goldman in Secaucus, New Jersey, cites that the latest Lyrics collection has new designs for women, and a re-imagined wedding band for men with a focus on details.

While customization is key when it comes to engagement rings, with more than half of couples opting for some kind of custom details reports The Knot, it’s also a key trend in wedding bands that Novell sees in its successful Custom Shop for independent jewelers, says Bruce Pucciarello, CEO of this iconic wedding ring brand, a subsidiary of Continental in Rahway, New Jersey.

If 2 out of 5 grooms choose to add personal elements to an engagement ring they’re buying for their bride, according to The Knot, why wouldn’t they consider the same for the wedding bands? Companies such as Novell provide programs to help jewelers expand their reach with added-value services like its Custom Shop and a new commitment jewelry collection, Before Anyone Else (BAE), slated to launch at JCK Las Vegas.
Pucciarello believes that healthy growth for jewelers will come by making more jewelry desirable to more consumers. It’s about providing options that consumers can purchase the way they are comfortable.