Grooms are passing up basic rings for macho wedding bands
Dylan Haley says that in the months leading up to his wedding, his hunt for the perfect wedding ring got surprisingly frustrating.
Neither the prices, nor the styles, were right at the local stores, says the 26-year-old resident of Grand Forks, ND. “Men’s rings were close to what I paid for my wife’s ring, [and many had] diamonds, which was ridiculous.”
Instead, Haley wanted a ring that paired well with his “sleek” wardrobe; when he spotted a solid black tungsten ring for $215 on the web, he felt he finally found something that suited his personal style. “It’s really sharp, and that’s how I like to dress,” the finance director, who got married in June, tells The Post.
While their brides don diamonds, today’s grooms are opting for tough-guy baubles to commemorate their nuptials. Guys like Haley claim that the bands forged from manly materials — dinosaur bones, meteorites and deer antlers — let them add a dash of rugged personality to an old tradition.
That’s what inspired Johnathan Ruggiero to start a men’s ring company called Manly Bands back in 2016. “[It] was born out of my own need for a cool wedding ring,” says Ruggiero, 38, who lives in Lehi, Utah, and describes his search results as “terrible.”
Manly Bands offers a whopping 233 ring options with unmistakably masculine names, such as the Gentleman ($250), the Cowboy ($220) and the Gladiator ($195). Many are made from hardy materials, such as Northern Siberian meteorite, carbon fiber, titanium and “cruelty-free” dinosaur bones (these, he claims, come from relics too small to display in museums).
Manly Bands
Manly Bands
Ad
Up Next
Ex-Overstock CEO claims Russian spy tryst was part of deep state plot
Click Here: Aston Villa Shop
The former head of Overstock who claimed he was romantically…
2
View Slideshow
Share this:
-
Flipboard
- Copy
Advertisement
For some brands, like the NYC-based Marke, the push for male customers is about re-branding the classic band as distinctively masculine — even if the design looks more or less the same.
“There’s never been a time when it’s been cooler or more ‘in’ as a guy to. . . care about how you look,” says Benjamin Mardkha, 25, who co-founded Marke with his brother, Daniel. The brand offers “elevated” takes on the gold band, with prices ranging from $300-$700 (on the the website, a flat-rimmed design is described as “edgy”). Marke also entices web-savvy millennial customers with home try-on kits, which let guys browse the wares on their own turf.
Upper East Sider Greg Tan, 31, says that he and his husband-to-be went with matching Marke bands because they were classic yet modern. Plus, the company made them feel comfortable as a same-sex couple: “I wasn’t force-fed the ‘his and hers,’” Tan says of the gender-traditional wedding market.
Ruggiero, for one, is heartened to see dudes bringing their personalities — macho or otherwise — into their weddings. “I think [men] just want something that fits their uniqueness,” he says. “It’s less about being a ‘manly’ ring and more about just having options.”
