The Best Diamond Wedding Bands for Every Budget

You might plan to marry just once, but who says you only need one diamond wedding band?

The diamond engagement ring has always been the center of attention when it comes to bridal jewels – because who can resist a big sparkler? But the wedding band is fast becoming a main attraction for many brides who want an alternative to the solitaire diamond ring. Some are forgoing the engagement ring all together in favor of a dazzling diamond band, and others want everyday bands that they can mix and match with their jewelry wardrobe.

Buying a diamond wedding band can be confusing: Should they be his and hers matching bands, or should your band coordinate with your engagement ring? There are no rules. Wedding bands are a great way to individualize your style, whether you pair them with an engagement ring or want a stand-alone design that you can wear everywhere—even to the gym.

There are a range of new diamond wedding bands in every imaginable style and at every price point. So why should brides limit themselves to just one ring when they can have a wardrobe of bands to satisfy the occasion or mood?

We made it easy for you to uncover the ring that suits your style and fits your budget with our Wedding Bands 101 Guide.

Read More: Ultimate Engagement Ring Guide

Diamond Wedding Bands for Every Budget and Every Style

Diamond Eternity Rings

A symbol of everlasting love, the diamond eternity band is defined as a ring with a continuous line of stones. It’s a great alternative to a classic diamond engagement ring because it offers all-around sparkle but can be more discreet—or not. Styles range from colorful and playful bands to rings set with statement-making emerald-cut diamonds. Some prefer to wear an eternity band with an engagement ring, and often they are worn as a pair on either side of a solitaire ring.

When choosing a wedding band to coordinate with your engagement ring, it’s good to match the metal color and keep the rings flush with each other so that one doesn’t overshadow the other. The goal is to create an elegant and effortless combination of rings.

Fancy Colored Diamond Wedding Bands

Fancy colored diamond wedding bands are a way to own rare colored diamonds without the big expense of a solitaire ring. Diamonds come in dreamy shades of yellow, pink, and even blue (which tend to be the most expensive). In smaller sizes and less intense hues, these colored diamonds can make for somewhat affordable wedding bands. These can also be investment pieces for those with a bigger budget: Vivid pink and yellow diamond bands can reach high prices, but nothing beats the radiant color.

For a more organic style, designers are using earthy shades of brown and champagne diamonds to create subtle wedding bands in an entirely different mood. Fancy colored diamonds give you the option to add color while staying true to the classic tradition of diamond wedding bands.

Stacked Diamond Wedding Bands

Stacked wedding bands are a fun way to personalize your look by mixing up rings with different colored metals, diamond cuts, sizes, and colors. You can pile on a few skinny bands or add a vintage band or a family heirloom in the mix. It’s fun to mix up diamond shapes, such as a row of round brilliant cuts and pear-shapes or add colored gemstones in the mix.

Since diamond bands make great anniversary and milestone gifts (push presents, new jobs), you can build a sentimental stack of bands that grows over time. The more the merrier.

Artisan Diamond Wedding Bands

Handmade wedding bands that reflect an artisan’s touch are a romantic and personal expression. It’s the imperfections of a handmade ring that make it more intimate and unique, and often deliver an instant heirloom quality. These include hand-forged rings with rich details, such as granulation and artisan finishes, and engraved floral or filagree motifs.

Several young designers are returning to the art of ancient goldsmithing to create wedding bands for every budget with a soulfulness and artisan touch that simply couldn’t be achieved with cast pieces. Whether you want a vintage-looking piece or a contemporary style, hand-forged wedding bands come in a range of designs and at every price. Needless to say, it’s a trend that is here to stay.

Diamond Bands With a Hidden Secret

Everyone loves a secret—like a ring that holds concealed diamonds or messages that only a couple knows about. It’s a way to express your romance in an intimate way that can be customized and still be discreet while also holding serious meaning.

Designers are offering innovative new ways to personalize your rings with clever details that aren’t obvious to anyone but the wearer. Options include messages in braille, morse code, or your heartbeat expressed in diamonds. Still, simple engraved words of love will always make your ring extra special.

Black Diamond Wedding Bands

If you want instant edge, look no further than a black diamond band. The most valuable natural black diamonds are a rich, opaque, bottomless color owing to the presence of graphite and random clustering throughout the stone. Although they do not carry the same fire as a colorless, transparent diamond, they have a vibrancy that is all their own (which makes for a truly dramatic statement). Just be careful to find out whether a black diamond has been treated. Many are heated to intensify their color, and this makes them less valuable than a completely natural stone. A reputable diamond laboratory will be able to tell you if that is the case.

Mixed Metal Wedding Rings

Mixing yellow or rose gold with white gold or platinum is a sophisticated way to get yourself an unusual and contemporary wedding band. It was once considered bad luck to mix your metals but today it is an increasingly popular choice, particularly for those couples seeking an alternative style. It is also wonderfully versatile as it allows you to mix any number of metals in the rest of your jewelry.

Diamonds are often set in platinum to ensure the strongest setting. It has the added benefit of making the diamond appear larger. Other jewelers choose blackened or yellow or rose gold for contrast and a strikingly contemporary look.

Vintage Wedding Bands

The world is truly your oyster if you want a vintage diamond ring to match your vintage wedding. The toughest thing can be knowing where to start: you might choose a Georgian Fede ring in which two hands clasp together in a romantic gesture, or intricate details and symbols of the Victorian era may be more your thing. Whatever you choose, though, few jewels today are made with the same level of hand skill or even the same type of diamond cuts as antique pieces. If a brilliant-cut diamond is not your thing, try an old mine-cut diamond that has a depth of personality that a machine-cut gem may lack. The added advantage with a vintage ring, no matter its age, is that when you choose well, you can get more for your money than a brand-new ring. The trick is to buy from a reputable jeweler in order to ensure that you are buying an authentic piece—one that will stand the test of time.

Diamond Ring Sets

Many couples are choosing to buy a wedding band that is designed to work in conjunction with the engagement ring. These bridal sets create a cohesive look and yet can come in many forms. The wedding band may be a simple and delicate ring that simply follows the form of the diamond in the engagement ring.

Alternatively, it could be a dramatic flourish in the form of a large piece that offers contrast in shape and choice of diamonds or colored gemstones. Who said coordinating rings had to be boring?

Men’s Diamond Wedding Bands For Every Budget

Luckily, for men who love diamond jewelry, there is a much wider selection in jewelry today, and that goes for wedding bands for every budget as well. For the more traditional man, a wedding band may be the only piece of jewelry that they wear, in which case they may go for a very simple ring with just a hint of diamonds. Fortunately, even for them, there are multiple colors of diamonds, whether they want a subtle brown diamond or a dramatic black. For others, the wedding band is just one of many pieces and there are countless options out there, whatever their style. Just be sure that, whatever you choose, you will be happy to wear it every day for the rest of your life.