With an wide array of metals to choose from and an almost infinite number of wedding ring designs and design touches to choose from, there are of course no such things as 'traditional' contemporary wedding rings. It is easier than even to have completely unique wedding rings simply by going to a jeweler or jewelry designer and working with them to create the design best suited to your own tastes, style and budget. However, a number of contemporary wedding ring styles do stand out from the rest mainly because of the newness of the ring metal and its unique features.

Contemporary Wedding Ring Metals

Platinum Wedding Rings

In the last 20th century, platinum became a very fashionable wedding ring metal. It makes a great setting for gemstomes, particularly diamonds and has the desirability factor for its beauty, weight, strength, rarity and expense. Platinum wedding rings appeal to both women and men, suit almost any skin coloring and chunky platinum rings look great on men's fingers.

Palladium Wedding Rings

Discovered in 1803, palladium is a rare silvery-white metal named after the asteroid Pallas. Although palladium has been used in jewellery making since 1939, it had until the turn of the century demanded a relatively high price due to problems with its casting. With the casting problem resolved and platinum prices rising, palladium has once again become a favored ring metal and in 2010, hallmarks were introduced for palladium in the UK.

Stainless Steel and Titanium Wedding Rings

Mimicking the look of white gold and platinum, contemporary wedding rings made from either stainless steel or titanium are strong, durable and can look just as stylish as their more expensive counterparts. These 'modern' ring metals can still be engraved, more easily and less expensively resized than platinum rings and repaired easily. They are also much cheaper than so-called precious metals. They are well matched with brides and grooms requiring durable rings for active lifestyles that could damage less robust ring metals.

Tungsten Carbide Wedding Rings

Wedding rings made from tungsten carbide are particuarly popular with men. The metal is used to manufacture industrial machinery as well as jewelry, which gives it an added masculine appeal. It is denser than steel or titanium and comparable in hardness to sapphire. When used in wedding rings, tungsten carbide has a lustrous dark hue which is often buffed to a mirror like finish. The rings are resistant to scratches and for this reason are popular as everyday, hardworking rings.

Cobalt Chrome Wedding Rings

Cobalt chrome wedding rings are a 21st century innovation to add to the vast array of wedding jewelry designs. Cobalt chrome wedding rings are four times harder than plantium and harder than titanium. From a style point of view, they have a light-looking finish than either platinum or titanium and are a good (and less expensive) alternative to white gold.