Can You Wear an Inlay Ring Crown Every Day?

One of my favorite things about an inlay ring crown is how it changes the ring you already have. Nest this curve of turquoise against your engagement ring and the blue brings out a different side of the center stone. Slip the crown off and you have the silhouette you fell in love with first.

When someone is choosing a crown for their wedding stack, they often ask me, “Can I wear it every day?” Yes, you can wear your inlay crown often, even daily, if you’re comfortable taking it off when the work you’re doing could damage it. If you want a wedding band you can put on at the ceremony and rarely take off, I’d steer you toward solid gold, with diamond or sapphire accents if you’d like a little sparkle.

What makes an inlay crown different?

In our Boulder studio, we cut and fit stone into gold. The polished surface of the inlay gives you that sweep of color, and it also means the stone itself is exposed to whatever your hand comes into contact with. Turquoise, jasper, and variscite each bring something beautiful to a wedding stack. They also call for a little more attention than a plain gold band.

That’s what I mean when I describe inlay as alternative bridal. You’re choosing a less traditional material for a ring that holds a very traditional meaning. For me, the question is always, “What does an ordinary day look like for your hands?”

When should you take your crown off?

Think about where you’ll be gripping something hard, where a ring might get caught, or when you’ll be handling cleaning products. If you’re heading to the gym to lift weights, moving furniture, or scrubbing the bathroom, take your crown off before you begin. Keep a ring dish or a box somewhere you already pause, so you have a safe place to put it.

The crown repairs we see in the studio tend to have a particular story behind them. A hand caught in a car door. A ring dropped on the floor and stepped on. A crown placed in an ultrasonic cleaner. Those examples may sound dramatic, but I share them because they give you a better picture of what can happen than a vague instruction to “be careful.”

One care detail I’d love every inlay owner to know: never put an inlay ring in an ultrasonic cleaner. If you bring your wedding stack to a jeweler for cleaning, separate the crown and point out the inlay before handing it over.

Choosing a wedding stack that fits your life

If you love the color of an inlay crown and know you’ll want a band on your hand through most of the day, you can have both. Choose a solid gold wedding band for everyday wear, then nest the inlay crown against your engagement ring whenever you want that color. That might be most mornings. It might be the piece you reach for when you’re going to dinner and want to wear the whole stack.

We have tens of thousands of inlay rings out in the world. I want you to enjoy wearing yours. If you’re considering a crown and still wondering how it will fit into your life, tell me what you do with your hands, at work and on the weekends. That’s where I’d start if we were sitting together in the studio.

Mariele Ivy
Founder and Designer, Young In The Mountains