With modern advances in the skills of metalworking and jewellery making, two colour rings are becoming more readily available. These unique rings combine the lustre and qualities of two complementing metals, often gold and white gold, to produce a design concept that is completely different to other more traditional single colour rings. Two colour rings really do give the wearer the best of both worlds. The most common design for two colour rings is a banded design, where one colour forms the base for a banding of a second colour.
The interchangeable nature of this design means that a number of combinations can be achieved. With the more traditional gold making the base, a band of white gold running around the two colour ring draws emphasis towards the ring and can incorporate subtle design features such as small diamonds or geometric patterns. With white gold forming the base, a band of yellow gold gives a very modern twist on the traditional plain band.
Multiple coloured rings were first made fashionable in the west by the influence of the ‘Russian wedding ring’, an interlinked design of three slim bands in different colours. This often originally incorporated a ‘rose’ gold band, a yellow gold band and a white gold band, symbolising the holy Trinity, an important feature of church marriages and especially strong in the Russian Orthodox belief system.
There is also the theory that it represents the two partners in a union coming together as one, as represented by the third ring. This charming and deeply personal connotation has been brought right up to date with the fabulous designs incorporated into two colour rings.
Suitable for both men and women, two colour rings are a statement of individualism and style combined with a classicism that draws together hundreds of years of jewellery making traditions. Two colour rings have become increasingly popular as wedding rings, offering a deeper symbolism to the couple and a perfect merging of two contrasting but complementary metals.
The concept has become particularly popular with modern designers, who appreciate the range of textures and effects that a two colour ring can have.