I’ve been wearing a ring from my husband for over seven years now. I still remember the way the wind blew my hair to the side & the hot pink sundress I wore & him on one knee in the sand. We ran back to the beach house & opened a bottle of champagne & the next morning, I laid in bed & spun the diamond on my finger, letting it catch the sunlight. A year later, he slipped another band on my finger when I wore a white dress. A few months later, he brought home the front band as a “Happy Thursday” gift because we were 23 with no responsibilities & he’s wonderful like that.
I’m one of those girls that never takes her rings off. I don’t take them off to shower or play at the pool or beach or sleep. The only time my rings came off my finger were when they didn’t fit during pregnancy & every day postpartum, I tried to slip them back on until they fit. There’s a significant pale strip on my left ring finger, complete with band indentions.
My rings are a part of me, a part of who I am.
When Doug bought my rings, they came with a protection plan & I am diligent about having them inspected & cleaned every six months. Every time I have them cleaned, the jeweler smiles & asks if I’d like to have them re-dipped to make them really sparkle. I always say no because it’s not a process done in-house & I cannot bear the idea of being without them for a week.
But last week, I finally said yes & handed them over. Just my engagement ring & front ring so that I’d still have my wedding band, then I would switch them the following week. My heart thudded & my throat caught as she put them in a plastic bag with my signature & locked them in a safe. I felt stripped & vulnerable without my rings & I don’t know why because I still had my husband by my side. A week later, I picked them up & they sparkled like seven years ago & I couldn’t stop flashing them in the store lights. There was a new girl behind the counter & when I handed over my wedding ring to be sent off & began wringing my hands with anxiety, she laughed at me. “What?! You’re sending them off in sections?”
I stared at her. “I haven’t been without them for seven years. This is a big step for me,” I explained. She laughed again.
She was kind of an asshole about it, to be honest.
As we left my wedding ring behind, I turned to Doug & asked if I was crazy. He smiled & said that nope, he felt the same way about his. It is so much more than just a ring.
Do you take your rings off? Or are you as oddly physically attached to them as I am?
{ 76 comments… read them below or add one }
never. i do take mine off to prepare raw meats, because….well…yuck. but i have this little metal box that sits on the window and the minute my hands are clean, those suckers are back on. and i think i have had them dipped once, a long time ago.
TRUE. Raw meat is a definite rings-off thing but I think sausage balls are the only thing that require my hands to get in the meat.
heh. My hands in raw ball meat.
I take my rings off whenever I’m cooking with raw ground meat. I just can’t bear the thought of getting raw meat juice all over them. Weird, huh?
My rings are about as simple as they come – one round diamond on my engagement ring and three tiny diamonds on my wedding band. I’m just not a flashy ring kind of person and my hands are so tiny that big rings look costume-y on them. But my wedding band, especially, has a great deal of sentimental value because the three diamonds belonged to my late Nana. So, it might be very plain to look at, but to me it’s priceless.
My husband, on the other hand, doesn’t even wear his wedding band. He’s just not a ring person at all; it drives him crazy. This used to bother me, but I’ve gotten over it. He is who he is.
Your rings are beautiful, BA.
Yes and no. I love my rings dearly, but I have a bad skin problem on my hands at times and so I have to take them off when I wash my hands because any water or soap left underneath irritates the skin so bad that it breaks open. I also took them off almost immediately when I got my BFP in February 2011. Yesterday (my babe is almost 10 months old now) was the first day I felt comfortable wearing my band. I can’t wait to get my engagement ring back on that finger too. I love staring at them when I am typing away at work, they mean so much to me and how far my husband and I have come in the 12 1/1 years we’ve been together.
My husband doesn’t wear his, he works in construction and has seen a few accidents when other men were wearing their rings, so his sits in my jewelry box, but on the weekends and when we got out during the week, it’s just a habit for me to pull it out and handed it to him as we get ready to leave.
Mine come off when I’m in the shower. And making meatloaf because RAW MEAT. But otherwise, I feel naked without my rings on!
You know what shocks me? When a girlfriend of mine talked about upgrading her diamond. Do what?! I couldn’t wrap my head around trading in the diamond that my husband proposed with. No way jose! He can add to my sparkly collection with a pair of diamond earrings or a necklace but don’t ever change my rings. They are perfect just the way they are.
I lost my wedding band a few months ago. The worst thing was, I didn’t even know it was missing until I opened my ring box where I keep my engagement and wedding rings. And it wasn’t there. Searching high and low to no avail. I have no idea how or when it went missing. I wish I never took it off ever. But pregnancy gave me sausage fingers.
Sigh, it makes my heart hurt to think about it. So I understand the trepidation of parting with them even for a clean!
Like the others, I only take mine off when dealing with raw meat too! They are a huge part of me, and like you, I feel vulnerable without them.
I take mine off as soon as I get home from work and change out of my work clothes when I take the rest of my jewelry off. Sometimes on the weekends, if I don’t end up leaving the house, I never put them on. I think it’s really sweet to be so attached to them, but I would’ve probably reacted the same way as the girl at the ring shop. I think the difference comes down to last your last line – whether or not you believe the ring is more than just a ring. For me, it’s jewelry that lets other people know I’m married. If I didn’t have it, I’d still be married and my marriage would be no different. I think my husband is more attached to his ring, though.
Ditto this comment exactly.
I agree! I don’t think a thing about having them on/off. On doesn’t make me any more married & off doesn’t make me any less married. I just don’t have that kind of attachment.
I love my rings. But I guess I take them off more than most. When dealing with raw meat seems to be the norm…but I also take them off when I shower and when I sleep.
I used to wear them in the shower, but I’d have extreme anxiety about one of them slipping off and going down the drain. HUGE ANXIETY. So I take them off, and put them back on as soon as I get out. I also used to sleep with them…until we got a beautiful wood sleigh bed. Then it became obvious that I throw my arms above my head as I sleep…my side of the headboard is all scratched up from my diamond hitting it. So I take them off at night now. Makes me sad to do so…but I also don’t want to completely ruin my bed!
My rings are always on unless I am doing the raw meat thing. I feel naked without them. I took them off the last week or so of my first pregnancy and I was heartbroken. I had to take them off the other day for this pregnancy and it is bothering me more this time. I am thinking this weekend I may buy a cheap wedding band just to have something to wear and feel complete again. The husband doesn’t wear his to work because it gets scratched constantly, but he always wears it when we go out. But now that they are off, maybe it’s a good time to dip them so they are extra sparkle-y when I can wear them again!
YES! I’m crazy attached to my rings too. My husband picked the entire set out himself & I was amazed that not only does he know me so well but I honestly don’t think he could have done a better job! I’ve even been so crazy as to turn the car around when I’ve forgotten them b/c I can’t stand going a day without wearing them. I do however take them off for showering, sleeping & swimming…I think b/c I love them so much that even though they are insured & I am also diligent about the 6mo checks I would be heartbroken if even just one diamond popped out. I know dumb! Diamonds can easily be replaced but it’s just the idea that those were the diamonds HE picked out for me & gave to me.
. The nurse told me last time the first thing I said when I woke up from surgery (well after Ouch) was “can I put my wedding rings on now?” I know they are just rings but they symbolize so much more to me & remind me so much how much I love my husband & why I married him…I know cheesy!
I also had to take them off for my previous surgery & will again in about a month & leave them at home while in the hospital
I take mine off only if they are being cleaned. I used to wear random rings on my right hand that went with certain outfits, but my husband gave me a 10 yr anniversary ring last Christmas, and it now stays permanently on my right hand.
When I was first engaged, I had a habit of playing with the rings on my fingers, switching them around unconsciously. Until one day I looked down and didn’t see my engagement ring on my left ring finger. At which point I think I had a stroke. And then I looked at my right hand….
I totally understand. Though I take mine off for showering and sleeping, I can’t stand not to wear them every day. I’m 39 weeks pregnant and just had my rings resized so I could keep wearing them on my swollen fingers! Plus the hubs just got me a gorgeous new band as an anniversary/baby gift, so of course I was dying to wear it…
I’m a little neurotic about my rings but it comes out in almost the exact opposite way. I used to never take it off but the weekend of my baby shower my husband went hiking with a buddy and lost his wedding ring in a creek. Thankfully they were able to find it the next morning but ever since then I don’t wear my rings anywhere they’re likely to get lost (beach, pool etc) or around the house when I would have to being taking them on and off a lot (between cooking, dishes, bathroom trips for me, and diaper changes I figure I wash my hands 15+ times a day).
I never take my rings off either. I had them cleaned a few times and now I need to get my wedding band dipped, but I really don’t want to be without it!
I take my ring off quite a bit actually.
I take it off to handle any form of raw meet (chicken, steak, ground beef, etc), I take my ring off when I make eggs. Generally anything involving cooking makes the ring come off.
I also take off my ring when I’m washing dishes because I worry about the soap getting all up on it and it falling off into the sink. No need to risk it.
I take off my ring when I go running or for a bike ride as I sweat a lot and my ring is slightly loose and I DEFINITELY take my ring off when I lift weights. Platinum can easily get seriously messed up by the bar when lifting so I don’t take any chances.
I’m actually not wearing it right now as I type this as I didn’t put it back on after breakfast…
we hardly ever wear our wedding rings actually. my husbands job allows rings, but at your own risk. the risk being the possibility of having your ring get caught on the machinery and having your finger ripped off, so he only wears it when we go out on dates. as for me. my engagement ring no longer fits my porkey little fingers and can’t be resized thanks to it being (yes, seriously) a $10 ring. oh its metal and the stone is real topaz (which is my birth stone) but they cant stretch the metal without breaking it. i bought myself a replacement ring that i love, but sadly i always manage to gouge one of my kids when i wear it, so i just dont. not until they are all old enough to not need picked up. like my husband, i only wear it out and for pictures. i know we are married and i trust him absolutely without question, and he feels the same. we are planning to renew our vows sometime in our 10th year i think. i hope then when we re-proposes to me that maybe he will have a ring that costs more that $30 lol. shallow? maybe. but by that time my kids will all be big enough to not need picked up and held all the time, so a new ring would be a-ok with me. and then yes, i will probably never ever take it off. also, i gave the man 4 children, including an 11 pound son, i think i deserve a diamond…or a medal. lol
I don’t take mine off either, I’ve been wearing my rings for over 8 years. I love them. My husband has said he wants to upgrade them (we were poor college kids at the time) but I have no interest. My rings were given to me with love and I don’t need a more sparkly set. Nope, you’re not crazy.
I love my rings, but I pretty much take them off as soon as I come in the house from work. I don’t like cooking with them on, and I found I kept misplacing them around the house if I took them off when cooking, or cleaning – it’s easier to just get home, change out of my work clothes, and drop the rings in their dish on my dresser. My husband wears his all of the time, except when he is in the shower or giving our son a bath.
I forgot – I always take my ring off if we’re going hiking or biking or something like that. Exercise makes my hands swell up like little sausages and I hate that claustrophobic feeling of not being able to easily slide off my ring.
I proposed to my wife without a ring. She was sick that day, but I did it anyway, because I had all of these events planned, and I’d bought tickets, and stuff. But I didn’t include a ring as part of it, because she’s never been a ring-wearer, and I thought it wouldn’t be that important to her. And that she might prefer using ring money on groceries or something. We’re obnoxiously practical.
.
But as soon as I’d proposed, she said, “I want to go look at rings.” So we went to the mall, and looked around one of those stores. We told the clerk I’d just proposed, and we looked a little. And then Lindsay started feeling even more sick, and went to lay down. I’m sure it seemed like 1. Lindsay was knocked up, and that’s why we were getting married or 2. Lindsay was having second thoughts and maybe didn’t want to seal the deal with a ring.
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A week later, she asked me to go with her to Cosco and she picked out a $10 ring for me to buy for her. She wore it for a couple of years, and then lost it while we were on vacation. Neither of us wears a ring now. But we do buy a lot of groceries.
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I can see, though, how attached you become to something that’s always present. It wasn’t the money that Lindsay was sad about losing when she lost her ring. It was the comfort of something that’s always with her. It’s like Wilson the volleyball. When I was a kid I used to carry a certain rock around in my pocket. I still miss it. I miss feeling its weight against my leg. We’re creatures of habit, I guess.
I am apparently in the minority in a major way! I only wear my rings if I’m at work or otherwise in public. Once I get home, they come off. The way I look at it is this: My rings were not cheap and I would never wear a piece of clothing that expensive if I was cleaning the house, cooking, playing with my daughter, etc. So, why should I treat my rings any differently?
Mine come off at night…we have a wrought iron bed and when we first got engaged I knocked it so hard in my sleep that i knocked it loose the first week I had it…..so now they come off when i go to bed….both of them….and they stay in the dish until I’m out of the shower….mine slide off in the shower…..dirty dirty dishes too they come off as well…..other than that they’re on….though if I start working in worse neighborhoods I’m going to look into a plain white gold or silver band to wear when i go to work because you cant trust people and going into client homes is nerve wracking…..
I never take my wedding band off. Its slightly to big (I was a bit heavier at our wedding) But when I was pregnant with Carson, my engagement ring stopped fitting, I took it off and placed it in my ash tray in my car. I stopped at the grocery store on my way home. My car was broken into and my ring stolen. (I have a lump in my throat just typing this) Because it was stolen from my car, it wasn’t covered under auto insurance or home owner insurance. I never even knew I could have bought my own plan for it with our agent.
So I wear my wedding band and an engagement band. Chris promises for our 10 year he will get me a new sparkly ring. But I am just still so sad about it. Don’t EVER take your ring off!
I’m in the Never Take Them Off category, even for raw meat, cleaning supplies, krazy glue, or pregnancy (but they were a bit stuck then!). My antique diamond (from Husband’s grandmother) has sustained some damage because of that, but the diamond actually came to me with sufficient damage because my great-nanny-in-law rarely took it off her finger, too! Both rings come off for cleaning every once in while, but that’s about it.
I never take mine off, either, and I’m not sure I could bear to send them away!
I take them off very, very rarely: when handling raw meat (luckily my husband does most of the cooking), when I put sunscreen on (then they go back on), and…that’s about it.
When i was pregnant, my fingers got swollen pretty fast, so by about month 4 I couldn’t wear either ring. I made my husband take me to buy a temporary band–it was about $40–because I couldn’t bear the thought of going without something, SOMETHING to mark that space that is so precious to me.
I take mine off almost immediately upon getting home. I don’t like to have them on when I’m cooking, washing hands, etc. And I don’t sleep with them either.
Can I also just say how much I LOVE Jared. They do rhodium plating in house… I’m only without my rings for about two-three hours when I get them inspected. LOVE that part.
My husband can’t wear his ring to work because of his job so it’s actually rare that he has his on. I often have to remind him when we are going out at night or on the weekends because it isn’t as instinctual for him to put his on. I brush my teeth in the morning & put my rings on right after showering.
I have mine from Kay’s…..they ship to Jared to rhodium plate……but you cant take it to Jared yourself to plate…..its sad…..:( which is why mine are a scratched mess and in desperate need of being shipped out!
I only have my engagement ring on right now (the wedding band will be on in less than two months!) but I never take mine off. The only time I do is when I’m putting lotion on so it doesn’t get all greasy underneath or anything. I wore it last night when I was making buttermilk biscuits!
i have panic attacks thinking about having to take my ring off (i only have an engagement ring right now) partly because of what it signifies & partly because it’s a family heirloom. talk about pressure!
I take my rings off all the time. In fact the only time I really wear them is when I’m out of the house. It stems from an allergy I had in high school/college (which I have since outgrown) where my hands tended to swell…so I got in the habit of taking off all rings/bracelets/watches, etc. as soon as I got home everyday. Plus, I have a fear of losing a diamond (or the whole ring) while in the water…I don’t want to watch a diamond go down the drain (or worse, have it fall out in the ocean)! My husband doesn’t wear his ring, either, except when he dresses up. It doesn’t really bother me…I know we’re married and he knows we’re married, and wearing a ring doesn’t change that!
My wedding ring is a tattoo. I’ve been divorced for 6 years and no longer believe in marriage at all. But my ring never leaves my hand and I look on it fondly.
This is so totally me. Crazy weird attachment. =)
My rings are off all the time. I love them. They are beautiful and I cherish them but I don’t wear them all the time. My husband almost never wears his {likely because he’s a Dr. and washing his hands all the time – it’s a bit germy}. For us it’s a symbol, a nice one and it’s special. I always wear them when I leave the house and I love the way that they sparkle. I started to wear them less around the house as my son got older because we were always into dirty things and I really don’t like them getting paint/mud/playdough and other stuff all over them all the time. I love my rings but truthfully the one thing I could never part with is the hand that held mine as he slipped those rings on. His hand holding mine is the thing I look forward to most at the end of the day.
I only took mine off in my second pregnancy (did NOT want to risk having it cut off!). Apparently the mere 5 added pounds difference in starting weight meant my finger(s) got chubbier the second time around. I take my ring off when I am baking bread (sometimes) but more often than not I leave it on and then go “aw, crap, it’s all gunky” when I’m done.
It means a lot to me, I don’t like being without it. I remember trying every day postpartum to see when it would fit me again after my daughter was born. The “substitute” ring I bought at Target to get me through just wasn’t the same.
I am the same way. I have gotten mine re-dipped once and felt so naked without my rings I wore a very old ring just to wear something. A co-worker of mine was bitchy about it for some reason and kept saying I wasn’t married since I didn’t have my rings. I still don’t get what her deal was, but I did feel weird not wearing them.
What’s a front ring? I only see 2 rings in your picture. And I’m pretty much the same way! Though since having kids I’ve loosened up some.
It’s getting re-dipped as we speak! eeek, I cannot wait to have it back.
Oh I didn’t realize this was that current of a picture! I’m sure it will return home safe & sound!
I go in spells where I take my rings off and on. I usually do take mine off when I am handling raw meat but never at the beach or pool. But most of the time they are on and it really does feel weird to not have them on. I have quite a tan line when they are off. We have ours cleaned every year and thankfully they do it in half a day…I don’t know that I would want to be w/o them for longer than that. It is different if I take them off at home and know where they are…does that make sense?
I skimmed a comment about upgrading. I want to upgrade my diamond…but the clincher is, I just want a new one. I like what I have now and would never want to get rid of it as I am proud of what my husband picked out and want to wear it until I am old and gray.
I wear my wedding band sometimes. My engagement ring is in a box somewhere. I’m not really sentimental at all though. I never wanted rings, I thought it was a waste of money.
I too have a 6 month get them checked kind of thing. Since our closest place is an hour away, I usually once a year or every 18 months allow them to go off and be redipped also. They do come back with quite the sparkle! The wedding band has also had to be resaudered for a crack a few different times since it’s white gold and softer. And they got resized before pregnancy and then down some after baby arrived. LOL! I would love to get a “front band” too, but I love the design on my engagement band so much I don’t want to block the view of it. Hehe! And I have a fear of them coming off and being lost in water so when I shower or swim I leave them off. I’d rather feel “nekked” than lose them.
I used to take my rings in to get redipped all.the.time. It bothered me to be without them because I loved the sparkle. A year divorced and I still can’t part with them. (But I don’t wear them. That would be weird.)
I wear my plain band 24/7, and I wear the band, E-ring (solitaire diamond), and Baby#1 Push Present (diamond band) all together for dressy times. For just everyday type stuff, I just wear the plain band and diamond band (the princess e-ring has sharp corners and scratches my tiny baby’s skin if I get too close).
Thankfully my wedding set is platinum and doesn’t have to be re-dipped, though it does has to be handed over for resizing, which I have done a few times in 8 years Through weight loss & post-partum size-acceptance, but it was hard! I once refused to hand them in when the girl at the store PUT THEM ON HER FINGER while filling out my papers. It disn’t mean anything to her, but it did to me! I returned another day when someone different was working.
That said, I hope to someday upgrade my diamonds for a 3-stone ring to wear with my plain band and save the others for our children. But that won’t be till closer to time for our kids to want them!
Enjoy your brightly shining treasures! (My right-hand “just because” ring from Hubby has had to be re-dipped…it seems to need it way too often though I’ve only done it once.)
Nope, mine stay on. Always.
I actually have a story about this. The one when I walked in on a guy robbing us (in mexico) and my rings, among many other items, were in our laundry bag slung over his shoulder.
THANK GOD he got freaked out when I started screaming & dropped the bag & ran. I clutched my rings to my chest, sat on my bed & sobbed.
Worn them every day since.
Both of my rings (wedding and engagement) come off when I take a shower. Otherwise, other than the whole raw meat thing and whenever I slather my toddler in lotion, my wedding band is always on. I feel naked and weird without it. With my engagement ring, however, I don’t wear it to bed at night, and I often don’t wear it during the weekends. I used to worry about the diamond solitare or felt like it looked to flashy with casual weekend clothes… it’s my more-simple wedding band that I cherish the most (even though it was about 1/6 the price of my engagement ring).
I don’t wear my rings 24/7. I put them on in the morning when I’m getting ready for work. They come off at night when I start my toddler’s nightly routine. As for the weekends, they only go on if we’re heading out.
I do love my rings & I take very good care of them – I clean them every other week & take them to the jeweler every 6 months for inspection & cleaning. My engagement ring and wedding band are both platinum, both have 3 diamonds each.
I am not crazy about mine…it’s the first thing I take off when I get home. It didn’t used to be that way, but I’ve lost 87lbs this year and its way.too.big. I need to get it resized, but I don’t want to let it go that long. I do feel weird if I don’t wear it every day, but I am sometimes scared I’m going to lose it because it’s so big. Mine are family heirlooms – they were my great grandmas. I am allergic to all jewelry, but for some reason these don’t bother me. I think it’s sweet you send yours off in sections
I can never resist talking about my beautiful rings- they are soooo a part of me, so I know exactly how you feel. My wedding ring is tanzanite so I have to be quite careful about my ring around cleaners and super hot or cold temperatures. Other than that, I never take them off. I had a serious ordeal with my rings, and even ended up having to replace my original e-ring. (Although I’m not complaining b/c it is stunnnnning! You’ve probably seen it on my blog? =)
Love seeing yours- you should have taken a before and after shot of your sparklyness!!
So THAT’s why you only had the band on the other day. I feel you. I’m the same way.
Yes! I felt so naked without it. Hell, I feel naked now with only 2 on there. I am itching to get my front band back.
I love my ring but my fingers swell at the drop of a hat and then THEY MUST COME OFF IMMEDIATELY. I rarely wear it in the house and most of the time in the summer it just isn’t happening.
My Grandma left me her wedding ring when she passed away, my Grandpa gave it to my on my 16th birthday. I kept it in my sock drawer for years, trying it on every now and again, marveling at the fact that I had my very own DIAMOND RING.
So when my boyfriend, now husband, proposed to me with this ring I was so excited to wear it and I never ever take it off.
The only time I took them off was when I delivered my son. They still fit, but DH was worried someone would steal them.
I sleep, cook, shower, swim, everything with them on. I can’t take them off, I feel naked without them.
I don’t take mine off, I feel naked when I’m not wearing them. My husband can’t wear his to work due to safety issues… I don’t like that he can’t wear it, but every Friday night he puts it back on and it stays there until Monday morning
I keep mine on most of the time. They do come off for raw meat. When I was pregnant they went on a chain around my neck. I had to send my e-ring out for a section to be replaced, after about 10 years the band cracked. We decided along with our jeweler to replace section so it shouldn’t happen again.
I had the original stone set in a bezel setting after knocking 2 prongs of the setting. I bought a cheap plain gold band to wear when I was pregnant and, it is now a thumb ring on my right hand.
My husband and I joke about how people on their 40th or 50th anniversary always say, “It’s been 40 years and I’ve never taken this ring off.” And how we’ll say, “It’s been 40 years and I’ve taken this ring off every day.” Honestly, my husband goes to work without his ring on more times then not. I try to definitely remember to wear mine when I leave the house, but forget sometimes.
In fact, yesterday was our anniversary and were were going out to dinner. He didn’t have his ring on and didn’t know where it was. I was like, geez I’d like for you to at least wear it on our anniversary. It’s just no big deal for us. We’re committed and we know it.
I agree with you. I love my little white stripe beneath my band and I love my husband’s, too. I know people who have exchanged their rings over the years for bigger or more stylish ones, but I will never change mine.
Totally!! My rings also so happen to be my (now deceased) grandmother’s rings, so there really is no protection plan for them! I am so neurotic about them that when I was pregnant with X and they didn’t fit, I wore them on a necklace – a very firm necklace
Well, I guess I kinda stradle the fence on this one. I’m also crazy attached to my rings. It makes me crazy to drop them off at Zales for 15-20 minutes to have them cleaned! My sister-in-law traded in her original e-ring for something bigger and flashier, and I was just shocked. I could NEVER trade in the diamond my hubby proposed with! It’s not a huge diamond, but I don’t care. My wedding set is pretty simple, but it’s totally my taste and I love it. Having said that, I don’t wear it every second of my life. It usually comes off as soon as I get home from work every afternoon and doesn’t go back on until I get dressed for work the next day. On weekends, I don’t put them on if I don’t leave the house. I don’t cook or clean with my rings on because I don’t want them to get nasty. I don’t wear them in the shower or at the beach or pool because I’m too afraid of them slipping off and being gone forever. So, neurotically attached? YES! Wear every second of my life? No.
I’ve read every comment and realized that I am clearly in the minority! I do not feel an attachment as deep as you and a lot of the commenters feel. I love my engagement ring (really not a fan of my wedding band, we settled, it was NOT the one I wanted) and I would be very sad if anything happened to it. And I do feel a little naked when not wearing it but I do not stress if it needs to go for work. And I often do not wear it for a variety of reasons. That being said, no way should the girl at the jewellery store have laughed at you for feeling anxious over leaving it. Not great customer skills there I would say!
I don’t know how many more people will comment or read my comment but a couple thoughts if you are wearing your ring all the time…take them in for cleaning often! It is amazing what can get packed into the little space under the the stones when they are not cleaned regularly. Most jewellers will run your rings through the sonic machine for free. (Also, don’t forget to clean your watch. People do not think of doing this and I have actually gagged while changing watch batteries.)
Consider having your rings soldered together, especially if they are gold. This can actually improve the lifespan of your rings. By not having them soldered they are constantly rubbing against each other. Since gold is soft this actually wears down your ring. It will also wear your rhodium plating off faster. Also, consider taking the rings off when using chemical or abrasive cleaning products. Or when you are gardening. All these things will cause damage to your rings faster. If you are afraid you will misplace or forget to put them back on, have a chain to slip them onto around your neck. That way they are still with you.
Make sure you know exactly what your insurance covers in case of loss or theft. Far too many people believe that their jewellery is covered under their regular insurance and this is simply not true at all. In fact, the majority of insurance claims we deal with at work end up only being partially covered. Most jewellery requires a special rider.
Enjoy and love your rings. And please, please do not clean them with toothpaste!!
I take my engagement ring off when I play hockey, but the wedding band stays on all the time. They fit all the way through my pregnancy, so I wore them then. But this summer I was ill, and my joints were swollen for about 4 weeks or so. I had to take them off, and I was very stressed about it. I would try every few days to put them back.
Both my husband and I hardly ever wear our wedding rings. We both coach and so we’re in gyms and outside all day – I’d have to be getting those suckers cleaned twice a month if we wore them everyday.
I once army crawled through a mud pit with my wedding rings on. So no, I don’t take them off. I; however, am TERRIBLE about getting them serviced. I love the idea of re-dipping. We just hit nine years to they have definitely lost their sparkle. I too had to remove some for the whole child bearing thing and on occasion if I’ve eaten too much salt in the summer in the good old 100 degree south. LOL My husband is a mechanic though and usually only wears his for church or nights out. I don’t mind because he knows he is married. I would rather have a husband with a finger and no ring than a husband with a ring and no finger to put it on.
Never. If I’m making meatloaf, I mix it one handed. I’m 8 months pregnant and still have the things on, even though my finger is clearly swollen. I just can’t take them off, nor do I want to. I still flash it in the sunlight during my commute and I still think they are the most beautiful pieces of jewelry I’ve ever seen.
I wish I could answer never, never, never but stupid cancer took that decision from me. The chemo that I am on makes me swell like I’m pregnant and my rings no longer fit. I moved them to a necklace but it’s just not the same. I know I need to take them somewhere to be sized but I don’t know if I’m done swelling. And I don’t know if I can be apart from them. I hate cancer
This is really ironic because I lost my wedding band somehow? three weeks ago, and then my engagement ring (which was a lot of money) in the last week. How this happened I have no idea!!!! My poor husband is not happy about it… I wish I was better like you!!!!!!!!
Beth Anne, same here! My rings came with the check-em-every-six-months plan also, and I inevitably have to get a diamond tightened, or repaired. Giving them away is tough stuff — silly, yes, but tough! And I get them repaired in sets too. They’re like a part of me!
I’ve never taken mine off except for pregnancy, too!
Mine are always on. During my first pregnancy, I also gained some sausage fingers and bought a cheaper plain gold band that I now wear on my right hand (I had it blessed by our priest during my 3rd pregnancy). I know I’m still married without it, but when he put it on he made it a “sign of my love and fidelity” – therefor NOT just a ring.
i feel the same way and im only engaged. lol. i love my rings. i have a promise ring also.