When did it become cool to wear a non-precious metal on your finger for a wedding band?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I used to think I was cool! I was with it! I play video games. I have an iPod. I know who Tony Hawk is and I watch Big and Rob on MTV. But when did it become cool to wear a non-precious metal on your finger for a wedding band? With the influx of alternative metals, the wedding ring market is about to take a \u201cface plant off the half pipe\u201d (meaning: not good).<\/p>\n
I was shopping the other day at a department store. What a fool I was. You mean I can now buy a 6 mm wedding band for $14.95 in a metal that is on the bottom of the periodic table? I never knew that those numbers meant something in 11th grade chemistry. I should scrap my gold one and take the savings.<\/p>\n
How did this happen? When did it become cool to commemorate the biggest day of your life with a washer off the plumbing aisle at The Home Depot?<\/p>\n
With the selling of alternative materials, the average price per wedding band sale has dropped like a rock. Just a few years ago, the average wedding band sale was $500. Today, by some estimates, that number has been cut in half to $250. Where does the industry go from here? With precious metals growing in value, it\u2019s always a surprise to these young couples when they want to sell their alternative metal wedding band for scrap.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve heard from store owners about the shock and awe when these people find out their band is worth nothing. They also think they will always be 6 feet and 180 pounds; wait until they grow (along with their fingers)! \u201cWhat do you mean you can\u2019t size it?\u201d<\/p>\n
A jeweler in Georgia uses the \u201c3 to 1\u201d technique to sell wedding bands. He lets the couple know that they will need three alternative metal bands in their lifetime: one now, one for when they gain weight, and one when they lose the weight. \u201cWhy not buy one precious metal band and I will size it for a lifetime?\u201d He told me he has a good closing ratio on gold wedding bands.<\/p>\n
Just last week, I was thinking we could not go any lower than alternative metals when I came across a newlywed couple. After congratulating them, I looked at their hands, and to my surprise, no alternative metal bands. Instead, they had their bands tattooed on their fingers.<\/p>\n
I guess I\u2019m not as cool as I used to be.
\n—
\nJeff Unger is president of B&N Jewelry\/Alisa Unger Designs of Marietta, GA. Contact him at jeff@bnjewelry.com. This article originally published in INSTORE Magazine, February 2010.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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