Wedding rings get creative

When they got married last June, Tammy Zywotko and Ben Nye wanted rings to remember. Nye, 29, now sports a custom-made wedding band of green gold inspired by his love of Green Lantern comic books. On Zywotko's finger is a curvy custom swoosh of a rose-gold ring encrusted with pink diamonds.

"Ben's my superhero," said Zywotko, 27.

As for the pink band? "No one else is going to have one."

Forget single diamond solitaires and boring gold bands. One of the hottest trends in wedding jewelry is to have rings custom made since couples across the nation are looking to put their own twist on these time-honored tokens of love.

The Jewelry Information Council, a New York trade group, doesn't track how many custom wedding rings are made each year. But spokeswoman Tiffany Metti said reports indicate that customizing is increasingly popular.

"It's definitely a growing market," said Metti, adding that experts expect this trend to have staying power.

The increased demand can be seen in burgeoning business reported by small designers and higher-end jewelers. Internet sites touting customizing services abound, offering gemstones of all colors and metals that range from the usual to the, well, bizarre. One site offers wedding bands of zirconium, whose corrosion-resistant properties make it a popular choice for fuel-rod protection in nuclear reactors.

Even chain stores offer customizing options, such as picking out loose stones for different settings.

Scripps Howard News Service