When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more
- I used jewelry brand Noémie to design a custom wedding band that would work with my teardrop engagement ring.
- The process was fun and easy, and it took less than a month from start to finish.
- You don't pay a markup for the custom design; my final ring design was priced similarly to "off the shelf" options.
I never had a proper wedding ring. When my husband and I got married almost four years ago, finding an off-the-shelf ring that worked with the teardrop shape of my engagement ring proved difficult. Eventually we ran over budget for the wedding, so we just got him a cheap band off of Amazon and I decided my engagement ring could double as my wedding ring for the time being.
Well, "the time being" turned into three and a half years. I had almost put a wedding ring out of my mind completely when an opportunity came up to review online jeweler Noémie by working with the brand on my own custom wedding ring. Given my difficulty finding something premade that matched the shape, color, and design of my existing ring, I was curious to see if going custom made the process any easier without breaking the bank. Read on for my experience working with Noémie to design a custom ring from start to finish.
Noémie Custom Design Wedding Ring Shop at Noémie External link Arrow An arrow icon, indicating this redirects the user."I started by filling out the custom design form on Noémie's website.
The form consists of just six questions: some ideas of what you're looking for, your budget, and your contact information. It took me just a few minutes to pull together some inspiration links and submit the form.
Just a few hours later a representative for the company's design team emailed me to get more info on what I was looking for.
Reut, the custom design manager messaged me just a few hours after I filled out the form with some comments on the design inspiration I sent over along with an overview of the process. Basically, I just had to send more details about the shape and size of my existing ring and they'd get to work on some original designs for me.
The design team needed detailed measurements of my current engagement ring.
This involved taking photos of the ring at many different angles against a ruler and tape measurer.
The brand has a helpful app for taking measurements, but also sent me a free ring sizer in the mail when I was a bit unsure what ring size I was.
I found the app a bit confusing when it came to figuring out my actual ring size. When I emailed the rep back, they offered to send a free ring sizer, which arrived in an Amazon package just a few days later.
Once all my measurements were in, it took just one week to get three design proposals back. The first featured an array of different sized sapphires that would sit in an arched pattern below my existing engagement ring.
This design was priced at $1,200 and was my least favorite of the three designs. It felt a little "princess-y" compared to the simple design of my engagement ring.
The second was closer in design to the inspiration pictures I sent in and more in line with what I was looking for.
This design was priced a little lower at $1,100 and again featured a row of sapphires that would sit below my ring. I liked the simplicity of this design and that the ring could be worn on its own without my engagement ring.
The third was my runaway favorite and the one I ultimately ordered. I thought it best replicated the existing style of my engagement ring.
This design was also priced at $1,200 and featured two layers of sapphires that fit above and below my existing engagement ring. I knew right away that this was the ring I wanted. I didn't have any edits to the design they sent, but if I did, I'm sure they would have easily accommodated.
Once my design was selected, I went through the checkout process. A few days later, I got an email requesting more exact measurements of my engagement ring so they could craft my new ring.
A little over two weeks later, I got an email saying my ring was ready. A few days after that, a package was on my doorstep.
While the package was filled with goodies, I went straight for the main event: the ring
The ring was packaged in a little velvet envelope and looked just as I imagined it would.
I was excited to try it on with my engagement ring, and I was excited to find it fit perfectly around my existing ring.
With the confusion around ring sizing, I was nervous maybe I got the size wrong, but it fit my finger perfectly.
If I had one complaint, it would be that sometimes the engagement ring doesn't sit flush in the brackets of the surrounding ring.
I assume this is something that will get better with time as I break the ring in.
Due to the nature of the design (which is meant to surround my engagement ring), I don't think I'd ever wear my Noémie ring on its own, but the company did present two designs that would have allowed for that, if I wanted.
I won't wear jewelry unless it has a personal meaning to me, so designing this wedding ring was the perfect way to make my engagement ring setup even more special.
The bottom line
If you're having trouble finding a wedding band that will fit the shape of your engagement ring, Noémie is a great option. I love that you basically design your own ring from scratch. Other online retailers I've seen that offer "custom" rings really just offer personalization: the ability to tweak elements of an existing design. Noémie allows you to bring a brand new vision to life for a truly one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry.
Design your own wedding or engagement ring with Noemie here.
Lauren Savoie Deputy Editor, Reviews & Chair of the Editorial Standards Board Lauren Savoie is deputy editor of Insider Reviews and chair of Business Insider's editorial standards board. Lauren leads the home, kitchen, pets, and travel teams, and is deeply involved in all editorial decision making, with a particular focus in strategic content planning, career growth of reporters and editors, and strong journalistic standards for the Reviews team. In 2022, Lauren attended The Poynter Institute's Leadership Academy for Women in Media, a prestigious program that recognizes leaders in the journalism industry.Lauren joined the Insider team in 2020, first as kitchen editor and soon after as senior home & kitchen editor, where she pioneered original testing methodologies for buying guides and built a diverse team of freelancers and reporters with deep expertise in product testing. You can see some of her work in our guides to the best flower delivery services, the best pillows, and the best sous vide machines. Before her time at Insider, Lauren was the senior reviews editor at America's Test Kitchen, where she wrote and edited more than 300 in-depth, unbiased buying guides and reviewed more than 1,000 kitchen products. Her work has appeared in Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines, in dozens of cookbooks, on two Emmy-nominated TV shows, and on CNN.com, Fodor's, Yahoo, LifeHacker, the Splendid Table, and more.Lauren is currently Kansas-based, but continues to live like a lifelong Bostonian: drinking Dunkin' iced coffee in the winter, spending summers "down" the Cape, and sharing her home with a cat named Chowder. Say hello at lsavoie@businessinsider.com or @el_savvy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Learn more about how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider. Read more Read lessYou can purchase logo and accolade licensing to this story here.
Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at reviews@businessinsider.com.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonyowcidnKxno6nGrbGOp6aepZmaeqTB0q2mpmWinruoedGeraKdpw%3D%3D