How Three Mountains and Four Years of Adventure Became a Pair of Custom Wedding Rings
There’s a moment in every long-distance relationship where you have to decide. Keep going or let go. For Brandon and Jacquie, that moment came during Brandon’s deployment with the Navy, while trading emails across thousands of miles of ocean. They'd been apart more than they'd been together, and they questioned if their relationship could survive the distance.
Jacquie’s answer was simple. “Life’s just better when you’re around.”
That line stuck. It became the foundation they'd build on. And years later, when it came time to design their custom wedding rings, it would become the inscription hidden inside and a private reminder of the distance they'd crossed to get here.
Brandon and Jacquie didn’t want traditional rings. Jacquie’s engagement ring was already a replica of one she’d lost, setting the tone for something more custom and personal. When they found Honest Hands Ring Co. on Etsy, they were searching for a mountain-themed ring that could tie together all the places that mattered most to them.
When they saw the kinds of materials we work with, the idea evolved. Why settle for a mountain motif when you could carry pieces of the actual mountains with you?
The design they landed on tells their whole story:
Red Metagabbro from Mount Si, Washington. Where they met. The starting point.
Dark green Schyst from New Zealand. A nod to the four-year hiatus they took after quitting their jobs to travel the world. New Zealand was one of those places that felt like home, even though it wasn't.
Light grey limestone from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. The mountain and the place where they call home (for now).
Three stones. Three chapters. One ring.
Working with materials like these requires attention and patience. Each stone had to be shaped, inlaid, and set so that it would withstand everyday use. Because these rings weren’t meant to sit in a box, they were built for everyday wear with enough durability to travel the world.
“Having a piece of each place we've called home as a part of our wedding rings creates a grounding feeling that's a little hard to describe in words, but it's like we're carrying our relationship with us wherever we are.” - Brandon
The custom ring process started with gathering materials. We worked with Brandon and Jacquie to collect materials from each location, ensuring every piece was authentic to their story. From there, it was about balancing and blending three distinct stones into a single, cohesive design without losing the identity of each.
The engraving posed its own challenge. Fitting “life’s just better when you’re around” along the interior curve of the band required careful scaling and positioning. Too deep, and it compromises the structure. Too shallow, and it fades over time. We dialed it in until it felt right. The resulting engraving was legible, lasting, and tucked away where only they’d know it was there.
For a couple who spent years apart, then years traveling, then years finding a place to land, the grounding Brandon describes matters. The rings are made from their journey. Pieces of the mountains they've climbed, the trails they've walked, and the places they've called home.
And that's what we aim for. Custom rings that carry the weight of everything that came before. Built for hands that go places. Built to last.
Want to build a ring from the places that matter to you? Let's make it real.
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