The Complete Guide to My Favorite Stackable Rings in 2020

Stackable rings can help highlight your favorite rings, or give you a whole new look; they can be used to memorialize or celebrate your favorite people, or to express your individuality. Your story on your finger, or your feelings — friends and family, or a marker for the changes of your life.

Whichever way you choose to wear them, here’s everything you need to know.

Let Me Explain What Stackable Rings Are

Ring stacking basically just means wearing multiple rings on the same finger, so in a way, any rings you can wear on the same finger are stackable. The first rings that were normally stacked were wedding and engagement rings. Once, people took off their engagement ring when they put on the wedding band, but as the habit of wearing both rings became more common, they were increasingly chosen to match.

As the idea of stacking rings became more common, they became a way to symbolize more than the sum of their parts, or to tell a story. A wedding ring worn after an engagement ring tells the story of a love declared, and then committed to; first the pretty, decorative but relatively light engagement ring, and then the simpler, stronger wedding band. It’s symbolic of the progress and certainty of the relationship.

In time, wearing stacked rings on other fingers became a trend — using them to tell other stories: family and friendship, major life events, or even stories only you know!

Now there’s a huge range of stackable rings available. There are individual rings or rings that actually carry other rings on them or inside them, like this brave love spinner ring.

You can find rings for your mother, sister, and daughter (and for your son, brother and father too). There are rings with names, rings with birthstones, rings with certain stamping, engraving, metal, or pattern choices that represent the people and events in your life that matter most.

Stackable rings don’t have to be worn any particular way, except your way, but they often benefit from attention to color, weight, and form. Consider the original example of wedding rings and engagement rings stacked: try contrasting larger rings with smaller ones, rings with and without stones, and plain rings with highly decorated ones.

These Are Some of My Favorite Stackable Rings

I love stacking rings. They’re so versatile and personal, and they give so much room for expression! These are some of my favorites.

Gold Stackable Rings

Gold is a great choice for stackable rings. Its unchanging nature stands for permanence and purity, and it comes in a wide variety of colors as well as weights and designs. It really gives you a chance to express your individuality and tell your story!

For instance, these Polka Dot stackable rings, plated in rose gold, are dainty enough to wear between larger rings, strong enough to wear on their own, and add another dimension to rings that carry names or inscriptions. Each different ring’s pattern, color, weight, and shape is like another note in your song.

Rose Gold Stackable Rings

Rose gold is a great choice for rings, especially stackable ones: it contrasts well with the whiter tones of silver and platinum, and stands out against both red and yellow gold. Made by mixing silver, copper, and gold to get the deep lustrous sheen of gold, with red from the copper and white from the silver, it’s also a beautiful symbol of how different things can come together to create something that shares all their best properties.

I like to use rose gold rings to create highlights in stacks, or to make pairs with other rings with the same patterning, like this rose gold-plated forward arrows ring. Just the change in metal makes a contrasting pair, though you can also wear it with other patterns or named rings. Forward arrows stand for progress towards your goals, or for time moving on, or for you moving on to something better… you choose. It’s your story.

White Gold Stackable Rings

White gold makes a lovely contrast with darker precious metals, especially with red gold. It shows highlights well, and it makes a great background for colored stones or inscriptions, whether they’re mounted on a darker metal — or even on a lighter one.

To see what I mean, imagine this sterling silver sunburst stacking ring, with one of these white gold rings next to it; color pops, decoration stands out, but there’s still contrast. If you have people in your life who make you feel like your sun’s coming up in the morning, this could be a tasteful, elegant way to show them — and remind yourself!

Silver Stackable Rings

Sterling silver is one of the most popular materials for rings, and it’s easy to see why; it’s more scratch-resistant than gold, makes a perfect contrast with it, and thanks to a higher, whiter metal tone it even contrasts well with white gold.

There are so many sterling silver stackable ring styles to choose from — light (in more ways than one) rings like the tiny sparkles stacking ring express joy and can be used to lighten the message of other rings too.

These featherweight stacking rings can be used in the same way; take a look at the subtly textured surfaces: a little rough, a little smooth, delicate, but still intact — like you!

Try building stacks around sterling silver rings as a centerpiece, like this mother's ring. A constant reminder of those you care for the most, with birthstones that stand out colorfully from the sterling silver background, makes a great center to a stack that shows your story and your life.

Personalized Stackable Rings

When it comes to rings, one size doesn’t fit anyone. And when it comes to your story and your life, someone else’s words are never as good as yours. When it’s time to speak for yourself and the way you feel about the people and events that shape your life and mean everything to you, personalized rings let you say it your way, in your voice — the way it needs to be.

In a way, stackable rings inherently let you do that — building the patterns that carry the most meaning to you, as well as choosing from a range of readymade options. But to do even more service to your truth, a fully-personalized ring lets you name names, pick out birthstones and show the world who your people really are.

There are rings that carry names, like these 14-karat gold stacking rings, where the names you choose to have with you always are hand-stamped in a custom vintage-style font. Or there are birthstone rings that let you carry your precious jewels right with you, like these sterling silver stackable birthstone rings. There are rings that do both; there are even rings to remind you of your furry friends as well. (They’re family too, right?)

Wow! Such Choice, Here’s How You Can Stack Your Beautiful Rings

You can wear your rings any way that works for you; any way that speaks your truth and tells your story. Personally I love to stack the forward arrows ring and tiny hearts ring with the classic stacking name rings — it’s a sweet way for me to say how I feel about those people, and I guess when I look at them on my finger it just feels right.

One thing we haven’t really covered in this post so far is how you can use stacking rings to say how you feel about yourself. You’re a character in your story too, and it’s just as important to look at that as it is to celebrate the other people you love and live for.

I like to stack a personalized stackable ring that reads ‘be brave’ with the happy dots ring, because sometimes I need reminding that when I remember to be brave and live in my truth, it makes me and the people around me happy, even when there are voices telling us otherwise.

I hesitate to tell you how to wear your stackable rings — it’s so personal, only you really know what’s right here — but I can give you some general pointers to give you something to play with and bounce your own ideas off.

Try the same metal, with different patterns; the color is nearly the same, with just slight variations from stamped patterns and gemstones, so the eye sees shape instead. Build patterns in the rings themselves, out of light, plain rings grouped around a heavier central one or a ring with a prominent stone. Or let several delicate rings together make their own subtle patterns.

Alternatively, try contrasting colors. Mixed metals used to be regarded as a faux pas on the same level as ‘blue and green,’ but that kind of rule doesn’t need to apply to us. Darker and lighter precious metals create strong visual contests; rich yellow gold and the high bright color of sterling silver make their own music of contrasting tones, and when you add red, white and rose gold, you see the palette you have to play with. Maybe each metal means a different person, a different relationship or a different time of your life; it’s your story, so it’s your call.

How many rings can you stack? You’re not limited to just two or three, and it doesn’t have to be on just one finger. When the rings are delicate, you can use a lot without making it look heavy or overloaded. And you can stack the finger past the second knuckle too (in a smaller size of course), if you have the fingers for it!

When it comes to stones, you might be going with birthstones — in which case, things might look better if you keep the metals the same. If the stones are the same, different metals look great. You want it to look intentional and stylish, look for a theme that ties the look together. (If not, don’t worry. It’s about you, not what others say!)

Finally, consider how your rings look with your other jewelry; if you normally wear a lot of jewelry, on your wrists especially, consider sacrificing a piece or two to your rings, or switching a mostly-metal watch for a discreet number with a leather strap. Again, this is about ‘style’ and you should totally ignore it if it isn’t right for you!

You May Just Find Something New in My Stacking Rings Collection

I may have mentioned that I love stackable rings. I love making them as well as wearing them, and just like I’ve built up quite the collection that I like to wear, there’s a growing collection on my website too.

There’s a range of metals, from 14 karat yellow gold all the way through to delicate gold plated and sterling silver rings, and all sorts of patterns: polka dots and hearts, arrows, and more. You can choose birthstones or have your rings show the names of your loves (I always stamp, not engrave, for a more permanent effect and a more personal touch, and yes, they’re always hand-stamped).

If you’re looking for the right stacking rings for an occasion, or to celebrate your loves and your life, take a look over the whole collection. Just remember you can stack any ring!