Colleen’s Pinky Stack:
The Story Behind the Ring
Everyone Asks About

I never intended for my pinky stack to become such a conversation starter, but here we are. It started as something I made for myself, became part of my everyday uniform, and eventually enough people pointed at my hand and asked, “What’s that?” that we turned it into an official CMD design.

Honestly, I get it. It’s a little showstopper. Bold, architectural, stacked just right and substantial enough to feel like a tiny piece of everyday armor. I wear mine on my pinky, but plenty of people wear it on a middle finger, ring finger or as part of an even bigger stack. Stack until you can’t bend, baby.

The Story Behind My Pinky Stack

For years, I’ve almost always worn some sort of pinky ring. My mom wore a silver signet on her pinky when I was growing up, and apparently that image made a lasting impression. I started simply, with a couple of thin bands, including one gold-fill and one sterling silver. Eventually I started playing with wider bands, square shapes and different metals, and my pinky slowly became its own little design project.

That’s usually how my jewelry collection evolves. When I become really attached to a piece and know I’m going to wear it nonstop, I’ll sometimes slowly upgrade parts of it to solid gold. Not all at once. It’s a gradual, intentional process, especially with the cost of gold, and I actually love that a stack can keep changing right along with you.

The Happy Accident That Became a CMD Design

This particular stack came together through one of those rare studio accidents that ends up leading somewhere much better than planned. We were working on a custom piece for LP Giobbi, and a piece of material we had prepared wasn’t thick enough for the diamonds we intended to set into it.

It did, however, happen to fit me rather perfectly. I added one of our standard rings in a smaller size on top to act as an anchor and lock the wider piece in place, and suddenly there it was: the accidental masterpiece. The combination felt bold, balanced and just a little unexpected, which is usually when I know something is working.

Once I started wearing it in photos and videos, people kept asking about it. Eventually it became clear that this little accidental stack needed a life beyond my own hand.

The Ring Everyone Asks Me About

One of the things I love most about this design is that people rarely wear it exactly the way I do. Mine lives on my pinky, but I’ve seen clients wear it on middle fingers, ring fingers and incorporated into larger CMD stacks. Somehow it manages to feel bold without being overwhelming and modern without feeling overly trendy.

One client, Pam, found the stack after seeing it in a video and actually reverse-searched the image with Google Lens. She eventually ordered her own version to wear on her right ring finger as a meaningful piece connected to her mom. That interaction stayed with me because it captured what I love most about this work: a design can begin with my own story and then take on an entirely different meaning once it becomes part of yours.

Two Ways to Wear Colleen’s Pinky Stack

We eventually created two versions of the stack so you can choose the one that makes the most sense for the way you wear jewelry, the materials you love and the investment you want to make.

Colleen’s Pinky Ring Set — Special Occasion Version is closest to my original stack, combining solid gold and sterling silver in the bold four-ring composition that started all of this.

Colleen’s Pinky Ring Set — Everyday Version captures the same architectural shape and impact in a more accessible combination of materials. Same attitude, same structure, different way in.

And despite the name, you absolutely do not have to wear it on your pinky. Wear the full set exactly as designed, move it to another finger, split the rings up, add something else to the mix or let it become the starting point for a stack that keeps growing over time.

Your Stack Doesn’t Have to Be Finished

This may be my favorite thing about ring stacking: there is no final answer. You can start with a pre-designed set, build one ring at a time, commemorate something important or simply add a piece because you can’t stop thinking about it. Over the years, the stack changes, new rings enter the picture and others migrate to different fingers.

That evolution is part of the point. Around here, we sometimes call a great stack CMD Armor. Not because bigger is always better, but because the pieces you wear every day eventually become part of your routine, your body language and the way people recognize you. I don’t want jewelry spending most of its life waiting inside a box for the right occasion. I want it out in the world with you, collecting scratches, stories and evidence of a life well lived.

Want to Build a Stack of Your Own?

If you love the Pinky Stack exactly as it is, you can shop either version and make it yours. If you’d rather start somewhere else, explore our pre-designed ring sets or shop individual rings and build your stack one piece at a time.

If you have something more personal in mind, you can also book an appointment with me virtually or in person. Helping someone find the combination that feels unmistakably like them is still one of my favorite parts of this work.

However yours begins, I hope you wear the hell out of it.

Stack ’em high,
Colleen

© Colleen Mauer Designs. All rights reserved.
Published: June 4, 2025
Updated: August 25, 2026