What I Love About a Good Ring Bar Happy Hour

There was a stretch of time when Friday meant one thing around here: Ring Bar Happy Hour. I’d hop onto Instagram, pull out a pile of rings and spend some time showing different ways to start a stack, build on one you already loved or completely change the feel of a hand with one unexpected addition.

What I loved most about those sessions wasn’t the idea of creating one “perfect” stack. It was showing how much personality can come from playing with the same handful of rings in different ways. A stack can feel clean and minimal one day, heavier and more graphic the next, and somehow still feel completely like you.

The Best Stacks Usually Start With What You Already Own

One of my favorite ways to build a ring stack is to start with the pieces someone already wears constantly. Maybe there’s a sentimental band you never take off, a square ring that has become part of your uniform or one little diamond ring that everything else seems to orbit around.

From there, it becomes a matter of experimenting. Add a wider band. Repeat a metal somewhere else in the stack. Introduce a different shape. Move one ring to another finger. Sometimes the combination that finally clicks is the one you never would have planned on paper.

Mixing Is Half the Fun

I’ve never been interested in making every ring in a stack perfectly match. I love mixing widths, finishes and metals because that tension is usually what makes the whole thing interesting. Bright silver next to oxidized silver changes both. A little yellow gold can warm up an otherwise cool stack. One diamond can pull your eye exactly where you want it to go.

If you want to start experimenting on your own, our Stack Ring Sets and Individual Rings are good places to get ideas. You don’t need to recreate a set exactly. Use it as a jumping-off point and make it your own.

The Ring Bar Spirit Is Still Very Much Alive

The old Friday Instagram Happy Hours may belong to another CMD chapter, but I still love doing exactly the same kind of experimenting with clients. Give me a hand and a pile of rings and I’m very happy.

You can book an appointment if you want a little help figuring out what your stack needs, or come see us during Open Hours in Asbury Park and we can start stacking in person.

And yes, I still fully support the philosophy of #stackuntilyoucantbend.

Here’s to one more ring than you thought you needed,
Colleen

© Colleen Mauer Designs. All rights reserved.
Published: July 30, 2020
Updated: August 19, 2026