Men’s wedding ring brand Manly Bands recently released what may be its most archetypally manly bands to date.
The Vineyard, Utah–based e-comm brand has partnered with iconic whiskey maker Jack Daniel’s on a collection of men’s bands that incorporate white oak wood sourced from actual Jack Daniel’s whiskey barrels.
The Manly Bands Jack Daniel’s Whiskey Barrel Collection inlays the aged wood into atypical metals (titanium, cobalt chrome, Damascus steel, and black zirconium) to create simple, streamlined—and yes, very traditionally masculine-looking—rings. Prices start at $750 and top out at $2,250 for the single gold style in the collection, the 10k yellow Honey ring.
But, lo! This is not Manly Bands’ first foray into fabricating beefy bands from the wood of spirit barrels. The four-year-old company has an impressive track record of experimenting with all kinds of Game of Thrones–ready materials, including rare woods, meteorite, and dinosaur bone.
But the debut of the Jack Daniel’s series does mark the company’s first cobranded barrel wood collection. And the rings are cobranded to the hilt: Each Jack Daniel’s style comes in a ring box that includes a certificate of authenticity for the handcrafted aged barrels used to make the series.
“We wanted to capture the unique history of Jack Daniel’s and celebrate its authentic spirit, and how it has survived in a dry county and through prohibition,” says brand cofounder and co-CEO Michelle Luchese. “Now that’s commitment—just like marriage!”
She adds, “Jack Daniel’s represents a bold and rugged brand as American as apple pie. Manly Bands celebrates those values and helps men celebrate their commitment to their spouse with a ring as bold and traditional as Jasper ‘Jack’ Daniel himself.”
Luchese founded Manly Bands—a direct-to-consumer, e-commerce brand that targets men looking for nontraditional and rugged wedding rings—with her husband, Johnathan Ruggiero, in 2016, after the couple had trouble finding a wedding band big enough for Ruggiero. As she wrote on the brand’s About Us page, “We wanted to create a buying experience with reverence, class, and love for all men and women,” adding, “Because John’s fingers are larger, we were told we were going to need to buy a super boring white gold custom band that was going to cost over $1,100—much more than my custom band with yellow diamonds. We were floored.”
Top: Manly Bands’ Twain ring made from Damascus steel and white oak whiskey barrel wood, $1,000 (all photos courtesy of Manly Bands)
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