Once upon a time, wedding bands were plain gold, or more likely gold plated. Their value was in the symbolism. "Look, I'm married!" or "Forget him; he's married." Today many who tie the know want something that also symbolizes their individual styles, or rings to set this pair apart from other couples. These individualistic rings not only tell you that someone is married, they can often tell you who they are married to, if you can find the other unique ring in the crowd.

Binary Rings

With a binary ring, you can engrave a coded message of your choice, up to 20 characters. They will be rendered in up to five lines of binary code, perfect for the romantically-inclined computer geek!

Decoder Rings

Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing is getting a decoder ring to use as a wedding ring. This one has three rotating bands that can be lined up to decode secret messages. He's now looking for a proper code.

Intertwined Rings

Rings that intertwine with each other are quite symbolic. They look great together, but I don't know how comfortable they would be to wear apart.

Nuts and Bolt Rings

Kiley Granberg designed a wedding ring set as a nut and bolt. Perfect for the mechanically-minded couple. This is symbolic on more than one level, if you know what I mean.

Ethernet Rings

Taking the connectivity idea a little further, Jana Brevick designed Cat-5 Rings that connect with each other by ethernet connectors. They are available at her Etsy store.

USB Rings

Gas Design and Jennifer Flume have developed the USB Flash Drive Swarovski Crystal Engagement Ring. The two wearers can connect the rings and share data! The ring was created in partnership with famed crystal company Swarovski.

Sphere Rings

It would be cool to have a ring that you could play with. This sphere ring made by acanthusleaf is modeled on a historical pattern that has four rings hinged at different points. Update: Laurie Cavanaugh, who made this ring, has them available at the Mad Jeweler's Workshop.

Remember Rings

There are even rings with embedded technology. The Remember Ring will remind you of your anniversary by getting hotter! Too bad it's only a concept and not available for sale... yet.

Coin Rings

Make your own wedding rings is an individual statement, and will save money, too! You can make rings out of coins, but keep in mind that it is illegal to deface US currency. Still, not all coins are US currency. Watch a video of a similar process here.

Bone Rings

What could be more individual than your own DNA? Scientists and artists have collaborated to make rings out of the wearer's bone tissue. The tissue is taken from a wisdom tooth and grown on a scaffold in the laboratory. However, the original company website is no longer active.

Fingerprint Rings

Just yesterday, I saw a fingerprint ring (which inspired this post). This guarantees that you'll never see anyone else with exactly the same ring! Fingerprint rings are available in many styles. Rings by Gerd Rothmann feature a fingerprint that resembles a charm on top. Jeweler Andrew English does commissioned wedding rings with the fingerprint inside or outside.