On Willows, on a Hot Spring Day

“... I do not know the dreams from which I have come,/sent into the world without the blessing of a kiss, behind the/willow trees, beside the darkened pansies on the deck beside/the ships, rocking, I have written this, across the back of the/sky, wearing a small and yellow shirt, near the reptile house,/mammalian, no bigger than the herd…” 

from “The Bridge” by Lisa Jarnot

a willow engagement ring from Simply Wood Rings

It’s warm and humid in the studio today and so we’ve been thinking a lot about thirst. A willow tree thrives best at the edge of the water, working hard, stretching its roots outward for sustenance. Perhaps it’s all the heat, but we totally “get” where the willow is coming from today.

Across global cultures, the thirsty willow has been a symbol for keeping in touch with our kindred history and those that came before. Its leaves were used by the ancient Egyptians to control pain, a precursor to modern aspirin. A willow soothes and connects. Because of this, a willow ring is a wonderful way to honor special moments, relationships, and lives, and we think our engagement-profile willow ring says a big, joyous thing in an elegant, quiet, design-forward way.

Our willow is sourced from our friends at Horigan Urban Forest, who found a fallen willow tree at a Skokie elementary school that had been loved a bit too much by the local kids. With its all-wood abstracted engagement profile, and warm honeyed tone, it’s a great fit for minimalists and romantics alike. And to fit this beauty of a ring to your life, we offer wood burning personalizations. What could be better.

For now we’ll drink a big glass of water, remember last winter’s snow and ice, and be grateful for being right where we are.

Puzzle Rings!

Today I would like to talk about puzzle rings. There are many thing about these rings that are wonderful, but I think overall it's a great we to bring three rings to a central theme.

The idea is that the engagement ring and one wedding band fit together like a puzzle. Then there is a curved line that follows the puzzle shape of the ring. This line is added to the larger wedding band, to tie all three rings together!

We've only made a few set's so far, we hope to make more. What do you think about them?

What wood ring will you create?

With all of the options we have for our rings, it's hard to try and decide which ring will be the best for you. Firstly, you need to decide which wood is the right wood.

We have lots of different kinds of wood, and at times out inventory my vary. Local options are always pretty abundant though!

Lovely walnut! We love walnut, whether it's light or walnut dark walnut. Walnut always seems to have a really rich color, and a good grain.

Or there's Cherry, this warm and light colored wood goes great with an inlay.

If you like something a bit more dark and red, try Juniper heart wood!

Or maybe you would choose oak. With such history and symbolism, who couldn't love the meaning and beauty behind oak.

The local woods we have here are great. Some people, however, seem to resonate more with a foreign or exotic wood. When we do get our wood, especially our exotic wood, we do our best to make sure the wood is recycled, or from a reputable source. And here are some of our favorites!

This bright beautiful red wood is really one of a kind! The color alone speaks for it's self.

Light bogwood, dark bogwood, maybe a little of both? This ancient oak from Ireland is a wonderful wood that will make a beautiful and meaning full ring full of history!

How about something with more of a natural contrast? Zebra wood should do the trick! Every ring is different, and every ring is beautiful.

Oak may have a lot of history, but not as much as this Ancient Kauri wood. This wood is 50,000 years old! The grain is like no other, the wood even has a bit of a shimmer to it.

 Rosewood, is probably our most popular wood by far. All of our rosewood comes from old and recycled xylophone keys. If you're a music lover, and like a darker richer wood, you should consider getting a rosewood ring.

Finally, there are the random, donated scrap wood pieces. Some we can identify, some we can't. So if you are looking for something really unique, that you didn't see here, why don't you give us a call! 312-590-6070

These are a few of my favorite RINGS!

Wedding season is right around the corner, and a lot of people out there are getting to work designing their wedding bands. But with all of those options out there, what is the right set for you? Do you stick to something traditional? Simply? Do both rings have to match? To help you think of a few idea's we thought we would share with you some of our favorite wedding bands.

First there are the matching sets.  A classic and beautiful idea, if the two of you can decide on something you both will want to wear!

Some people like to take the more free and fun route. They prefer to create rings that says something about them selves, but with a unifying idea or material between the two rings.

But no matter what you decide to do, we know you will create some rings you love!

America's Greatest Pastime turned into a Wood Ring

There is a lot of different kind of woods out there. And we have such a huge selection to choose from in our shop. But some of the greatest rings that we've made have come from wood given to us by our customers. Even better, when the wood has a cool story to go with it.

Recently we had someone ask us if we could make a ring using a Louisville Slugger bat! Of course, our answer was an enthusiastic "YES"

But we didn't stop there, we also made cuff links and a really cool ring box to keep it all in. I think the cuff links are really a unique touch! Who would have thought, cuff links made from an old baseball bat!

Our favorite part, however, was using that big Louisville Slugger logo for the box. It just seemed to work out so perfectly that the bat made such a cool box to hold the ring and the cuff links.

We are proud to show this set off, check out the rest of the photo's!

Norm Sartorius and Recycled Wood

Last week we had a really fun customer come by our studio in Chicago. We were walking around the shop, and looking at all the different woods we have, and we started looking at this box of just little scrap pieces of wood. Each piece we pulled out of the box was more exciting than the last. We eventually found the right piece of wood for him, you'll see his ring below. But we wanted to share these cool pieces of wood with you!

We are so thrilled anytime anyone donates wood to our shop. It means so much to us to have so many unique and beautiful types of wood. One of the many people who has given us scrap pieces of wood is the great artist, Norm Sartories! He creates, "non-functional wooden spoons" and instead of wasting the pieces he has left over, he like to send them to us and others like us.

Gustav met with Sartorius at the Philadelphia Museum of Art: Craft show a few years back and they hit it off. He sends us a few pieces every so often, and we are honored to use the pieces that Sartorius has provided us with. We hope that you see a few pieces you might like to use in your recycled Norm Sartorius wood ring. We are happy to share them with all of you out there!

If you want to read more about Sartorius, we would love for you to visit his website with the following link: http://www.normsartorius.com/index.html

Top Ten Reasons Why Simply Wood Rings is Simply the Best

1. We are committed to using recycled and salvaged woods to avoid forestation! We collect wood from all types of sources. Either the wood is destined for landfills or has been processed by an equally conscientious company! We've gotten old xylophone keys, marimbas and fret boards, scraps from other wood workers and cabinetry makers and even wood from an awesome company, Horigan Lumber, who saves trees from being turned into mulch and makes them usable lumber! 

2. We are a small company that prides itself on craftsmanship and honest business practices.Our rings are made to order especially for you! It takes around 6-8 weeks to create a ring and we put the most love and care into crafting your special object. 

3. We make incredibly beautiful and strong wooden rings! The founder of SWR, Gustav, developed a technique for creating the rings that mimics the traditional wood working technique of lamination. Thin strips of wood are wrapped into a ring form so each ring has an average of 12 layers of wood with grain that runs along the ring rather than across it. Needless to say, breakage has only occurred by a dog chomping on the ring or a car running it over! 

4. We offer FREE refinishing! (+ the cost of shipping) We whip your ring back to shape if it begins to show ware. We only ask that you pay for shipping. For more information visit our refinishing page! 

5. We work with you to create designs that reflect your unique personality! We incorporate heirloom rings and stones, customer provided woods, all types of stones, flowers, meteorite, dino bone and even a dreadlock! 


6. You can visit our shop and pick out your own wood! Our shop is located in Chicago in a large warehouse in the Pilsen neighborhood. Stop by and see the rings in person and see where all the magic happens! 

7. Wood has an incredible energy! A tree is like a time capsule, it records it's own life events within each layer. When you wear a wood ring, its almost as if it tells its life story.

8. Stand out of the crowd with a non-traditional alternative! Have a metal allergy or like to avoid convention? A wooden ring rejects all the conventional constructs of the wedding industry. Be a salmon! Swim against the current!

9. They're inexpensive! Compared to the status quo of spending up to three times your monthly income on an engagement ring, spend less and go on an awesome honeymoon! Or build a house! Or start a family! Your wallet (and honey) will thank you! 

10. We guarantee you WILL be best friends with Allison our customer liaison! There's no doubt about it Allison is top notch! She'll go out of her way to take care of you! (One customer even exclaimed "I love you Allison! But don't tell my fiancé!").