The state of finger bling today: Are nail rings the new knuckle rings?

by Emily Thompson July 4, 2013

Chanel Nail Rings — Photography courtesy of Chanel

Chanel has introduced a new breed of finger-bling to our ever-growing ring vocabulary. At the brand’s couture show in Paris yesterday, models went without their regular pre-show manicures (gasp) and sported thin glittery bands wrapped around each nail instead. Behold the debut of the nail ring. Ever the trendsetter, Karl Lagerfeld’s newest addition to the fast growing world of digit-bling comes in the midst of the knuckle ring craze. Yes if you haven’t been paying attention, the state of rings today is fast a changing and the options are better than ever.

For as far back as ancient Egypt, the blinged out ring has been a symbol of wealth. In modern times, that translated to the glitzy cocktail ring favourited by screen queens like Elizabeth Taylor, and more recently, the Olsen twins.

The traditional ring placement seems over and out as of late though, with the two-finger ring taking centre stage on the diamond dusting fingers of Lana Del Rey. The “Bad” ring she wore often during her first few months of fame were widely copied. The fierce, full-finger piece demands attention however you wear it, but adds the perfect amount of sparkle to a simpler outfit. Similar to the armor ring is the cage ring. A fave of Kstew, the cage ring is a slightly milder version of the full-finger bling and rests somewhere between the middle and the top of your finger. As we move up we reach the knuckle ring, which demands a “less is more” aesthetic. The style rests daintily above the knuckle in the most feminine way as seen on the runway at Chloe Comme Parris’ (Beaufille) fall show.

At the top, we have the newly minted nail rings, which, despite their cute-factor, present their fair share of challenges when it comes to functionality. Position is key with these simplified accessories. What better way to make heads turn than to shift things up a bit (no pun intended)?

Were taking cues from Rihanna who’s showed she knows a thing or two about mixing and matching all of these covetable styles. The musician, who doubles as a daring fashionista, opts for knuckle rings with delicate shapes that she pairs with edgier pieces for the necessary bad girl edge.

Now that we’ve reached the top with nail rings, it would seem that there’s nowhere else to go. Might they return to the base of the finger in future? That may just be Karl’s call.