selection of wood

HolzTraum’s selection of wood includes hand-cut veneer from local woods. But industrially manufactured veneers are also on offer. Here you can see what has already been made into rings. I also have arctic white ash, lemon tree, walnut root and carob tree. The veneers are still waiting to be realised.


Maple wood

Colour: light beige | Grain: without grain / bird’s eye | Hardness: medium

Maple wood from the trunk has almost no grain. It is excellent for engraving longer text, fine lettering, or small lettering. Root maple or bird’s eye maple has an amorphous structure of tiny eye-like adhesions. When engraving, it can happen that the laser engraves the writing less dark in the hard regions of the eyes. The typeface becomes irregular as a result. This cannot be avoided with bird’s eye maple. If you prefer an even engraving, you should choose smooth maple wood.

Spalted beech

Colour: beige to brown | Grain: crossed by black streaks | Hardness: medium

Spalted beech wood is very diverse in colour. The veneer strips are hand cut so there are always two identical structures resulting in very similar pairs of rings. The grain and the brightness can vary greatly. Sometimes the color changes unexpectedly in the vacuum. Sometimes streaks become thicker and sometimes thinner in the valuum. This cannot be calculated in advance. An exalted wood that undoubtedly produces very individual rings. But a certain amount of random in the game with the wood is unmanageable.

Cherry wood

Colour: beige, darkens a little | Grain: tiny rays or without | Hardness: medium

Cherry wood is now also available from our own production, so that every ring shimmers in the light with tiny rays of wood. Cherry wood becomes darker towards the middle of the trunk, i.e. the more ripe it is. It is good for engraving.

Walnut / natural oak

Colour: brown, beige | Grain: wood rays | Hardness: medium hard

Two types of wood that I mainly use for the inside of the ring when engraving is desired in dark rings. Walnut wood inside the ring in the first picture. On the second picture walnut in the front, natural oak in the back. Other, darker oak woods follow below.

Erica arborea

Colour: beige to salmon-colored | Grain: small dots due to wood rays | Hardness: hard

Veneer from our own production. Cut from a piece of firewood from La Gomera. The tiny wooden rays are characteristic. They are mostly seen as dots, rarely as stripes. The wood is extremely hard and beige to salmon in colour. It is good for engraving.

Mirabelle wood

Colour: beige, reddish brown, brown | Grain: wood rays | Hardness: medium

Mirabelle wood from our own production of local fruit trees always has iridescent wood rays. The coloring ranges from beige in the sapwood to reddish brown to brown in the mature wood. Feel free to tell your preferences, It is suitable for engraving.

Rose wood

Colour: brick red to dark brown | Grain: Stripes through annual rings | Hardness: hard

Rosewood is a very hard wood that is characterized by its noticeable growth rings. The stripes usually run parallel to the edges of the ring, occasionally somewhat diagonally. Knotholes or irregularities are rare.
Rosewood is suitable for short engravings of some characters. For longer engravings, I recommend a two-tone ring, either maple wood on the inside or lighter rosewood on the inside.

Apple wood

Colour: reddish brown, brown | Grain: plain, possibly black streaks | Hardness: medium

The apple wood seen here is reddish brown and industrial veneer.
I now also have apple veneer from my own production, which is a bit lighter. Apple wood has hardly any structure. It is suitable for short engravings.

Elm wood

Color: yellow, light brown, gray | Grain: conspicuous, geometric to dotted | Hardness: medium

Elm wood is also called elm. It is very diverse in color. Classically, elm wood is light brown, as can be seen inside the ring at the top right. The elm wood I cut myself turns yellow when it comes into contact with lye.
When elm wood matures under water in a bog for several hundred years, it is referred to as bog elm wood, which has a grey-brown colour.
The grain of elm wood is unique. The wood is traversed by partly wide wood rays, which result in a geometric pattern with the annual rings.

Stone oak

Colour: grey| Grain: mostly diagonal wood rays | Hardness: medium

The wood I call “holm oak” is oxidized, gray oak wood. It is conditionally suitable for engraving if the text is not too long. Alternatively, the innermost layer of wood can be made of a lighter wood.

Bog oak, smoked oak

Colour: brown-black, grey-black| Grain: diagonal rays | Hardness: medium

Oak wood can be stained dark by two processes.
Smoked oak as shown is uniformly brown to black and occasionally streaked with iridescent diagonal rays.
Bog oak is oak wood that has matured in the bog. It is slightly more structured with dark gray wood rays.

Smoked eucalyptus

Colour: black| Grain: without grain | Hardness: hard

Deep black hard wood mostly without grain.

FAQ ring selection

Yes, there is no personalization configurator on my website, because I wouldn’t even know what to set there. Much more is usually possible than a configurator would allow. If you have any questions as to whether your wishes can be implemented, call me (+49 160 933 339 35) or write me at m@holztraum-ringe.de

When you go to the checkout there is a free text field in which you can please enter the ring size, width, engraving text etc. If you missed the field, just send me an e-mail with the data.

Production usually takes two to four weeks.

If you are in a hurry, please ask BEFORE by phone.

the shipping costs are
wirhin Germany 4,50€
within EU monetary union 8,50€
to Switzerland 12,50€

For all other countries, please inquire beforehand.

I send the rings by post, the ring boxes as a consignment. Delivery to packing stations is not possible.

“Clandestine” deliveries with Hermes Shop-to-Shop are possible on request.

You can choose to pay with PayPal or in advance.

The rings offered in the shop are personalized made-to-measure products, which unfortunately cannot be exchanged according to the terms and conditions.

It is therefore all the more important that you determine the ring size in advance. Or read Giving a Ring Without a Size.

FAQ about the order process

In general, wooden rings fit just like metal rings. So the material does not play a role in determining the ring size.
Note, however, that the individual fingers of one hand have different strengths. If the ring is to be worn on a specific finger, you will need the ring size for that finger. Dehydrating drinks such as coffee, sage tea or red wine but also pregnancy can affect the measurement result.

If you don’t know your ring size and walking around town isn’t an option, you can order a ring sizer with the ring. I will then send it to you in advance free of charge.

A String, chewing gum paper, bag seals or grandma’s tape measure are definitely not suitable tools for determining the ring size at home. I can no longer change the ring size of finished rings. Expanding or compressing, as is possible with metal rings, is impossible with a wooden ring.

It is mainly a matter of personal taste how ready a ring should be.
It is generally said that a wide ring looks good on a slender finger, and a narrow ring looks better on a strong, short finger.

But it is also the case that a narrow ring tends to pinch the neighboring fingers. A washer would be the extreme. A very wide ring, on the other hand, can limit the freedom of movement of the finger.

A small ring, e.g. size 48, is 4mm narrow and 8mm wide. A medium-sized one, e.g. size 60, is narrow at 4.5mm and wide at 9mm. A really large ring, e.g. size 70, is narrow at 5mm and wide at 11mm. Medium is in between, rule of three is possible.

Luxury (most sold)
Each luxury ring in my collection is covered with a matt polished, closed layer of acrylic resin. This looks very elegant and makes it more durable and hard-wearing (a ring like this can withstand a 40° wash cycle in the washing machine).

glossy
Like luxury, only polished to a high gloss. With finely structured woods, the glossy surface emphasizes the wood structure. However, the surface can become matt or shiny over time through daily use, depending on the stress.

pure
The pur rings in my collection are stabilized with acrylic resin but not sealed. The rings are a bit more natural but also more sensitive.
Rings made of black oak are not available in “Pure” due to the structure of the wood.

I engrave in the ring using a laser engraver. The laser beam burns letters, characters or shapes into the wood. You can choose from different fonts. I can also use image templates that only consist of black and white in jpg and png format.

Light to brown wood and a ring width of 4.5 mm or more are advantageous for an engraving.

It is difficult in dark wood, because black on black is difficult to read. Here I recommend choosing the inside of the ring from a lighter wood.
It is also difficult to engrave 30 characters in a small ring. Smaller font is harder to read.

With a Bentwood ring, the wood is bent with the grain so that a ring with 3-4 thin layers of wood glued together is created from a 25-30cm long veneer strip. This process makes the ring much more statically resilient than a turned wooden ring would be, and allows a lower material thickness of 2.2 mm and upwards.

Nevertheless, a wooden ring has a limited lifespan. Comparable to floors, there are materials for eternity and some for feeling good. A metal ring lasts a lifetime, a wooden ring cannot. It will wear out like a wooden floor.
Sand and hard objects that leave dents in the wood will damage the ring. You should take off the wooden ring for gardening, climbing, playing in the sand or carrying beer crates. Showering, washing your hands or going to the sauna is no problem.

Water and heat SOMETIMES. AVOID bruising, bending or sanding.

Unfortunately, since made-to-measure rings are non-returnable, buying a ring based on an estimated size is risky. If you would like to surprise someone with a ring from HolzTraum, call me first on +49 160 933 339 35 or email me at m@holztraum-ringe.de

I have almost 100 rings in different sizes and types of wood in stock, from which you can choose one that you are happy to give away as a surprise and then return it to configure your personal dream ring.

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