The Many Styles of Belly Button Rings

Because belly button rings have become so popular in the past two decades, manufacturers and designers are developing new styles and varieties every single day. You can find belly rings online for as little as $2.00 and for as much as several hundred dollars for solid gold and real diamonds.

This piercing is a favorite of many because it is very simple to hide and relatively easy to maintain. Of all the popular body piercings, navel rings can take the longest amount of time to heal, but, nonetheless, they are very common.

Below is a lest of the most common styles of belly button rings and a brief explanation of how they fit. Each of these styles is available in retails stores, as well as online.

Traditional Non-Dangling

These belly button rings are the oldest, and probably the most popular. They're kind of like an old standard of the body jewelry industry. They are most commonly made with a curved barbell, sometimes referred to as a banana-bell. Typically there is a 3mm acrylic ball on the top and a 5 mm acrylic ball on the bottom. They are made from both steel and plastic materials and tend to be the least expensive. Traditional non-dangling belly button rings are usually 14 gauge and the balls are sometimes decorated with gems and jewels.

Dangling

Dangling belly button rings can vary from just a short charm to a long chain that wraps around the wearers waste. They include anything from flags to jewels and even words or personalized holographic pictures. Although they sometimes come in a plastic or bioflex design, the most popular material for these navel rings is steel or titanium. The top portion of the belly ring uses a banana-bell and fit the same way the non-dangling rings do. They difference is that they extend further and feature an additional charm, jewel or adornment. For this reason, they are generally more expensive.

Reverse

This kind of belly ring is sometimes difficult to understand, especially when customers only see a picture online. They're actually quite simple to explain, however. They use the same gauge and style as the non-dangling ring and dangling ring, except that the gems or decorations extend from the top ball rather than the bottom. The belly button ring extends in front of the navel, rather than dangling below it. Sometimes the extended portion is free moving, but most often it is a collection of small gems welded together to make a solid decoration.

Spiral

Spiral navel rings are a fairly new style but have become very popular. They are non dangling but they are twisted into the piercing rather than being pushed straight through. They are no more painful to put in and they rarely have any dangling portions. They typically feature a 3mm acrylic ball on both the top and bottom, although sometimes there is a gem or other decoration in the center of the navel.