On first impression, the ink appears to be a thick, dark armband with three circular holes in it, wrapped around Jordan Wood’s upper forearm.

However, with a closer look, you can see that this mark is a little more permanent than a typical armband — it’s a tattoo.

This tattoo is more than just art inked onto his body, though. It has a deeper meaning than meets the eye.

“It’s actually my wedding band,” Wood, a teaching assistant for ETS 154: “Interpretation of Film,” said.

A former undergraduate professor who had dedicated a similar tattoo to his own 30th anniversary instead of purchasing another ring inspired this unconventional form of a wedding band.

“I liked the idea a lot, so when I did get married, I took the idea and made it my own,” Wood said. “It was my professor’s idea originally, I guess. But it was definitely my idea to get it on myself.”

The tattoo is a dark band located about an inch below his elbow.  It has three circles on the inside of his arm and three lines connecting the circles.

The design of his wedding band is actually inspired by a combination of two important pieces of jewelry connected to his relationship with his wife.

“The three circles are from a bracelet my partner got me when we first started dating, and the three connecting lines are transposed from my more conventional, metal wedding ring,” he said. “Yes, I have one of those too.”

His arm may seem like an unusual place to get a wedding band tattoo, but the reason Wood opted for the arm rather than the customary finger is because finger tattoos tend to fade easily, and he was looking for something more long-lasting.

Although Wood did have his arm tattooed, his wife decided to skip the ink and stick with the traditional, physical wedding ring. Despite the decision to forgo her own tattooed wedding band, she approves of her husband’s choice.

“My wife doesn’t have one at all, actually. She’s not huge into getting tattoos on her own body, but she likes mine a lot,” Wood said.

As of now, Wood’s wedding band is his only tattoo, but that does not mean it will always be his only ink.

Said Wood: “It is my only tattoo right now, but I have a few more designs that I’ll be getting done soon.”

Published on October 1, 2012 at 11:43 pm

Contact Brooke: bsfreund@syr.edu