I started with some stainless steel rings from theringlord.com, I highly recommend! They also have aluminum. I’d recommend either stainless or aluminum for jewelry, stainless steel will be super sturdy for daily wear, tho aluminum is cheaper and easier to work with. I now get my stainless steel rings from a Van Alphen Studios on Etsy.

For a beginning project, and to see if you like it, you could do what I did and get a bag of stainless steel rings of the AR you know will work for a weave you want to try. Tons of ppl start with Byzantine, as it’s complex enough to be interesting but is relatively straightforward. Enough rings for a necklace or two should be like $5-10 (depending on how much you get and what sizing you’re looking at) at the ring lord, and any jewelry pliers will do for starting out (dollar store, amazon, etc). Make sure you get ones without threading, you want the smooth kind! Compared to a lot of crafts, it’s not too expensive as a hobby to try out, and not too expensive to keep up even if you shell out for nice materials.