Having spent the last weekend helping a friend of mine pour over no less than 1000 various wrist tattoo designs—because that’s what good friends do, I can personally vouch that all of the designs on this list are the foam of a very large glass of wrist tattoo designs. While yes, everyone has their own tastes and objectives when it comes to picking out a wrist tattoo, there are some designs that transcend personal preference.
Perfectly suited for that part of your body connecting your arm to your hand, these tattoo designs will inspire anyone, no matter what your style may be. By the time you are finished scrolling this list, you’ll be wondering why you were cursed with only two wrists instead of the countless radiocarpal joints you’ll need to satisfy your ink cravings.
The wrist is one of the most popular locations for tattoo noobs to get inked. Especially with women. If for no other reason than the cool factor alone. The combination of tiny minimalistic designs, vivid watercolor works, elegant bracelets, and intricate ornamental displays, in the following gallery samples almost all of the various design choices in one fell swoop. While it’s clear that the prospects for your upcoming wrist tattoo just got a lot better, we’re still hoping you settle on something original and awe-inspiring so we can feature in on a future list.
This segmented mandala design.
Creativity at its best. This well-designed wrist tattoo features a negative space band while boasting multiple layers of mandala flower petals. Subtle shading gives the piece an extra dimension of depth which compliments the negative space element. (Photo: Sara Reichardt)
These dotwork arrows.
An abstract geometric creation anchored by arrow shapes of various design. While the top and bottom of the wrist are the most traditional locations for wrist tattoos, the back side of the wrist is quickly becoming our favorite. (Photo: Maksim Lopez)
This beautiful watercolor leaf.
Here we have another design located on the back side of the wrist. A soft and elegant leaf is wonderfully accented with subtle watercolor strokes. (Photo: Banul)
These stars.
So simple yet so beautiful. These spaced out stars form a bracelet that has class written all over it. How Gain was able to achieve such uniform micro stars is nothing short of amazing. (Photo: Tattooist Grain)
This floral wreath wrist tattoo.
The artist labeled this floral design as “minimalistic” but we’d like to argue that. From close up these flora might seem simple but when you view the piece from a distance as a whole, it looks rather complex. (Photo: Yeliz Ozcan)
This rose.
The addition of a little color to a black and grey ink design makes everything in the world OK. While this isn’t the first time Zihwa has dabbled in this sort of contrasting design, it’s definitely one her best. (Photo: Zihwa)
This space-themed wrist tattoo.
As of late, space tattoos are all the rage. So it should come as no surprise that this list features not one, not two, but three of these trendy cosmic designs. This one happens to be the only one it color though. (Photo: Zihee)
This anatomical heart.
This detailed single-needle-work features an expert combination of dots and lines. Anatomical hearts are popular tattoo choices but this is the first one we’ve seen on a wrist. In fact, this might just be our next tattoo. (Photo: OOZY)
This dotwork mandala flower.
A rising trend in relation to dotwork mandala designs is the negative space between each segment, and this wrist tattoo is an excellent example. These designs aren’t as easy as they look to execute correctly. (Photo: Chris Jones)
This blackwork floral wrist tattoo.
There’s nothing more classy than a little blackwork floral tattoo. This design enjoys a unique placement of the top of the wrist. As a design that will never go out of style, this is a great option for anyone looking for something simple and classic. (Photo: Liana Joy)
