Ceramic ring: a napkin ring?

Brass; the smooth section of a nipple, I.e., buy a 6” nipple, cut off the treaded ends to length, finish the ends, protect the metal.

Or, instead of a jury-rigged solution that will look odd, remove the handles and remount them at 90 degrees from their present positions. Then you can mount the faucet normally.

can't those handles come off and be screwed back on to where they won't hit? like, start them in the UP position?

Gloss Glacier White Corian escutcheon. I'd charge you a couple hundred bucks to make one, but it would solve the problem, function perfectly, and look like you planned it that way.

Thanks so much everyone! I was looking for a complicated solution but the simplest thing was to just reposition the handles up as suggested!!

And it will look better :-)