April 20 2008
I saw a girlfriend recently who has just returned from her honeymoon without a ring in sight - not an engagement nor a wedding ring. Not that she didn't get a wedding ring, but she lost it somewhere in the hotel on her honeymoon and the engagement ring, well that was never made on time before the wedding anyway. Since I am a jewellery person myself I can talk buckets on those subjects. So here we go:
Engagement ring: girlfriends - don't be persuaded that you have to have a diamond ring, not unless you want to of course. "A Diamond is forever" is a phrase that was coined as a marketing ploy by De Beers in 1947.
Before that, engagement rings were made of pearls, rubies, sapphires, any coloured stones, you name it. Also, don't think that it has to be something that you have to wear every day for the rest of your life. That is what the wedding ring is there for. Engagement ring can be bold, big and extravagant and you only have to wear it on your wedding finger every day until you get married. After that you can wear it on any finger you like, on any day of the year, or not wear it at all. So I say go for it!
For most women it is the single most expensive piece of jewellery they will ever get (unless you are in the lucky few...), and that is why they choose something they can wear day in and out. But that can become a bit boring. Since these days most women actually choose their own engagement rings then you can choose something that reflects your personality at the time, something that goes with your current outfits and something a bit crazy and special, a bit like falling in love...
Wedding ring: OK, so this is a different story. Choose something you can wear every day for the rest of your life, with every outfit, any jewellery and every possible hair colour change that you can imagine you might ever want to do. The big question is whether to go for yellow or white gold? In the end it doesn't really matter since you can always plate another colour on top of it without it losing its value. My mother even had hers reshaped in a square shape and it looks really good now. It is all about keeping the same piece of metal since the superstition says that gold channels ones own energy.
And about losing jewellery: well, the single best advice I could possibly give you: never, ever take your ring off your finger! You should only take it off at the same place, always put it in the same drawer, jewellery box, bathroom cabinet, a safe - but always, always, always in the same place. So extra caution when you are travelling and taking it off in different places. But never ever - please! - don't take it off to wash your hands in public toilets! That is really when most people loose their precious rings. Now what would you rather have: a bit of soap stuck onto your ring or no soap and no ring either?
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Lara Bohinc