If you have recently got engaged, you may soon be getting extremely busy with wedding preparations. But while some elements of the day, like the dress, the suits, the cake and the ceremony itself, will come and go, other things will be permanent.
The most important thing of all will be to have a long and happy marriage, but one thing that should also endure is the ring that symbolises it. And since that will be your daily wear for so many years to come, it cannot be a mere afterthought.
Finding the right ring is a task people will approach in different ways. Some might just look around, see something they like and get it. Others may have their own ideas for bespoke rings, for instance, with certain inscriptions. But for some, inspiration may be found in some iconic rings worn by famous people.
Inspiration From The Famous
For example, anyone thinking of diamond wedding bands might consider the rings worn by famous ladies from Beyoncé to Meghan Markle.
An article by The Knot, whose editors boast of seeing thousands of rings, highlighted some of the most dazzling wedding rings sported by these and other famous ladies.
Indeed, if it is diamonds you are looking for, Meghan Markle’s ring might provide some ideas. It is a trilogy ring featuring three diamonds, with by far the largest in the centre. One may say it is fit for a princess, even if she and Harry subsequently opted out of royal life.
This particular style of diamonds can also be seen in the case of Taylor Hill, with a notable and novel quirk being the triangular shapes of the two smaller diamonds flanking the large emerald cut diamond in between.
Others, however, focused very firmly on a single large stone, often an oval, as in the cases of Blake Lively or Hailey Bieber, while those going for an emerald cut diamond included Sofia Richie and Beyoncé.
These ideas are mostly unremarkable beyond the obvious size of some of the stones involved, something you may want to think carefully about when it comes to the budget.
Not Just About Diamonds
Not all the rings featured were all about diamonds, however. Most famously, there is the sapphire surrounded by diamonds in Princess Diana’s wedding ring, which was used again by her son, Prince William, when he married Kate Middleton, making this one the antithesis of a bespoke item of jewellery.
Another royal, Princess Eugenie, sported a similar wedding ring with a sapphire, albeit a rare pink and orange type, while Katy Perry sported a crimson stone (possibly a ruby?) ringed by diamonds, and Jacqueline Kennedy’s wedding ring featured a diamond and an emerald.
Of course, you don’t need to copy any of these designs, but they can give you some ideas to work with and bring to us, giving our jewellers a template with which to work and produce your dream ring.
Not everyone seeks inspiration from celebrities, of course, not least as copying some items of jewellery will be prohibitively expensive for those who are not extremely rich.
Novel Ideas Made Real
Instead, some might seek inspiration from some of the more unusual and novel rings they might have seen. This could take the idea of ‘bespoke’ to a new level and could be a great idea if you have highly individual personalities that you want to express in what you wear.
Wedding magazine Hitched once produced an article on the strangest wedding rings ever worn, with some extremely curious things ending up on fingers on the big day.
Among them was one ring that looked like a crown, all studded with diamonds, while another was a textured gold band encrusted with diamonds.
There were some unusual men’s rings in there too, not featuring diamonds but the timber of a whisky barrel, or the inscribed map of a star constellation.
Perhaps the most inspirational one of all is a pair of rings for a couple that interlock, with the stone in one, representing the sun, fitting in the gap in the other and the moulded rays of the sun being crafted into the gold around the two combined rings.
Talk of unusual wedding rings might remind you of the scene in Four Weddings and a Funeral, where the best man has mislaid the wedding rings and some extremely novel alternatives are hastily borrowed from guests, but you don’t need to go that far.
Even so, there are many great ideas out there you can take inspiration from. Add to that your own imagination and our craftsmanship, and your wedding rings could be something wonderful that will be greatly admired on the day and you will love wearing for the rest of your days together.