An inclined knee, a scattering of rose petals, and a that glowed white and blinding. This could have been the dream of an ideal engagement. However, Jeremy Chiang and his fiance, Bertin Huynh, decided that they’d go about things differently. They both wanted to propose to one another and also to wear the symbolic rings they had created.
Chiang and Huynh decided on sapphires and rose gold. The two finalists chose rose gold and sapphires – “we wanted something more subtle than yellow gold,” Chiang adds Chiang and Huynh. They also chose complementary but different styles. Huynh’s ring features an “elaborate, molten design; he wanted the ring to look as if it grew out of the Earth” as a tribute to his passion for nature. It’s set with an Australian sapphire as well as a smaller, light blue diamond. Chiang’s design, however, is more simple and more smooth. It also comes with diamond and sapphire, although smaller and off-kilter.
For certain couples, the decision isn’t about the style or style of the rings but rather whether to get engagement rings in the first place. The author, advocate Bri Lee, and her husband decided to steer clear of the mixing of romance and displays. “I’m a romantic – I love love – but the wedding-industrial complex is just such a beast,” she states. “To me, the most important things like love, intimacy and adoration don’t have to be associated with unintentional consumption. I’m speaking only to western cultures obviously, and where engagement rings are typically the start of a lengthy display, which can include purchases.”
In the West, It’s becoming increasingly difficult to disentangle the notion of engagement rings from, specifically, diamond rings. However, it’s generally accepted that the traditional use of the diamond as the stone of engagement is a concept that dates back to relatively recent times. Pop culture has also been a major player.
In 1939, towards the conclusion of the film Gone with the Wind, one of the most successful films ever made, Rhett Butler proposes to Scarlett O’Hara. “What kind of ring would you like, my darling?” she asks him. “Oh that’s an engagement ring with diamonds. Make sure you buy a nice huge one Rhett,” she insists.
Fourteen years later, In the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Marilyn Monroe assured viewers that “diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”
In between those two iconic cinematic moments, British diamond juggernaut De Beers has launched among the more profitable marketing campaigns of all time. In 1947, Copywriter Mary Frances Gerety inextricably tied engagement rings to diamonds using four words: “A diamond is forever.” The meaning is obviously that your love, lit by the shimmering diamond on the finger of your pet, is also eternal.
In 2023, it’s a world with engagement rings that’s a vastly different one. Just a few years ago, the notion of an engagement ring with no stone set inside a pave or platinum band was a fictitious idea. It’s now a reflection of a changing society.
Gay weddings were legalized 20,17, resulting in Australian jewelers witnessing a rising desire for men’s rings. Recently, COVID-19 propelled an already increasing demand for smaller, intimate weddings and a more modern method of observing marriage customs in general. These trends, as well as the plethora of couples who desire their jewelry to reflect their unique style, have led to an evolution of traditional engagement rings. Colored stones, different bands, and individual settings The ring is evolving forward.
The rising trend is apparent in the figures. As of the month December 20, diamond set precious metal jewelry was down 8.8% when compared with December 2021, as per Retail Edge, which says it collected information “from POS software located in more than 400 independent jewellery stores” in Australia. In the two years preceding Christmas 2020, the sales dropped 16 percent. In contrast, jewelry set with gemstones remained the same between 2021 and 2022.
Sarah Gardner, who runs her jewelry brand based out of a store located in Paddington, Sydney, has witnessed the trend shift towards colored precious stones. Her company, which creates most of its jewelry to be ordered, has worked with a variety of rocks. However, she has witnessed the number of couples seeking “unconventional” styles grow rapidly in the past five to ten years.
“We’re seeing that people generally don’t just want one stone,” she adds. “They need a distinctive modern, contemporary look. They are looking for the color. Instead of the classic white diamond people are now embracing’salt and pepper’ diamonds which are completely distinct.”
“Salt and Pepper” terminology refers to diamonds that have imperfections that naturally occur, making the stones appear to be flecked. The way diamonds were evaluated was based on their clarity (as well as on the three Cs that are cut, color, and carat), and this would render “salt and pepper” stones in these terms generally less worth the money. However, today’s buyers are not so focused on clarity, according to Gardner, and are more focused on the uniqueness of the diamond. “Everyone is looking for something unique to their own. It could be adding a birthstone or an individual style for families,” she says.
The jeweler based in Sydney and curator of gems, Nina Cueva, focuses on creating unique designs of rings that allow couples, heterosexual or queer, to show their individuality even within the traditional sense of engagement. “We’re definitely moving away from just diamonds,” she declares. “People want to know the source of their stones. Origin is becoming increasingly important.”
Cueva says that couples come to her for transparency because they want to know more and want to know the makers and processes behind the creation of the objects they wear for the rest of their lives.
“People would like to know what the stone is mined. We work with small, artisanal mining sites, which means that the stone is passed directly from the hands of miners to mine. And then I learned details about stones as well.
“It’s not just it’s a gorgeous, beautiful thing. I’ve got a provenance, as well as all the other information that comes to it.”
The majority of the gems that she uses include, for example, those found in Chiang and his fiancee Huynh’s wedding rings and Australian sapphires. Sapphires can last longer than diamonds and are an alternative to diamonds due to their toughness, Cueva says, which is why they are suitable for daily wear.
Cueva was able to see the trend towards unconventional stones increase following COVID-19, but she also noticed it growing for about a decade prior. “I’ve always kind of said to people, with these things, there’s no rules anymore.”
Customers also visit Gardner and Cueva looking to reuse jewelry. They’ll take the piece that has sentimental value in the hopes of using it in a ring that is a fresh design. “So this is also becoming more popular and is becoming more sustainable and more personal. Instead of buying things that are new every day we’re recycling and creating or embellishing,” Gardner says.
It’s a theme that runs through all conversations I have with jewelers or those who hunt for jewelry: the desire for a unique symbol that is unique and stands on its own. However, while Chiang or his fiancée’s ring appears “unconventional” in the aesthetic sense, the significance of their meaning is as old-fashioned as you can get.
Chiang claims that each ring is a symbol of the extent of their “commitment to one another – that we continue to support each other through every hardship and challenge that life may throw at us.” He also says that, above all, the jewelry “symbolizes the union of two people who are very much in love with one another, as cliched as it sounds.”