Did you know that wedding anniversaries have corresponding celebration stones? Like birthstones, there are special stones to commemorate each year of marriage. Instead of giving traditional gifts, like paper for the first year or a waffle iron for any other year, you can present your loved one with a jewlery featuring your wedding anniversary year's corresponding gemstone.
I just discovered that the 10th year anniversary stone is a diamond. And respectfully, it is customary to purchase and/or receive at least a one-carat stone. That one-carat can be constituted as a single solitaire or combined in a diamond wedding band or other design piece.
Has anyone received a diamond jewelry to commemorate their 10th year wedding anniversary? If so, must be nice.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
To Sparkle or Not to Sparkle
When I got engaged many moons ago, I was young, headstrong and adament about being unconventional. I didn't want anything to do with tradition or the norm, and that especially applied to jewelry. The last thing I wanted was to be like every other woman with a diamond ring on her finger to hallmark (or shout, in my opinion) that she was now "offically" engaged and preparing to get married.
Thankfully, my then boyfriend (now husband) knew my feelings about diamonds and asked for my hand in marriage with a beautiful sapphire ring. I know, I know, sapphire is as traditional as it can get given that sapphires have been the stone of choice for royalty (Princess Diana had a sapphire engagement ring) and for old money blue-bloods. But in my opinion, sapphire was NOT a diamond and therefore, I was NOT like every other young engaged woman.
As the years have gone by, I still love my engagement ring and wear it proudly with my wedding band. But something odd and curious has happened. I have grown an affinity and attraction to diamonds! I find myself looking at diamond bands and diamond engagement rings and ooh and ahh at the sparkle and brilliance of the stones. I will casually flip through magazines and stop to gasp at a diamond ring ad and will sometimes even put my hand up to the picture to see what it would look like on me - ! What does this mean? Am I getting old? Am I now "conventional"? What had happend to my anti-diamond taste that represented so much?
I have come to the conclusion that all women love diamonds. There is no denying it. Maybe not all women will wear diamond jewelry, but every woman will stop to gasp and linger at a beautiful diamond piece. This does not mean that she is selling out or being stereotypical, but simply that she loves things that are beautiful, exquisite and most of all, sparkly.
I am now comfortable and proud to say that I love diamonds. Mind you, I don't own a lot of diamond jewelry (very few in fact) but I love to appreciate the craftmanship of a brilliantly cut stone and the beauty of a delicate setting. And yes, I will continue to put my hand up to the diamond ad pictures in magazines to envision (or pretend) what that ring or bracelet would look on me. So when it comes to the question of whether to sparkle or not to sparkle, I will choose to sparkle!
Thankfully, my then boyfriend (now husband) knew my feelings about diamonds and asked for my hand in marriage with a beautiful sapphire ring. I know, I know, sapphire is as traditional as it can get given that sapphires have been the stone of choice for royalty (Princess Diana had a sapphire engagement ring) and for old money blue-bloods. But in my opinion, sapphire was NOT a diamond and therefore, I was NOT like every other young engaged woman.
As the years have gone by, I still love my engagement ring and wear it proudly with my wedding band. But something odd and curious has happened. I have grown an affinity and attraction to diamonds! I find myself looking at diamond bands and diamond engagement rings and ooh and ahh at the sparkle and brilliance of the stones. I will casually flip through magazines and stop to gasp at a diamond ring ad and will sometimes even put my hand up to the picture to see what it would look like on me - ! What does this mean? Am I getting old? Am I now "conventional"? What had happend to my anti-diamond taste that represented so much?
I have come to the conclusion that all women love diamonds. There is no denying it. Maybe not all women will wear diamond jewelry, but every woman will stop to gasp and linger at a beautiful diamond piece. This does not mean that she is selling out or being stereotypical, but simply that she loves things that are beautiful, exquisite and most of all, sparkly.
I am now comfortable and proud to say that I love diamonds. Mind you, I don't own a lot of diamond jewelry (very few in fact) but I love to appreciate the craftmanship of a brilliantly cut stone and the beauty of a delicate setting. And yes, I will continue to put my hand up to the diamond ad pictures in magazines to envision (or pretend) what that ring or bracelet would look on me. So when it comes to the question of whether to sparkle or not to sparkle, I will choose to sparkle!
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