Jewellery News

When a regular guy happens to not wear his wedding ring one day, no one gives it a second thought. He could have put on weight, his ring could have gone to be resized, his finger could be hurt or he could just have forgotten to put it back on after a game of golf or tennis. However, when it happens to be Russell Brand, it’s big news and the speculation begins and everyone jumps onto the gossip bandwagon. That’s what comes of being a celebrity – anything you do is fodder for gossip.

Russell Brand was spotted on the streets of New York, strolling along sans his wedding ring. Before that, Katy Perry was spotted on the X Factor show without her wedding ring on and speculation flowed fast and furious on both sides of the Atlantic. However, it was back on her finger in a couple of days so all seemed well. And then, this. And so soon after the two were seen riding bicycles around town in New York. Katy had flown in specially to spend a few days with Russell in between her very hectic shooting schedules – and his tour schedules too.

So his finger without the ring brought back the old gossip that all wasn’t well with their marriage. Yes, they are apart very often thanks to their work and they both have quite punishing schedules. However, sources close to them say that they do spend quality time together like catching a movie together when they can or of course, cycling around together. The on-off wedding ring thing is another matter altogether and seeing so many stars resort to it, one wonders if it is just a ploy to keep them in the public eye. If they need to be seen in print, they need to be doing something that is different and worthy of gossip. Is that all there is to it?

Men didn’t have too much of a choice in wedding rings till a few years, maybe a decade ago. It was always the plain wedding band made of gold and the only unique thing about it could be the engraving and the date inside. Outwardly, all men’s wedding rings looked the same – some were slimmer, some were thicker. Then came a choice over the past few years of white gold and platinum wedding rings for men. Today, however, there is a vast choice for men to choose from.

The other metals that are finding favour with men are tungsten, palladium and titanium. Suddenly, a steely masculine colour became a lot more popular. Not just manly looking, these metals are a lot stronger than traditional gold and a lot more resistant to scratches. Today, there are even more options. Now, men seem to like a whiter look when it comes to wedding rings and what seems to be competing with white gold and platinum is silver. Suddenly, silver seems to have been elevated into this category and designers are mixing it with a small bit of other metals to keep them looking bright and making them more durable. Unlike traditional sterling silver, this will not tarnish and this makes it so much more popular.

Men’s fashions seem to have come a long way in the last few decades and men too, are looking beyond what is necessary to what looks good and is fashionable. This just means they want more choices in everything they buy – whether it is clothes or personal products to their wedding rings which they now see as a statement of style as well.

It has all been played out in the public eye – the whirlwind romance in April, the proposal on live TV, the announcement that they are trying to have a baby and now, the choosing of the engagement ring. At least, that is what it looked like because the couple were spotted looking at some very expensive diamond engagement rings.

The store they went to was the Wessex Jewellery and Pawnbrokers store in Kent at Tunbridge Wells. It looked like he wanted to buy her a really big diamond to follow through with his proposal. The media even got photographs of him slipping a huge diamond ring onto her finger to see how it looked. She looked so happy and she was obviously sizing up the ring and how it looked on her finger. Maybe proposing to her in the middle of a live show wasn’t quite the thing to do but it looked like Alex Reid was making amends by letting her choose a gorgeous ring.

So did she wear the ring and walk out of the store? No, but it is likely that the ring had to be resized a bit and that’s why they didn’t walk out with it. In a recent interview, they had announced that they would only get married after a year as he is hoping that the divorce with Katie Price will come through soon. Chantelle too broke it off with Ray Wilding, the TV presenter and began dating Alex in April. They’ve both had high profile romances and it looks like this one is going to be as high profile too, with cameramen following the couple around – and they don’t seem to mind.

Eternity diamond rings have always been a favourite with some people but recent trends show that they are getting very popular with many people today. The thing is, they are diamond rings for any occasion – from an engagement to a wedding to anniversaries to diamond rings for no reason whatsoever. It also helps that the diamonds can be of any size – with so many of them, they will dazzle anyway and when they are smaller diamonds, they are a lot more affordable that one big diamond and this makes it attractive to many.

If you were to look around, you’ll find that eternity diamond rings are the choice of many when it comes to wedding rings – now, the eternal band of love has the sparkle of diamonds in it and that makes it so much more popular! While men still stay with the traditional gold band or maybe tungsten or platinum, women seem to prefer the eternity diamond ring – just the perfect match for a diamond engagement ring on any woman’s finger.

For comfort, especially when it comes to a wedding ring that is worn all the time, setting diamonds just for the visible half of the ring seems to be the trend. While it saves on the cost of the diamonds, it also means much more comfort as only the smoothness of the metal is felt on the inside of the hand. At the same time, the diamonds sparkle in a row giving the impression that it goes all the way around. Eternity rings can be made to symbolise dates or milestones with the number of diamonds so this makes it such a great, unique gift for a special occasion.

Ask any woman and she’ll tell you that she loves owning a diamond ring. Of late, though, especially after the riots, there seems to be a sense of unease and fear when it comes to wearing those diamond rings or expensive jewellery out. That definitely does not mean that a woman will stop wanting to own a diamond ring – just that she would rather leave it at home.

And go out ringless? Oh, no! There’s always replica jewellery to fill that gap. There are many British women today who are getting replica rings and jewellery made so they feel safe wearing it outside. If you were to talk to specialists who make replica jewellery, they will tell you that around half their customers are afraid of being robbed and that’s why they come in to have replica jewellery made. This is especially true of lady bankers and women from the Middle Eastern countries who possess a lot of jewellery but are scared today of wearing them too often.

The great thing about replica jewellery is the feeling that you do have the real thing so it isn’t as though you are faking it. Beyonce, the singer, is known to wear replica jewellery. In fact, when Jay-Z asked her to marry him, together with the super expensive diamond ring, he also gave her a replica ring. Many women might start off wearing replica jewellery only when they travel but it gradually gets to feel safer to wear it most of the time, knowing the real thing is safe at home locked up securely. A replica diamond ring can look exactly like the real thing but cost a fraction of the price. And the person who wears it is usually the only person who knows she is wearing an imitation of the real one that she has.

There was so much focus all over the world on her sister’s engagement ring and that makes it so much harder when it comes to her own engagement ring. Pippa, sister of the Duchess of Cambridge is, as far as sources go, soon to be engaged and the ex-cricketer is apparently on the lookout for a ring that will stand up to the famous sapphire and diamond engagement ring. Once he proposes, of course, it means one very eligible lady off the matrimonial scene.

The news is that he is looking at engagement rings by the Belgian-American designer Diane von Furstenberg and her rings are known for their huge central diamonds. So will her diamond be huge? All that seems to be imminent is that Alex Loudon is all set to propose. Has he already got the ring? Or is it in the process of being readied? One doesn’t know but everyone is talking about the couple and how it looks that weddings bells will be ringing soon. Alex has been very secretive about everything and he has not been spotted in the usual jewellery shops so maybe he deputed someone to do the scouting around for him.

It also looks like he is in a hurry because he doesn’t want to lose her. She is one of the most sought after women in the UK today and though they have been a couple for three years, he probably feels it is time and now that her older sister is married, she would want to be too. And her dance with an ex-boyfriend recently did not go unnoticed by the press or by anyone close to her. So it’s quite likely there is a very highly publicised engagement and wedding in store soon.

Will they? Won’t they? That’s what seems to be on most Hollywood watchers’ minds. The whole drama – or rather, melodrama – has been played out in front of a very receptive media and the latest is a video rant that Ashton Kutcher made and released online. It has gone viral and what most people seem to be taking away from it is the fact that he is not wearing his ring. However, another one soon surfaced and in this, he does have his wedding ring on.

Demi Moore has not taken her wedding ring off. Both of them still wear their Neil Lane designer wedding ringsbut they have been hardly seen in each other’s company and when they are, they seem very uncomfortable. However, the divorce papers have not been filed yet but most people in the know feel that it is only a matter of time before that happens. She appeared on the red carpet recently looking frail and gaunt and it looks like this has taken its toll as she’s lost a lot of weight.

Meanwhile, there is more dirt being unearthed about Ashton. Apparently he has a son with a former girlfriend who he met recently and rumours say that both he and Demi tried hard to make the girl get rid of it. However, in a situation like this, there is bound to be a lot of rumours surfacing and it’s just part of their celebrity lives which are lived out so much in the public eye. Will Demi decide to forgive him and will all be well in their world again? One never knows – it’s been known to happen before.

She was seen on the X Factor without her wedding ring on. Had she taken it off just for the shoot or was there something more going on? Speculation has been on for a while about Katy Perry and Russell Brand for a while and whether all is well with their marriage. According to some, both have so much in common so it would sad to see them split up.

Katy is in London right now and it looks like when she is back, she just cannot get enough of British food so besides the food she loves like meat pies and Yorkshire pudding, she also goes crazy over beans. She was seen buying tins and tins of baked beans at Harrods. There is no news as to whether she was wearing her wedding ring while she was out shopping or not. The trouble is, they have such punishing schedules that they are hardly together and that does not augur well for a marriage. Maybe the stress of being apart so often is beginning to tell.

However, she was seen out after that with her mother-in-law, Barbara and the wedding ring was back on so it looks like things are all right for the moment. Katy has always gotten along very well with Barbara and it looks like the older woman is looking after her for a while. They went to the theatre and it looked like they were enjoying themselves. Russell is still going through a rather packed schedule across the Atlantic, touring in America and Canada while Katy is going to be busy with her Britain and Ireland tour in the weeks to come.

It looks like wedding ceremonies are changing and they are becoming more unique, more individual. For years, we’ve all fitted in when it came to engagements and weddings. The guy proposed with an engagement ring and if the lady accepted, they got married. However, a lot of young people are questioning the old ways. Why can’t women do the proposing, for instance and why can’t men wear an engagement ring too? With so many weddings taking place every year, wedding planners too are scrambling to make each wedding unique and suited to individual tastes rather than following tradition blindly.

Suddenly, the whole ‘must do’ and ‘have to’ seem to be flying out the window. Some couples walk up the aisle together, hand in hand, without having the bride’s father walk her up and then give her away. It looks like the whole man-woman equality is being played out quite strongly now. With so many couples living together and even having children before they get married, if and when they do, they want their children to be a part of the big day too so they weave in a part for them. The same goes for the wedding vows. Couples want to vow their love and loyalty for each other in their own words and not in the standard ways.

Then the rings. Engagement rings, especially when it comes to celebrities have moved far beyond the simple, classic solitaire diamond engagement ring. Today, ornate and huge seems to be the way to go. The same with the wedding ceremonies. Everyone wants heaps of wedding pictures and something on YouTube for the world to see. Today’s weddings are all going viral in a big way and the younger generation is not afraid of showing the world that they are up for change in every area of their life.

London’s luxury store and limited edition luxury jewellery pieces – there couldn’t be a better fit. This is where the Royal Asscher Diamond Company will be showcasing some of their best jewellery and this will be the largest number of pieces from their collection called the Star of Africa. Those who are looking for unique pieces of jewellery will find it at Harrods the store that is the latest and the biggest on their list of retailers.

The collection will have pieces of jewellery from the Royal Stars – a collection that pays tribute to the royal family in the Netherlands. There will be diamond rings, pendants, earrings and cufflinks. The collection was first launched two years ago and one of the hallmarks of the collection are diamonds enclosed in sapphire domes filled with fluid so it looks like they are floating in an ethereal world. The diamonds really look like they are in a snow world, floating like snowflakes. Other pieces of jewellery in the collection include jewellery made with beautiful pink diamonds as well as orange diamonds. All of them are limited editions.

Some of the sales proceeds goes towards aid in Africa and it is spread all over the continent to fund programmes in education, healthcare and self sufficiency projects. Just one more reason for people who are looking for unique jewellery to hurry to Harrods and pick up some wonderful diamond rings and other jewellery.

So chocolate seems to be the flavour of the season when it comes to diamond rings, especially diamond engagement rings but just because it’s named that, what does it have to do with a dessert? Plenty when a retail jewellery store in Kendal and a chef from the Lindeth Howe Hotel get together, it would seem.

What they have concocted together is a dessert that, if it is sold, will make it to the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive dessert in the world. Of course, it will mean that there has to be a buyer for it – a buyer who loves diamond rings and loves desserts too. A buyer who is romantic and rich. It looks like there are a number of people today who can fit the bill so obviously, there is hope that it will set a record. If a man is looking to propose in a unique way, then this could just be it – and it costs all of £22,000! The chocolate diamond weighs 2.62 carats and it is set in 18k rose gold. The ring will be sized to fit the lady’s finger once the dessert has been eaten.

And the dessert is a cake that made its appearance last week at the National Chocolate Week. It is made with chocolate and it combines four different Belgian types and the it has been flavoured with whisky, peach and orange. Layered with biscuit and jelly which is champagne flavoured, the cake is shaped like a Faberge Easter egg, with a finishing layer of gold leaf on dark chocolate and decorations of chocolate flowers. And of course, the wonderful chocolate diamond engagement ring will be baked inside it! It will be served with caviar and champagne and includes a night’s stay at the hotel with a meal and accompanying wine. A fitting dessert indeed for some lucky couple!