Diamond Engagement Rings

Yes, it really was an owl that brought in the wedding rings when a couple got married last month in Balgonie Castle near Edinburgh in Scotland. The whole wedding had a fairytale quality about it. The castle was 14th century, a place that Rob Roy and Mary Queen of Scots had visited and the whole atmosphere was one of old world elegance and charm.

Celeste, the bride wanted an owl to carry the rings to them because for her the owl was a symbol of wisdom. So Finnbar, the owl was pressed into service and he did a remarkable job even though it was his first time as ring bearer. The wedding bands were tied to his feet with a leather strap and he was trained to carry them in.

It was a wedding to remember and the bride was 56 while the groom was 57. They were glad that the wedding could be held in the castle and that all their children as well as their grandchildren could attend. They even followed the Scottish custom of a horseshoe for luck and had a huge flower horseshoe made and carried down the aisle.

Well, actually, not all wedding rings. The plain gold band is still allowed but the ones with any kind of design, bevelled edges or engravings have been banned. The married nurses at Bradford Royal Infirmary are mad. The management has banned them from wearing these wedding rings to control the risk of infection being spread.

The nurses say that there is no evidence that there is any kind of disease being spread because of the kind of rings they wear. They take the usual stringent precautions and wear latex gloves most of the time. However, the hospital follows a national infection control of being ‘bare below the elbow’ and while they are willing to let plain gold bands stay, they will be very strict about any wedding bands with any kind of design on them. In a recent audit, it was found that there were a number of nurses wearing wedding rings with designs that could be a breeding ground for bacteria.

The nurses say that with all the precautions taken, this kind of fear is totally unjustified. The hospital however, is standing firm. One wonders how this impasse over wedding rings will end.

It was the usual exclusive Tiffany’s opening – Breakfast at Tiffany’s with caviar laid out and champagne flowing and everyone who was everyone was there on the morning of July the 24th. It was a red letter day for Perth which didn’t have a Tiffany store till now and it looks like it’s going to be the start of an affair to remember. The early morning event didn’t stop the designer dresses and the bling being paraded.

There was one little difference. Way before all those socialites could arrive, a couple in Perth were let into the store. They took a tour and at the end of it, were given a gift bag. It was only when Shane Lehmann went down on his knees that his girlfriend, Caroline realised that the bag contained a diamond engagement ring. Could she really say anything else but ‘Yes!’? What a truly romantic way to open a store that has for so many years been the destination for couples in love to pick out diamond engagement rings and wedding bands.

The jewellery that was displayed was positively stunning and the store was a welcome addition to King Street in Perth which is a strip of every international luxury retail store imaginable. In this booming mining town, a Tiffany’s just had to have a presence. This is a city that oozes sophistication and positively reeks of the fragrance of wealth. Just the right setting for Tiffany’s, wouldn’t you say, with its dazzling diamond rings and its exclusive jewellery? The Mayor of the city said she was proud that Tiffany’s had opened in Perth finally – after all, the city with its multi-faceted nature and its shining performance, could well and truly be compared to the rarest of stones, the diamond!

The demand is growing for diamonds that are coloured and that’s a huge sweeping change. Time was when the whiter the diamond, the better it was thought to be. The times they are a-changing however as more and more coloured diamonds are entering the diamond fashion scene. Look around and you’re sure to notice some diva wearing a diamond that’s pink or even brown – oh, yes – brown is very ‘in’ when it comes to diamond rings.

Well, there’s this jeweller in Austin, Texas in America who is enamoured by coloured diamonds. Not that he doesn’t like the white ones, he just finds it a lot more exciting to design using the coloured ones. Dean Fredrick’s passion is designing jewellery and it started way back when he was in school. After training at the Gemmological Institute of America in Los Angeles, he worked for a bit and then started his own line of jewellery – and he just can’t get enough of those coloured bits of dazzle!

Not for him the typical coloured diamonds like yellow or pink. He is much more daring when it comes to diamonds, especially diamond rings. So you’ll see him experimenting with brown and black diamonds, even green ones. And it’s not just for diamond engagement rings, but for wedding bands as well. The coloured diamonds are set in 18 carat gold and he likes to use yellow, white or rose and he also loves to work with platinum. He has a special line of stackable coloured diamond rings which have become very popular. What he loves designing most of all though, are custom-made diamond engagement rings. Here’s to a lot more colour in the world of diamonds!