The 8k engagement ring
Plus: Board game roundup
My husband proposed one night at our house with no planning or accoutrement. (I’d already asked my family for my grandmother’s ring, and had even started wearing it, which he finds funny to this day. What can I say, I am a distinct person.) We couldn’t even be bothered to have a wedding, since we decided on a Friday to get married on a Monday (one gay best friend each as witnesses, and a flower girl, the daughter of my dear friend), though we had an impromptu day-of celebration after I posted a photo of our lunch at the Russian Tea Room. (People just showed up at the house, and then Ludwig gave us a table at Paul’s, I barely remember the end.)
I have been thinking recently of getting another ring, because more and more I have visions that I may lose my grandmother’s ring (swimming? mugging?), and be intolerably upset, as she is dead, and this is the only thing of hers I have. I saw a few TikTok trends of “travel rings,” and this concept made sense to me: It’s good to have a backup you don’t have to worry about. (A wealthy man friend of mine once said that he had a family heirloom copied and gave it to his wife instead of giving her the real one.) There’s a woman I know in New York who alternates between two engagement rings: one black, one gold. So when she’s feeling moody, she “goes goth.” (I threw the party for the book How to be Goth last night at Lucien actually. My husband dated Tish’s best friend in high school.)
Because said husband would never spend more than $500 on a single item that wasn’t a car or a house, I’m going to be shopping for my own ring and lying about the price. Not that I’m going to be exorbitant. I have a fixed idea that an engagement ring should cost 8-10k and I tend to be more interested in antique styles (old mine cut, nothing that valuable). I have no idea where this vision comes from, though I tell myself it’s ever since Mary-Kate Olsen wore a ring that Olivier got at auction. (Hers was half a size too big, so it spun attractively around her spindly finger. An idea.)
(Does anyone ever think, “How many times can she say my husband in a single piece.” Because I also think that.)
My favorite jewelry store online is called Eric, which is such a horrible name for a jewelry store!! His antique wedding rings are exactly to my taste. This is not a “classy” place to shop necessarily, but the goods are exactly what I need. You can also visit him in the diamond district. Make sure you set it from low to high — and you will find a ring for under 10k. That’s my promise!!
Perhaps keep an eye on the estate section of Briony Raymond. Light right now, but tab it.
The aristo jewelry store in London is SJ Phillips. (As with all truly great stores, the website does not do it justice.)
I think Tiffanys is tacky, but a cheap simple straightforward band WITH THE ENGRAVING OPTION is allowed. Truncate a poem in there.
Not engagement rings, obviously, but I do wish more people wore loony tunes accessories. $72,000, the ring on the left. For a thick black glasses no-nonsense girl, I think this straightforward ring. There’s also something no-nonsense about this 1940 stunner; best worn inside a skyscraper.
My favorite jewelry brand of all time:
