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who needs an engagement ring?

image via le love

This week I actually happened to have a conversation about engagement rings and the question was, if I’d even want an engagement ring.
My initial reaction was: OF COURSE! Then I had to defend my point of view a little, which made me feel like a silly cow that is obsessed with diamonds. Hello?
I started realizing that in my hippie-esque family an engagement ring is fairly uncommon, my mum only wears a wedding band.
In Germany we don’t have such a big fuss about weddings in general.
Everything is more practical than fashionable.
Maybe that’s why I like it. For me it’s exotic and special.
When I did research on this topic in the web I was surprised how many people even questioned that an engagement without a ring isn’t an engagement at all. Of course it is.
Remember the engagement guitar, here?
If I want to marry someone, a ring is obviously the least important thing.
But it is pretty. That’s all.

If I were to propose to myself…

image via Macha

If I were propose to myself I would be rather stupid.
I mean not that I don’t like myself but you know what I mean…
My point is, if I had to choose an engagement ring for myself I would probably go for a vintage one. In GOLD.
I am wearing my grandmas jewelry all the time and always feel that old jewelry has a story to tell and seems to be somewhat magical. The other day when we walked around the antique market I saw so many gorgeous pieces.
Every weekend in Islington/Angel at Camden Passage you can go on a treasure hunt.
And don’t miss the great breakfast at the The Elk In The Woods.
If you don’t have a market like that nearby, check out the great East Side Brides Blog and her Sponsor that knows it all about vintage rings here.
I adore the big and bold ones just as much as the tiny delicate ones.

one piece of rock

ring by Andrea & Joen
This agate ring was carved out of one single piece of rock.
All natural stone, not dyed or otherwise artificially manipulated.
Carved stone rings are supposed to be very comfortable and light weight.
I wanna rock one.

Jewelry for generations

image found here
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you all celebrated well. I had a bad flu over the whole Christmas period so I haven’t been up for much. Now we are off to Australia for 3 weeks. I am so excited.
Pete Doherty and Rose Forde join Hannah Martin in designing a jewellery collection inspired by aspects of history and the future. I will try and prepare a few wedding posts for you. The latest I really liked:
The idea was to design durable and timeless pieces that could be handed down through the generations.
The collections consists of 15pieces including rings and cufflinks.
Read more here.
I like.

dreaming about: heavy metal from down under

all images courtesy of Stolen Girlfriends ClubI do feel like I am posting way too much about rings.
But I had share the heavy metal collection by the hip designers of
Stolen Girlfriends Club from New Zealand.
From golden bows over cool heart shapes to rebellious punk stud styles, their collection is definitely worth checking out.

Not only is the economy down under doing well and the weather is fantastic, now there are also more&more interesting labels, musicians and artists coming out.

I will be traveling to Australia in January for the first time and I am so curious and excited. I have a feeling I might want to stay.

I left my heart in NYC, where is yours?

I did leave my heart in NYC
(which doesn’t mean I dislike London or my fab new life here)
Now you can wear your favorite places and memories on your fingers.
The Paris based designer Philippe Tournaire designed an architecture collection of rings, where you can find famous buildings and places from various cities/countries around the globe.

I found this though my new blog project
“This is Jane Wayne“, which is mainly written in German, but my blog as well as one of the other girls are writing in English.
Check it out here or go to blogs directly here.

The wedding without a dress

photo via Green Wedding Shoes

One of my good friends from Berlin just got engaged.
The best news of the week.
When she told me I was smiling all day long.
I met up with them a week ago and it was soooo good so see them.
Since I moved to London I hardly had contact with my friends over there.
Just a email, here and there, facebook messages…
But to meet friends in real life feels so good. They were super happy (obvsly) and I loved hearing their whole messed up proposal story

I got a bit excited to create a dress for her and was slightly disappointed but also impressed by her decision to marry without a wedding dress.
Yes that’s right. She said she never had this princess vision of herself as a bride anyway,they don’t have the budget to buy a real cool designers dress and would love to spent more on the event, and good food, so all their friends will have a good time. Fair enough.
The plan:
Her fiancés is from London with a Spanish background.
They tried to find a location that combines the German, English and Spanish culture:MALLORCA!
So they are planning to rent a finca over there and are going to have a beach and pool wedding.
The bride will wear a white one-piece swim with a beachy little something on top.

P.S: I didn’t ask about the groom outfit.
PPS: Maybe I should finally move somewhere sunny and design swimwear!?

All I’ve ever wanted…

MACHA is still one of my favorite jewellery designers.
I wrote already about some rocking rings by Macha a while ago here.

Her wedding/engagement ring collection is just so cool,
that I have to mention her again.

The Mackenzie Ring for example with its 5 spiky black diamonds
that were set upside down along one side for a glamorous alternative to a stud. I would totally want that one as my wedding band.
Possibly with grey diamonds?
Black diamonds? Upside down? She is a genius!
That’s why she offers equally stunning rings for men.

And I totally want the Rockwell Ring as engagement ring.
For me customized with a yellow gold band and a white gold “rock”
Look how rad the different styles are looking together: here
The Mackenzie would also go with all the grey diamond designs, that I loved so much and wrote about here.

Bauhaus, Baby!

image via Magpie & Rye

I just spotted this fantastic little thing at Magpie & Rye and thought it’s worth sharing.
No rock, but a really cool and simple design.
The New Yorker designer Caitlin Mociun studied at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Mociun brings the Bauhaus notion of combining art and craft to her design work in textiles, clothing and jewelry. Her prints themselves are Bauhaus-inspired, and she draws inspiration from the plant photography of Karl Blossfeldt, a prominent artist from the Bauhaus movement.

Mociun continues to explore and integrate the ever-emerging technologies and critical conceptions of sustainability, environmentally healthy production and the role of the individual consumer in society at large.
Now that rocks!

Highend Engagement Rings

top left by DIOR, top right by BOUCHERON, 2nd row left by SOLANGE AZAGURY-PARTRIDGE and 2nd row right by RODARTE

ENGAGEMENTRINGS somehow became the topic of the month,
We had a post about my love for vintage/family jewelry,
contemporary edgy designers, a DESIGN-IT-YOURSELF-Post,
a special on my current obsession for grey diamonds and now here is my top selection of high fashion designer/luxury brand engagement rings.

grey diamonds for great chicks

First two above via Melissa Joy Manning, below 2 styles by Katrina Lapenne via Catbird
I am really obsessed with grey diamonds!
GREY and also RAW diamond rings, seem to be so much cooler.
You can see my favorites above.

You might also like these engagement rings posts:
go and get your sketchbook out, something old, LeBlas: Lovely London Bling!

go and get your sketchbook out

picture found here.
Dave said the other day he would love to design the engagement ring for his
one-day fiancee himself. He is a designer, so that would probably end up in a pretty fantastic piece of jewelry.
I saw that a lot of jewellery designers offer a bespoke service, which is really
cool if you have this stunning idea in your head and another plus is:
A ring like that will really be one of a kind.

Some girls do not think diamonds are their best friends. We are generally those sorts of girls. We don’t dismiss the humble rocks, we just think that jewelry can be pushed further than the boundaries of a single solitaire perched on a band. We’re very smart, you see. Ah, but see how smart we are when you swing this ring slowly in our line of vision. We drool, we covet, we get wobbly in the knees. Quote from Catbird NYC

Here are some awesome designers that could help you realise your ideas:
ORIA in London works with ethical sourced gold, silver and diamonds.
BITTERSWEETS in New York do rad custom designs as well.
Thomas Bartussek in Berlin is always open for new ideas!

And now: Go and get your sketchbook out!

For great inspiration go and check out the COOLEST selection of wedding and engagement rings in the whole world at Catbird NYC,
that East Side Bride introduced me to.

something old

photo by Anna And The Ring

As crazy as I am about new experimental jewelry designers,
as much I do like old/vintage jewelry.
It seems so very magical to me.
The other day I came across a random 2nd hand jewelry shop in our neighbourhood and it got me.
I started to think about the story they had to tell.
Some girls get really lucky by “inheriting” an engagement ring of the mother or grandmother of their
soon to be husband. I love Anna’s engagament ring.
And I can’t wait to attend her wedding in November this year.
She helped me out with a couch while I was flat hunting in London and she really is wild at heart and weird on top! And I have seen this ring in real. It is stunning!

You might also like these jewelry posts: rebellious rings, LeBlas: Lovely London Bling!, jewelry designer extraordinaire

punk rock engagement ring

images via image via hat and feathers
How rad is this ring?
Its totally punk rock, is an orange garnet, flipped upside down and protected by an intricate gold dome casing.
Designed by iosselliani
Its the engagement ring of this lady.
I cant wait to meet her personally in London soon.

The next time you say that you better mean it…

incredibly cool “engagement” rings by Maison Martin Margiela via oki-ni
…and you better have a ring ; )
Here we are, in the brave new world, where the ladies propose to their boyfriends.
I loved East Side Brides “ How to propose to your boyfriend” post.
If you haven’t read it already do it NOW here!
And then please come back here, if you got inspired because
Liv wants to suggest an incredible cool engagement ring for your boy.

Using brass and silver, the rings shown above are brushed for a worn appearance.
(alright I am biased, because I am a HUGE Margiela fan and the very hot suits on the site aren’t helping)

You might also like these groom style posts: rebellious rings, Lav is velvet, smart, sexy, and a little bit fabulous