Come the Revolution

Archive for November, 2009

In that I might explain our long absence from this blog, I would like to say that farming is a full time job and a half, even for apprentices with short hours. We also made the decision to make a mad dash to the altar (or river, through a field, as it were). I tell folks it was to keep as many of our relatives in attendance as possible, Amanda says it was so that I could do her taxes this year. Either way, you will now be able to read a couple of wedding-related posts over the course of the next few months. First thing’s first, the ring.

Amanda asked me to write a little bit about finding an engagement ring that can be ethically and ecologically responsible. I don’t have a lot of history dealing with jewelry, but I’ve recently spent some time in local jewelry stores and learned a bit from the kind folks who helped me out.

I think the best thing I did for myself was to know what I wanted ahead of time. I got some nice hints from Amanda and started looking at websites to see what all of those hints added up to. Things to be considered: stone material, size, and cut; ring material, size, style, and the stone will be held. Have a price in mind, and tell the jeweler. The woman I ultimately went with told me that if I said $250 she could get me something I would be happy with for that much, If I said $25′000 she could do that, too.

I knew from the outset I didn’t want a diamond for both ethical and environmental reasons. The only diamonds that are conflict-free are lab-made. They’re beautiful but expensive, so they weren’t a viable option. I knew I wanted a sapphire, and once I’d secured that there weren’t any of the right size/shape available from within my family, I wanted an estate one if possible. I lucked into an estate stone that was perfect. If you don’t see a stone that you want in the store, ask about having a few in your price range brought in for you to look at- you can even specify country of origin if you’d like (for new stones, anyway) so you know more of what went on in the mining of your stones. Otherwise getting tips from the jewelers and then going antique shopping can be a great way to find a stone. I know at least one person with a beautiful sapphire ring that was found at an antique store by chance.

Ideally the gold would have been recycled, but the jewelers voiced concerns about recycled gold. One told me it wouldn’t work because I wanted white gold and once recycled it doesn’t retain the color as well. I don’t know how true that is. The argument against it that won me over was that it would work for an in-set stone, but for a traditional looking ring that holds the stone externally, the brittleness of recycled gold could risk the tines breaking and the stone getting lost. This, to me, is the best argument against recycled gold for a traditional-engagement-style solitaire. I want the ring to be able to handle being worn in real life (although not during farm work) and not have to worry about it.

With this, as with most things, I compromised on what I considered important points for ecological reasons in order to have a ring that will likely last at least a few lifetimes. I ended up with a ring from a local store, with an estate stone, which Amanda was happy with. So happy, in fact, that she married me.

For your own responsible indulgences, here are a few incredible online retailers:
Green Karat
Brilliant Earth
Simply Wood Rings
Simply Wood Rings