Robert’s Ring

I wanted my ring to symbolize our journey together, illustrating the transition from engagement to marriage by having the ring itself change and take on a new character.

Because I am allergic to nickel, which is found in many ring metals like as gold and aluminum, I decided to have my ring made from titanium. Titanium is hypoallergenic, lightweight, and very strong and durable, yet easily engraved at the time it is cast. It is also conflict free.

We discovered Kevin Begola, a titanium jeweler and owner of Titanium Buzz in Linden Michigan. We were able to meet with Kevin and talk about design possibilities with titanium and look at his stock of titanium rings. After learning about the production process and asking many questions, I was able to design my own custom ring. To represent the progression from engagement to marriage, I chose to have two grooves in my ring. These grooves will be inlaid with colored enamel to make the engagement ring the wedding ring.

Lisa’s Ring

When Robert and I were starting to look at engagement rings, the general consensus was that I had no idea what I was looking for. At first, I wanted something small, not flashy, just simple. We had done a lot of looking on Etsy and I thought I had it narrowed down to a certain type.

And then we went ring shopping.

While we had started looking at the small, non-flashy rings, nothing was really sticking out to me. The salesperson brought out this art deco, classic looking ring and I put it on and fell in love. However, when we continued talking to the salesperson, we found out that almost every single one of the materials used in the ring were conflict materials and I wasn’t comfortable with the thought that my ring would have been mined by people in slavery. So we continued looking.

I ended up on Etsy one day and found a manufacturer that dealt in recycled gold and had a beautiful setting done in a classic style with scrolling, room for a stone to be set in it, and the ability to choose the stone. I don’t really like diamonds all that much and love sapphires (even though they’re not my birthstone!) and found out the retailer was in Chicago, so we took a trip to see it in person. I fell in love with the setting, found an Etsy shop in Maryland that dealt with creating lab sapphires, and soon, the ring was complete and mine.

Because I love the scrollwork on the ring so much, I won’t be getting a wedding band. The ring is both my engagement ring and will also be my wedding band. And maybe someday it will be the engagement ring of one of our children (or their fiances).