People frequently ask me how to pick the right engagement ring. In this week’s video, I offer my expert advice, based not only on my 13 years in the jewelry business, but also on my own personal engagement-ring story. Don’t forget to check out the related links in the video description on YouTube for some…
diamonds
Celebrity Engagement Rings: A Review
There have been a few high-profile engagements recently, and I’ve been keeping a professional eye out for the rings. Prince Harry gets a round of applause for one of the best celebrity engagement rings I’ve seen in a while. I like its well-balanced proportions and somewhat unexpected use of 18K yellow gold. Embed from Getty…
Jewel of the Month, Part II: Abigail’s Engagement Ring
Every day, I get three or four emails in which someone claims to be a “big fan” of my blog and offers me $50 to publish a guest post (which often includes the dreaded “infographic”). Of course, anyone who truly is a big fan of this blog might have noticed that I haven’t had a…
Wednesday’s Video: Jewel of the Month, Part I
The Jewel of the Month post for December comes to you in two parts this time. Our topic is the sapphire-halo engagement ring that I created for my dear friends Abigail and Max. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve already gotten a sneak peek. A post shared by Wendy Brandes Jewelry PR (@wendybrandesjewelry) on…
Heart-Shaped Gems Can Be Lovable
Jewelry expert Jennifer Heebner has written about the increasing popularity of heart-shaped gems. As Jennifer points out, hearts in jewelry tend to be a love ’em or hate ’em kind of thing. I used to fall into the latter camp, because I had only seen poorly cut or poorly set stones that looked more like…
Wednesday’s Video: Engagement-Ring Advice
I’ve written about the problems of using nontraditional gems in engagement rings: People are just too tough on everyday rings to mess around with pearls! That’s why I prefer to use only the hardest gems in engagement rings. Diamonds, for instance, rate a perfect 10 on the Mohs hardness scale, while rubies and sapphires (aka…
Jewel of the Month: Toi et Moi Ring for ANZA Gems
For a long time, the primary birthstone for the month of August was the beautiful green peridot. Accordingly, the ring that I’ve chosen for this August’s Jewel of the Month features a beautiful green … tourmaline. Ha! Fooled ya! Check out the new design in this video by A Thousand Facets. Absolutely stunning ring by…
21 Savage Is in the Game. Your Move, Rick Ross.
Back in 2011, I was thrilled to find out that rapper Rick Ross owned a ginormous, diamond-encrusted chain portraying his own bearded visage. (This was a belated discovery; Ross was wearing the chain as far back as 2008.) Embed from Getty Images There have been a lot of jaw-dropping chains in the rap world —…
Throwback Thursday: Judy’s Redesigned Engagement Ring
For the past few years, “halo” settings for engagement rings have been popular — a halo being a ring of smaller diamonds set around a center stone. I see a LOT of them. Too many to get excited about, unless a friend (or reader) of mine is wearing one. In that case, of course, I’m…
Jewel of the Month: Eryn’s Engagement-Ring Redesign
April’s birthstone is the diamond, so it’s a good time to feature a custom engagement-ring redesign as the Jewel of the Month. This ring is particularly close to my heart because it’s now adorning the ring finger of my right-hand woman and branding chief, Eryn Patton. Before Eryn’s boyfriend Donnie popped the question, he and…