I was at lunch with a friend the other day, and I was admiring her wedding ring. She has a beautiful ring from Tiffany's Legacy Collection. It's so pretty, and has a lot of sparkle. I love princess and cushion cut diamonds, because they seem more antique and traditional than a lot of settings that I see popular today. So, yesterday this friend brought in an advertisement from her Vogue magazine with a new style from Tiffany - the Tiffany Novo.
Originally, I was quite intrigued. It looks quite lovely in the ad, and it's sort of a cross between a brilliant cut and a cushion cut. I was looking for it on Tiffany's Web site, but they don't have it on the English version of the site for some reason. So I ended up finding it on the Japanese version of their site. After looking at the different angles, I have to say that I'm not that impressed. The center diamond and the surrounding diamonds on the band are lovely, but the prongs and ring itself seem much heavier than the other rings they carry. It doesn't really lend itself to the fluid design of some of their other rings, such as the totally simple but fabulous Lucida (a square cut) or even the more common, but pretty, round cut brilliant with bead-set diamond band. Of course, unless you try one on, it's really hard to tell whether you'll like the ring. It all depends on your hand size, finger size, etc. I've tried on some really dainty rings and they look horrible b/c I have big hands and long fingers. And there are some cuts that are just awful. Like, I hate baguettes, marquise, heart, and pear-shaped diamonds. Shudder.
I tell ya. My absolute dream ring is their round cut brilliant with a melee diamond border. I about died when I saw the price though. Starts at $16,600. Somehow, it seems very wrong for a piece of jewelry, albeit one of the most important pieces of jewelry you'll ever own, to cost as much as a car. Even the Legacy one I pointed to is pretty pricey for the engagement ring alone - starting at about $4000. I mean, at least the Lucida and round cut ones I pointed to are between $1900-2500 for the engagement ring. And then you get the wedding band, and that's probably around $1500-2000. That's still a lot of money, but then again you do wear it for the rest of your life and it is an important symbol.
I dunno. I love Tiffany, but it's hard sometimes when you can find something beautiful in another store for a lot less. I guess the thing that I keep coming back to is that Tiffany is a company that has been around a long time and I think is pretty ethical. Originally, I started thinking about all of this after seeing the movie Blood Diamond (with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly). A lot of these issues never even occurred to me before watching that movie, so after some research on jewelry companies and the diamond industry in general, I found that Tiffany is a very responsible and respectable company. I really respect their goals to be socially and environmentally responsible, such as by being a member of the World Diamond Council to stop importing conflict diamonds to focusing on the detriments of mining for precious metals in environmentally delicate areas. So, there is a lot to say for supporting companies that do the right thing. Although, according to my cousin (who is currently studying to get her gemology certification), most all companies are good about tracking conflict diamonds now. So, that's not as much of a concern these days.
All of this makes me think about my wedding ring. Since the divorce, it sits in my jewelry box, looking up and me and wondering what I'm going to do with it. I've thought a lot about having it remade into something else, since the diamonds in it are very beautiful and good quality. And honestly, I'd never get a good return on it in the marketplace if I were to try and sell it. Plus, I'll never actually know if it was a conflict diamond or not, so it's not like you can turn back the hands of time. It's a shame, and I really should do something with it. But for right now, I'll just continue wearing the sterling silver Tiffany 1837 ring that I bought myself after the divorce.
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What's a conflict diamond?
They're diamonds that come from areas of conflict, such as Sierra Leone in Africa. Rebels take over areas where valuable resources, such as diamonds, are found and force some of the locals into labor to harvest the resource while killing everyone else to take over the area. The rebels capture the local children, and then drug and brainwash them into supporting the rebel's cause. In the case of conflict diamonds, these rebel groups sell the diamonds to make more money to get rich and buy more arms and drugs. I highly recommend the movie Blood Diamond, which is about the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group in Sierra Leone and the diamond trade around 1999.
Yes, it is pretty sad to see the conflict around diamonds and other sources of money that should be used to better these countries. Everywhere around us there are issues about which we can take a stand (I picked animal cruelty).
One thing to consider is that Tiffany pioneered their approach to fighting blood diamonds. By supporting them, you are supporting a company that chooses to stand up and do the right thing, not merely follow people who've already led the way.
On a lighter note, I love the round brilliant cut! It's gorgeous!
Please do not let the pics of the Tiffany Novo fool you. The featured pic that is floating around everywhere shows the ring sporting a 4 plus carat diamond.Seriously !! I agreee for a band that delicate the a 4 plus carat rock distorts the "flow" and grace of the ring that other Tiffany rings exude.
I am very recently engaged and my lovely fiance porposed with a Tiffany Novo.Mine is only a .35 carat but believe me,this bad boy lets off enough light to lead you through a deep,dark cave. Gorgeous ring. Check it out in person.
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