Love it or loathe it, yellow gold is making a comeback, with Millennial brides shunning platinum and white gold engagement rings and wedding bands for this classic metal.
Opening Image: Vic Boncivini Photography
Your engagement ring will be one of the most prized jewellery pieces you will ever own. A physical manifestation of your lifelong commitment and love for your significant other, many brides view this piece as an extension of themselves. Indeed, there's nothing more personal than your engagement ring as it is the one piece of jewellery that you will wear forever.
While platinum and white gold have dominated jewellery choices for the last two decades, today's brides are looking back to the previous generation and emulating the baby boomers with their perchance for this precious yellow metal. The colour's resurgence in popularity is partly due to the hip and edgy tastes of the unconventional millennial bride who now seeks out diamond alternatives and ethical wedding options. Combine this shift in viewpoint with a general trend move towards working with yellow gold as reflected in the work of smaller 'hipper' independent jewellers, and we can see just why this metal is experiencing such a renaissance.
To help understand what is fuelling this newly ignited interest in yellow gold, Natasha Andrews from Weir & Sons gives us her expert input.
“People have a more sentimental connection to Gold at the moment, it reminds them of the jewellery that their mothers and grandmothers had. Despite this, we have noticed a shift with diamond shape towards the less traditional such as pear, oval and marquise-shaped stones which previously wouldn’t have held such prominence,”
While we speak about a resurgence in popularity, we concede to the fact that gold jewellery has been worn for some time. The noughts saw Sex and the City's ever cutting-edge Carrie Bradshaw primarily responsible for women everywhere sporting 'ghetto gold' in the name of fashion. But much like Carrie's vomit induced reaction to the idea that her boyfriend planned to propose with a gold engagement ring, women have been shunning yellow gold as a serious choice. The revival in popularity is a shift from an ironic choice to a serious heirloom option.
Helping to solidify yellow gold's status as the next big thing, Meghan Markle's bespoke three-stone engagement ring has given the once outdated metal a regal gloss and has catapulted it back into the limelight.
“People have always taken inspiration from rings they’ve seen in the news or in magazines, and since Meghan Markle’s ring was highly covered in the media, its only natural that people have taken inspiration from her three stone. Today we still have people asking for rings in the same style as Princess Diana’s famous sapphire cluster,”
In true Millennial style, the royal ring includes personal elements, diamonds from Princess Diana's collection, as well as an ethically sourced diamond from Botswana.
During a BBC interview Prince Harry stated that "The ring is obviously yellow gold because that's [Meghan's] favourite, and the main stone itself is sourced from Botswana and the little diamonds either side are from my mother's jewellery collection to make sure that she's with us on this crazy journey together,".
There is no doubt that this transition to yellow gold reflects the overall shift to a more traditional and timeless style. Brides are once again seeing their engagement ring as the personal item it is, rather than a piece of conveyor belt fashion, and so ensuring that their personalities are reflected in this heirloom piece. Brides want something that will be seen as being as beautiful in 50 years, as it is today and are shunning fast fashion, for unique pieces that have a timeless quality.
“This year there has been an increased popularity in gold and classic styles such as three stones. There has always been a demand for classic and timeless ring styles but this year has seen customers leaning in this direction.”
If the revival of gold wedding jewellery teaches us anything, it's what we already know: Fashion trends are cyclical and bridal is no different. Choose what you love, and you will love it forever.
-- Dani Farrell