{"id":837,"date":"2023-10-16T17:00:23","date_gmt":"2023-10-16T17:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ebonyassvids.com\/?p=837"},"modified":"2023-10-17T08:28:59","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T08:28:59","slug":"my-black-engagement-ring-embodies-my-style-as-much-as-my-love-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ebonyassvids.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/16\/my-black-engagement-ring-embodies-my-style-as-much-as-my-love-story\/","title":{"rendered":"My Black Engagement Ring Embodies My Style As Much As My Love Story"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This summer, my now-fianc\u00e9 proposed to me. The engagement ring<\/a> wasn\u2019t a single-set oval diamond or a round moissanite. Instead, it\u00a0was a black emerald-shaped onyx with a lab-grown diamond<\/a> halo. It was classic yet edgy, traditional yet unconventional. The ring looked and felt like me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My fianc\u00e9 and I had been dating for four years and had discussed the possibility of getting married<\/a> since the early days of our relationship. We had even looked at engagement rings<\/a> together at a mall jewellery store, where the options were all cookie-cutter versions of the same rings I had seen around for years. Afterwards, my fianc\u00e9 asked me to put together a Pinterest board with rings<\/a> I liked so he wouldn\u2019t get me something I wouldn\u2019t enjoy wearing (What can I say? He\u2019s a Virgo).\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was no easy task. For starters, I had never been the type of person who dreamed of getting married<\/a>. One of my first-ever published articles was a (truly embarrassing) essay on how I never wished to marry. I was 20 then and going through a painful breakup that, after watching too many episodes of Sex and the City<\/em> to cope, convinced me that I was missing the \u201cbride gene\u201d, as Carrie Bradshaw<\/a> put it. There were also the antiquated rules that made me think that marriage was not for me: marry in white<\/a> and wear \u201csomething old, something borrowed and something blue\u201d among them. Like a wedding, a ring was also never in my plan, because when it comes to getting engaged, diamond companies have likewise done a fine job of making it seem like the clear diamond is the only fitting choice to mark the occasion. <\/p>\n

Nine years later, I changed my mind: I wanted to get married and I wanted to put on a ring, albeit one that felt like the embodiment of my personality, a reminder that I could enter the institution and make it my own.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Largely thanks to the pandemic and the economic fallout that followed, more people have opted\u00a0for elopements<\/a> and micro-weddings, shifting the idea of what a wedding should look like. The idea of an engagement ring \u2014 a tradition so old it dates back to the Roman Empire <\/a>\u2014 is also\u00a0expanding beyond hetero relationships and embracing new symbols like engagement watches<\/a>. <\/p>\n

On the stylistic front<\/a>, engagement rings have also gotten more interesting and more innovative. Toi et moi rings, for example, have grown in popularity, while other design choices like asymmetrical bands, open-wrap styles, and chunky jewellery<\/a> have knocked down some of the traditional solitaire style\u2019s popularity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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When I first saw a black onyx engagement ring on Pinterest, there was nothing cookie-cutter about it. It was dark and elegant. I instantly knew that I wanted a black gemstone, instead of a diamond or another clear gemstone like a moissanite. (To be fair, I opted out of a black diamond only because it didn\u2019t look dark enough for my taste.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yes, black is usually a colour reserved for funerals and often associated with evil, but it\u2019s always brought me calmness and peace. I wear black most days \u2014 no matter the season \u2014 because it gives me a sense of empowerment and confidence. So, why would I ever pass on that feeling when headed towards the altar? (I also plan to marry in black<\/a> but more on that later.)<\/p>\n

It was the right choice. Since getting engaged<\/a>, people have stopped me on the street to ask about the ring, while my friends and family have said that it looks just like me. Although I was never one to wear rings before getting engaged, it feels like a piece that\u2019s been in my jewellery box for ages. And when I wear it, I get the same sense of empowerment and confidence that I\u2019ve long felt when sporting black clothing. <\/p>\n

While an engagement ring symbolises love and commitment, for me, it\u2019s a daily reminder that I get to make the rules of my life and will never do anything else but be myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At Refinery29, we\u2019re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by us. All product details reflect the price and availability at the time of publication. If you buy or click on something we link to on our site, we may earn a commission.<\/em><\/p>\n

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This summer, my now-fianc\u00e9 proposed to me. The engagement ring wasn\u2019t a single-set oval diamond or a round moissanite. Instead, it\u00a0was a black emerald-shaped onyx with a lab-grown diamond halo. It was classic yet edgy, traditional yet unconventional. The ring looked and felt like me.\u00a0 My fianc\u00e9 and I had been dating for four years and had discussed the possibility of getting married since the early days of our relationship.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ebonyassvids.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ebonyassvids.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ebonyassvids.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ebonyassvids.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ebonyassvids.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/ebonyassvids.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":842,"href":"http:\/\/ebonyassvids.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837\/revisions\/842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ebonyassvids.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ebonyassvids.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ebonyassvids.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ebonyassvids.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}