Something old is something new – antique wedding bands
Mar 25th, 2009 by Katie
The Green Queen shares a wedding rant today as her hunt for secondhand – or antique – wedding bands turns out to be a little more tricky than she’d hoped…
Today Mark and I went wedding band shopping. As I mentioned in my previous post about wanting a green wedding, we were looking for antique (AKA recycled and green) rings. Platinum is a metal that is quite dirty in an environmental sense, so we didn’t want new ones.
Antique platinum is not easy to find, and we went from place to place asking before being turned away.
However, in Gray’s Antique Market in Bond St, there were lots of good possibilities. Some very old, and others from fifty to seventy years ago. Mark got my engagement ring from there. It’s circa 1930s and it’s absolutely, absolutely beautiful.
The jewellery in this market is amazing. Using the word market totally undersells what this place is – from cameo brooches (like the one you wish your granny had) to tiaras – dusty but gorgeous watches, eye popping aquamarine earrings – everything absolutely gorgeous. Diamonds everywhere.
We also went to the Burlington arcade and found this very upmarket jewellery store that looked like it might have antiques. We were ushered in and asked to sit down. As like in all these places, they sneak a look at my engagement ring to see what we can afford.
We asked the question “do you have any antique platinum bands?”
“Antique” he asked. “Do you mean, secondhand?”
We smiled at him. “Yes”
“First of all – there is no such thing as secondhand rings, and secondly, nobody would want that anyway”
“I would” I said.
He looked at me. “Why would you want a secondhand ring that came from a dead person’s finger, or a divorce?”
“Or someone who had a happy marriage” I countered. “I think it’s romantic”.
“I’ve supplied rings to hundreds of couples, I advertise in every bridal magazine. Nobody wants a secondhand ring” he said.
So we left, thinking “What a wanker”.
I don’t want to be buried with my wedding and engagement rings. If our marriage is a long and happy one or lasts six months, that power isn’t stored in a piece of metal. I would want someone else to enjoy it and continue to be a symbol of love for someone else.
Secondly – why is new better?
When we are running out of raw resources, or killing the planet to find the ones that we do still have (for the time being), buying antique is not just incredibly romantic, but it’s better for the environment too.
Believe me, when they are all shined up, you will never tell the difference, NEVER. A wedding ring is only a symbol of love. Love isn’t actually embodied in the physical thing. What is embodied is potentially some heavy forest degradation, child and slave labour, supporting corrupt governments and poisonous environmental waste. To give you an idea, a single gold ring can produce over 20 tonnes of mine waste.
AH – rant over! What a self righteous little Virgo I can be sometimes!! If you are getting married soon, or just buying jewellery for someone you love – go antique, and make up a lovely story about the owner(s) of it, cherish it for the time it’s yours and then let it go for someone else.
Thanks Denise. You’ll be pleased to know you’re not alone! Jez and Vicky also had problems in their search for antique wedding rings (scroll down to ‘I Do’) while a bride in the Ethical Weddings forum will be wearing her grandmother’s ring.
For more Green Queen news visit the Green Queen’s blog.
Hello, I carry a stock of antique wedding bands on my website gadantiques.com. I normally restore and polish them to their previous beauty, though I have once been asked to supply them untouched as the customer liked the idea of having the tiny marks and scratches that showed its years of history. Recently I have found a growing interest in these rings from the Japanese though I guess this may be more from a romantic perspective than an ethical one.