Trends come and go, style evolves, old habits become laughable and we end up finding ourselves laughing at whatever we were wearing 10 years ago.
Wedding rings are something that should be something timeless, as you would hope it would be the ring you wear for the rest of your life. Since ancient times, traditions and ideas have changed regarding marriage. Because of this, the meaning of what it means to be married and have a wedding ring has too.
Along with it, the styles of rings have been in a constant state of progress. We often wonder what the future holds when it comes to pop culture, fashion and technology. The wedding ring is surely something that will be worn on the hands of lovers for eternity, so let’s take a look at what they may look like in the coming future:
Gender-Neutral Rings
In the present day, the values and traits of men and women have become a lot broader and open, as you know. Some people do not want to feel locked into certain traditions or do things that don’t quite feel are right.
One of the newer emerging trends of rings is what is known as “Gender-Neutral Rings”. These rings are designed and created so that they are unisex and free from any sort of label so anyone can wear them.
A notable benefit of a gender-neutral wedding ring or engagement ring is that they can be easily incorporated into many different styles. Because these gender-neutral engagement rings are size-inclusive, the choice of rings for men and women is absolutely massive.
Some of the most famous celebrities are starting to wear less traditionally feminine rings too: Kylie Jenner, the 24-year-old American model who gained fame from her famous Kardashian family has chosen a more “bulky” style ring that is usually targeted toward men. Bella Hadid, another model has also chosen to do something similar, as well as the singer Dua Lipa.
Gender-neutral rings generally do not look either masculine or feminine, and most people are going to have a hard time fitting them into a certain box. But the term can also be used to relate to women or men who choose to wear a ring associated with the opposite sex.
Although feminine rings are still on-trend and highly popular, more women, in particular, are starting to relax and go towards heavier-looking styles that are more so associated with men’s fashion.
More Variation In Gems
Diamonds are what everyone thinks of when we picture a bespoke engagement ring.
Way back in the 15th century, the Archduke of Austria consulted an engagement ring designer to create the first diamond ring for his beloved. Since this event, Europeans of high nobility and wealth were fond of diamond rings.
The Renaissance and the Victorian eras saw people happily combining diamonds with all sorts of other gems like Rubies, Sapphires, Amethysts, Topazes, Emeralds and so on.
It wasn’t until around the year 1947 that the mixing of gems began to slow down. The diamond corporation De Beers launched the slogan “A Diamond is Forever”. This brought attention to only diamonds as the durability and longevity of the precious gem brought the symbolism to society that marriage is forever, and thus since then we began to associate only diamonds with engagement and wedding rings.
In the future, it is safe to assume that although diamonds are still going to be a top choice, other gemstones are going to make a comeback and be widely adopted once again. There are many examples of this starting to happen too.
American actress and singer Jennifer Lopez famously wore an emerald-cut ring worth six figures, given to her by Chris Judd. Emeralds are usually one of the gems that are next in line in popularity when it comes to diamonds.
After emeralds, we have sapphires: Prince William proposing to Kate Middleton saw him choose a brilliant blue sapphire ring that was no doubt worth a fortune. The ring contains a 12-carat opal sapphire, surrounded by 14 diamonds. The ring actually once belonged to Prince William’s mother Princess Diana.
Rings containing other gems besides your everyday diamond have the ability to bring so much more character, colour and personality to a ring. Diamonds are very plain and clear in appearance. Some may even go as far as to view diamonds as overrated. To put it simply, having the option to still keep the bling of a previous gem as well as providing colour and flavour is something that will certainly start to be adopted much more in the near future.
The red ruby, green emerald and blue sapphire are definitely things to consider if you want more colour on your ring.
Tech Rings
Perhaps something definitely on the futuristic side is the newly developed “tech ring”. Out of all the rings on this list, this is definitely the closest one to something you would find in a Star Wars film. They are also known as “smart rings”.
The thing is, there are many different types of tech rings that can do all sorts of things. At the moment though, smart rings are used for things like sleep tracking, fitness tracking, health management, contactless payments, online security and smart keys – just to name a few.
These rings might take over devices like the Apple Watch, as they offer a lot of similar features.
The sleep tracking mode on these smart rings allows you to see what your sleeping patterns look like, how your heart rate is overnight, how much proper sleep you get and how often you get disturbed.
Another health-related feature of smart rings is that they can track how well fit you are physical, calculating your steps taken and even calories burned. They can also monitor your stress levels and give you suggestions on how to calm down.
Contactless payments with built-in NFC support allow you to pay contactless on the go on supported machines, similar to the way Apple Pay works on iPhones.
The best feature of them all is that some rings can allow you to feel your partner’s heartbeat on your own finger, no matter where you are. You would need to buy two rings, put them on each person’s finger and synchronise them. Feeling your loved one’s heartbeat from across the globe is truly remarkable, isn’t it?
Because these rings are still relatively in their infancy, there are not a whole lot of appealing designs especially for women yet. The rings are often plain and minimalistic, having a metallic appearance that is often associated with your typical men’s ring.
However, that is not to say that we will never see unique designs that incorporate jewellery like typical bespoke engagement rings. With the advancement of technology and the fact that electronics are just getting smaller and smaller, it would not be surprising to see a diamond or emerald ring that has the power to do all of these smart tasks.
Conclusion
Over time, we have seen that there have been all sorts of different trends that come and go with wedding rings. Unlike fashion, rings seem to be one of those things that are completely classic and all signs point toward them being ageless.
In the future, it is likely that we would see more gender-neutral rings as a result of society’s thoughts and ideals changing. Men and women are now showing signs that they don’t mind mixing and matching each other’s traditional jewellery.
More gem variations are going to be seen too, as people are showing signs that they wish to incorporate more colour to their rings and bring a unique and personalised style that diamond rings lacked.
Smart rings are going to be something that will be seen in the future too, based on how easy to use and efficient they are, as well as providing a piece of jewellery.
by Australian Diamond Brokers : August 22nd 2022 Come visit our store or browse our website to find out more.