With This Ring: March 23, 2018

88 With This Ring
LOVE
Tokens
In the days
when your beloved picked
wildflowers to give you, or handcrafted
a gift to delight you, love tokens
were often useful items for the home you
would eventually share and could range from a
utensil to an item of furniture.
Shells appeared in a variety of 19th century
decorative objects and were popular sailor’s love
tokens. Trinket boxes were fashioned out of
driftwood and then decorated with shells gathered
on their travels. Sometimes crushed shells of
various shades would be formed into a unique
pattern on the box, or the whitest shells the
sailor could find would symbolise the
purity of his bride-to-be.
REMEMBER WHEN
Wedding veils were once re-used to drape the bassinet
of your first child and the fabric of your wedding
train, underskirt or lace trimming was made into a
christening gown for the next generation. Recycling
is not a new phenomenon and the tradition began
when fine fabric was hard to come by and expensive.
New Zealand’s early settlers were thrifty and
practical, turning scraps of material into rag rugs and
patchwork quilts and deconstructing existing clothing
into items for their children.
WHAT IS Old? WHAT IS New?
WHAT IS New?
The earliest surviving needlework sampler was made
in America in 1647 by a descendant of the Pilgrims. By
the 1700s it had become a popular custom to develop
needlework skills by creating cross stitch samplers of
the alphabet and numbers. Later they became a feature
of almost every home as betrothed young women
designed intricate examples incorporating names,
emblems and the date of their marriage as well as
quotes, psalms and inspirational messages on love and
marriage. In the USA and in the UK, heritage samplers
are still valuable, while the idea of making your own
wedding sampler is finding favour again.
The “Man-gagement” ring first became a trend in the USA
among celebrities. Just like HER engagement ring, his
also says “I’m spoken for” and found favour
with fiancees during a long engagement!
Designs can be as simple or elaborate
as you wish but is usually distinctly
masculine in style while
often incorporating
diamonds, onyx or
engraving into the
gold, platinum or
titanium metal.