As promised, we are sharing Anastasia’s whole journey towards a vintage-themed wedding, and this part is about how she researched and found their wedding rings.
In the first part we told you the whole rollercoaster of a story about how she found a vintage wedding dress.
As for the wedding dress, the motivation for the rings was clear: finding something that has history, a special vintage design and good value for money. After initial research, Anastasia realised that finding a nice vintage ring might be challenging, but the effort would be worthwhile, especially since she learned that vintage rings of the same quality of gold and diamond content are about 30% cheaper than new ones.
In San Sebastián we went to a couple of antique shops to have a look at their selection. Trying on what was available Anastasia could crystallise the style, colour and design period that suited her and her taste best. Even though the shops didn’t have the perfect ring, Anastasia could see now that she was looking for a chunky ring, in yellow gold, with a small stone. At this point, once again, it would have been easier to search for a ring in bigger cities like Vienna, Paris, London, which have big Auction Houses like Dorotheum or Sotheby’s. Even though they also offer online shopping, it is still a tricky business in regard to certain styles. Some rings for example had a certain design where the size couldn’t be changed easily. That is often the case with rings that have more than one diamond, where small ones around are not set in the crown.
Another issue that Anastasia encountered when looking for a vintage ring is the fact that many of them indeed come in small sizes. Of course, it makes sense, as people have grown taller and bigger in the past decades, but combining this with the fact that not all rings can be resized, makes many designs redundant.
So if bigger Auction Houses didn’t seem to have online what Anastasia wanted, a new research strategy was needed. On Instagram for example the search function is not very practical, finding small vintage shops like Re-Nou doesn’t seem easy. If you do find nice shops it is hard to tell how legitimate they are. Do they offer authenticity certificates, and do they have a return policy? Many of the small shops offer to buy through DMs, however, it was not an option for Anastasia, not knowing whether you can trust the seller.
Upon further research for example on Etsy, Anastasia found the possibility to buy a ring with a certificate, which would be in a register. This seemed a far more trustworthy procedure than through small sellers on Instagram.
The trickiest thing is probably finding the right design on Etsy. There are many rings, but it’s really hard to choose from. At this point, Anastasia contemplated looking for new designs but the ever-growing doubt was, what if this hip design is cool now, but in 30 years, it will be out of fashion? With a ring that is at least 30 years old already this wouldn’t happen.
Having tried many different ways Anastasia had an idea to just go on Gmaps for example in Paris and look at what kind of Antique and Vintage stores there are, that are certainly legitimate, have reviews and an online presence. This was how she came across quite a big Parisian store called Elliade and their big online shop Elliade.com.
Many of the doubts that Anastasia had with other stores were gone with this one. It was a legitimate shop, with many reviews, great expertise and a big choice of jewellery for vintage lovers. Moreover, they have a return policy and advice on which rings can be resized by how much.
Incredibly after all the odyssey, Anastasia found her ring.
Since Kirill’s ring had to have a simple band design, it was easier to find one for him on Etsy.
When both rings finally arrived, they took them to a jeweller in San Sebastián to be valued, resized and polished. This service was 50 Euros extra for both rings - and the rings looked like new.
Once a trustworthy shop was found it was easy. Again having more time on your hands makes it easier, as you can just wait and check daily what new arrivals such a shop as Elliade has.
Going through this whole journey to find the right ring also contributes to bonding with this particular piece of jewellery. It’s a whole story on its own, a quest that brought you together and was the starting point of your own story. The appreciation grows when you invest a lot of time and dedication. And this alone is a romantic beginning.
