The ancient Egyptians were some of the first people to wear rings. The shape that has no beginning and no end symbolized the sun and moon deities worshiped at the time. A ring was representative of the cyclical nature of all life while the opening was seen as a doorway to new and unknown adventures. The rings of the ancient Egyptians were often woven from the rushes growing abundantly along the Nile, and were worn on the third finger of the left hand.

We wanted to know why that particular finger has always been favored (on the left hand in our part of the world, but often the right in other cultures), and we came across the term vena amoris. The Egyptians believed that there was a vein connecting the ring finger and the heart, and later the Romans gave it the name that means “vein of love.” We think that’s really cool, even though we now know that love doesn’t flow in the veins. (There’s definitely something to be said for the extension of disbelief!)

In our sleuthing, we also discovered that diamond engagement rings only entered the realm of tradition sometime in the early 1900’s after the discovery of diamond mines in South Africa made the stone more available to the everyday person. Before diamonds became the gem of choice, many betrothal and engagement rings were set with colorful birthstones like garnet, amethyst, topaz, and peridot. These stones have unique properties and corresponding legends that deserve their own blog posts!

Meanwhile, check out some of our colorful engagement rings: they hint at tradition but have an eye-catching individuality. In fact, you could start your own tradition!

Like me, Michele is a recovering lawyer.  She traded long nights in the office for creative sessions in her jewelry studio, and the result is fabulous!

Michele’s jewelry has a lush matte finish, and her pieces call to mind the soft velvety coating on fresh leaves in the springtime.

The diamond wedding band and engagement ring are made with recycled sterling silver and conflict-free diamonds.  Each looks beautiful alone, or as a set.

There are also lily pad earrings and a rose petal necklace.

And… something we get tons of requests for… a truly rustic wedding band – perfect for those folks (especially men) who don’t want something too bling-y.

Check it out and tell us what you think!

Pictures used with permission from Tamara McFarland from McFarlandDesigns.com

Turtle Love Committee: What is your favorite place in the whole wide world?
Maggie: The beach. Any beach. Preferably one that occupies the same space as 80 degree weather!

TLC: Childhood ambition?
M: I had an opportunity to study abroad in Siberia when I was in high school. Ever since then I’ve been determined to see as much of the world as I possibly can.

TLC: Current ambition?
M: In one and a half years I’ll have completed my course of study for licensure in acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. My goal is to make Chinese medicine affordable and accessible to as many people as possible.

TLC: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
M: I’d pay off the student loans that my husband and I have accumulated over the course of almost twenty-five years of schooling. I’d also invest in organizations and institutions that are promoting health care accessibility, holistic care, and sustainable health care practices.

TLC: Who is your partner?
M: My partner is a healer, a gentleman, a hunk, a romantic, a comedian, a scholar and my husband.

TLC: How did you and your partner decide to get married?
M: We couldn’t imagine life without the other and we wanted to share our commitment with our friends and family.

TLC: What does your wedding/engagement/commitment ring look like?
M: They’re beautiful, simple, honest, ethical and eco-friendly! My engagement ring is a moissonite set in recycled sterling silver (moissonite is a stone that was originally discovered in a meteorite; it’s since been replicated in a lab and is similar in hardness to diamond) and we affectionately refer to it as my “space diamond!” My wedding ring is made with lab-created rubies also set in recycled sterling silver.

TLC: What do you think about your ring(s)?
M: When we knew we were going to get married we considered not exchanging rings at all (for a variety of reasons). It was challenging to find a local, eco-friendly jeweler, so we were pretty excited to discover Tamara McFarland’s work. She created a custom design based on our input and her style. I was so thrilled to have such a unique ring that really represented who we are as a couple.

TLC: What’s your favorite color?
M: This totally depends on the context, although pumpkin orange is always a safe bet.

TLC: Pets?
M: We live in a small apartment in San Francisco which doesn’t allow pets, but we’ve already named our future cat (Bubbles) and our future dog (Meatball).

TLC: What are you passionate about?
M: Healing. Travelling. Love. Baking. Lists (although I’m trying to wean myself from them). The beach. Creativity. Art Nouveau. Coconuts. Elvis.

TLC: What is the last book you read?
M: “The Time Traveller’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger.

TLC: Favorite beverage?
M: Coconut milk, hands-down!

TLC: What is your favorite physical feature?
M: I don’t have a favorite physical feature, but in terms of my personality, I’m grateful for my ability to see the positive aspects in any situation. I think I inherited that from my grandfather.

If you would like to tell us about your super cool ring for our blog, we would love to hear about it!

Feel free to email us!

Turtle Love Committee: What’s your favorite place in the whole wide world?
Melissa: I think I was a mermaid in a previous life because I love the sea so much! My favorite places to go “be one” with the waves are Bermuda and Oregon’s coast. Both are absolutely beautiful but in very different ways.

TLC: Childhood ambition?
M: I wanted to be a world famous mystery writer.

TLC: Current ambition?
M: Making a decent living doing something I love and believe in with a flexible schedule that allows me to spend time with those I love. That’s the reason I started Emerald Events & Weddings, my very own eco-friendly event planning business. I help clients save the planet while they throw amazing parties and events, AND, I can still make it to my niece’s school play! That makes for a happy Melissa!

TLC: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
M: Half would go to charities I support like the Cystic Fibrosis foundation and Heifer International; with the other half I’d pay off all my family’s debts, buy everyone a new car, and maybe a second home near the beach for me!

TLC: Who is your partner?
M: Erich is the love of my life. I went through a LOT of frogs before finding my prince! He’s a techie with a wicked sense of humor, is one of the smartest men I know, and can cook gourmet meals like nobody’s business!

TLC: How did you and your partner decide to get married?
M: It was a surprise to both of us actually. We were sitting on our couch one night and I was upset that I’d been so busy I hadn’t been able to spend much time with him that week. He told me that was okay, “because we had the rest of our lives to be together.” He then took a deep breath and said “Will you marry me?” I asked him “Are you sure?!” about forty times before saying yes! It turned out that he’d actually planned to propose to me after the New Year when things calmed down, but his proposal ended up being completely spur of the moment and I loved the fact that it was so spontaneous.

TLC: What does your wedding/engagement/commitment ring look like?
M: I have a white gold ring with a lab created emerald-cut emerald with several small diamonds on each side. The front and back of the ring have lacework which allows light to shine through the emerald at all times.

TLC: What do you think about your ring(s)?
M: love it because it’s not cookie cutter in any sense of the word and it’s definitely a “me” ring. Since the diamonds and emerald are lab-created, I didn’t add to the destruction and suffering caused by mining those gems in the wild, which was important to both Erich and myself.

TLC: What are you passionate about?
M: My passions include time with my family and friends, traveling to exotic destinations, writing my how-to-books for greening events and gardening in our backyard. We raise hops (Erich homebrews beer) as well as vegetables, herbs, and heirloom flowers.

TLC: What is the last book you read?
M: Diana Mott Davidson’s “Fatally Flaky.” Her heroine, Gold,y is a caterer who, like me, is spunky, from Colorado and just a bit fluffy. She writes well and also includes several wonderful recipes in each murder mystery which I love to try out!

TLC: Sweetest indulgence?
M: Port and dark chocolate with my honey in front of a roaring fire.

TLC: What is your favorite physical feature?
M: I love my smile and it’s a good thing because I do that a lot!

If you would like to tell us about your super cool ring, we’d love to write about it!

Feel free to email us!

“My (now) husband and I volunteer on stage crew at the Calgary Folk Festival.  One year an artist, Ndidi Onukwulu, performed many times on our stage and we just loved her music and her personality – she was very kind and fun with the volunteers (not all performers are).

In late 2006 we saw she was going to be touring so we bought tickets for her show for us and my two sons from a past marriage.

My then-boyfriend emailed her reps and her booking agents to see if she would help him propose to me at the concert.  Some of her people were adamant that it wasn’t going to happen, but others were willing to work something out.

So there we were, in the Jack Singer Concert Hall with 2,000 people at this amazing sold out show and Ndidi suddenly says, “This next song is for my friend, Lori” and she sang a beautiful song.  My boyfriend tried to get me to stand up to dance, but I wasn’t willing to do that – it wasn’t a dancing crowd and we would have blocked someone’s view.  He kept saying, ‘She’s waiting for us to dance’ and I still really wasn’t getting it, thinking that the Lori she referred to was someone she actually knew.  Finally he pulled out the ring and proposed to me.  I finally understood that the words to the song were meant for me (and the reason for his wanting to dance).

It was quite funny and totally magical!”

We just love Lori and Duane’s story – it really sounds like their engagement proposal truly embodied the things they loved.  Minus dancing!

TLC: What is your favorite place in the whole wide world?
Conor: Anywhere where my backpack’s behind me and my son in front of me.

TLC: Childhood ambition?
C: To dig up dinosaurs and put them back together again.

TLC: Current ambition?
C: Not let today slip away, bake a five layer cake with homemade frosting, perfect my Spanish, get on airplane without knowing where it’s going.

TLC: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
C: Hand out twenty dollar bills like parking tickets and get on an airplane without knowing where it’s going.

TLC: Who is your partner?
C: An occasionally shy, always humorous British boy with a killer crooked smile and a way with building furniture.

TLC: How did you and your partner decide to get married?
C: We stopped thinking and dove in.  Literally- he proposed next to a swimming pool (because we wanted the ring to evoke the moment we took the literal and figurative plunge) and then he threw me in!

TLC: What does your wedding/engagement/commitment ring look like?
C: It is a sapphire with two small diamonds on opposite sides made by Tom McCaffery in Chicago.  We later commissioned Tom to make a pair of earrings when Declan was born to expand the orbit to include all three of us.

TLC: What do you think about your ring(s)?
C: I get lost in it and wander to all of the places we still have to get lost in together.

TLC: Pets?
C: Our 2 year old son.

TLC: What do you do for work?
C: Bookkeeper for artists and nonprofits, while studying for CPA exam.

TLC: What are you passionate about?
C: Taking people places they never thought they’d go.

TLC: What is the last book you read?
C:”The Canon: The Beautiful Basics of Science” by Natalie Angier

TLC: Favorite beverage?
C: Sapphire and tonic with lime, light on the ice.

TLC: Sweetest indulgence?
C: Concerts that start after midnight.

TLC: What is your favorite physical feature?
C: The Jersey Shore.

We’d love to hear about your super-cool ring!

Email us!

We hear you, Sarah-Jane!  And we’re super glad you ended up finding a pearl engagement ring that suits you perfectly . . .

Turtle Love Committee: What is your favorite place in the whole wide world?
Sarah-Jane: My family home, which is in the country in Central Texas.  It’s got quite a large acreage, giant oak trees, and a lake.

TLC: Childhood ambition?
SJ: Which one? It ran the gamut from lawyer and librarian to geophysicist and actress!

TLC: Current ambition?
SJ: To start my life with the man of my dreams and serve God as best I can with all that is within me.

TLC: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
SJ: Buy a kayak, a few mountain bikes, and truck to haul them. After that, I’d donate the rest.

TLC: Who is your partner?
SJ: Matt Menefee! A truly wonderful, caring man who loves the Lord, and me. He’s an elementary science teacher with a background in outdoor education.

TLC: How did you and your partner decide to get married?
SJ: I knew from the day we started dating (again) that I wanted to marry him.  It took us the next ten months to figure out all the other details. 

TLC: What does your wedding/engagement/commitment ring look like?
SJ: It’s a pearl and white sapphire ring set in 14k white gold.

TLC: What do you think about your ring(s)?
SJ: I love it! It is beautiful and exactly what I wanted.  I understand pearls are fragile – much like a newly wed couple starting out. Things of great beauty and personal value often require lots of care.  I see it as a good reminder that though diamonds are hard and require little attention; a marriage is not like that.  Like a pearl, a relationship develops over time with lots of work from both sides. And it requires great care to keep its luster.

TLC: Pets?
SJ: Matt has Mr. Skittles the Wonder Dog (a Beagle/Pomeranian mix) and I have Nutmeg the Cat (a Snowshoe Siamese).

TLC: What do you do for work?
SJ: I’m a higher education communicator specialized in writing, research, photography, graphic design and social media. I work at a college in the Marketing & Communications office.

TLC: What are you passionate about?
SJ: People. 

TLC: What is the last book you read?
SJ: “Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances.”

TLC: Favorite beverage?
SJ: Coffee! No, hot tea! No, coffee! (No, both!)

If you would like to submit your super cool ring for our blog, we would love to hear about it!

Feel free to email us!

If you would like to share your proposal story too, email us!

Here’s Giacomo’s Story . . .

“Looking for an unconventional way of expressing my commitment I found your company the perfect fit. I purchased two styles of engagement rings. And then couldn’t decide which one to give my soon-to-be wife, so I gave her both! I asked her to marry me with our children present where she and I had our first date (this is the second marriage for both of us).

Everyone was in agreement, especially her!

We got married on November 6, 2009, at the Paterson Museum in New Jersey. Actually, that’s where I met her. She was bringing her class on a visit to the museum and I happen to be the museum’s director (and that was three years ago!).

We are very happy together. Some things get better each day. She wears both rings I proposed to her with: one on her hand and the aother around her neck on a chain.”

Aww, Giacomo – thanks for sharing your story with us! We’re super glad that Turtle Love Committee gets to be a part of your awesome relationship!

Turtle Love Commitee: What is your favorite place in the whole wide world?
Genevia: By far, it’s the North Carolina Mountains. I spent so much time there as a kid with my family, so there’s a lot of great memories. It’s so beautiful and serene there.

TLC: Childhood ambition?
G: My childhood ambition was to be a brain surgeon, mainly because my cousin wanted to be one as well.

TLC: Current ambition?
G: To be the best mother and wife I can be.

TLC: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
G: Tithe 10% of it to our church, pay off our debt, do updates on our house, give money to charity, and do some upgrades on my Jeep!

TLC: Who is your partner?
G: Kenny is a wonderful man of God.  He’s slightly cocky, very funny, and an amazing dad to our two kids, Gabriel (4) & Addison (almost 2). I never imagined that I would meet my husband online.  Let alone a website called hotornot.com!  But I did, and we’ve been together for a total of almost 7 years.

TLC: How did you and your partner decide to get married?
G: My husband and I got married after dating for 2 years. We had talked about getting married, but we weren’t engaged yet. Well, I got pregnant on Valentine’s Day 2005, and a few months later, we decided to get married.

TLC: What does your wedding/engagement/commitment ring look like?
G: I have the Raymond wedding band from TLC, which is a simple sterling silver band with squared edges.  My engagement ring is the Bryant ring – a minimalist sterling silver ring, with a baguette cut peridot in a bezel setting.

TLC: What do you think about your ring(s)?
G: I LOVE my rings! I get compliments on them every day. I thought I wanted a traditional engagement and wedding band, but I am so glad I chose something simpler. Not as high maintenance and much easier to wear daily with two small children.

TLC: What’s your favorite color?
G: I guess if I had to pick one it would be either pink or green. I love all pink colors just because it’s so girly; and, I like green because it goes well with my skin tone, hair, and eyes.

TLC: Pets?
G: We have 2 dogs and both are rescues. Freckles is an 80lb pit bull and pointer mix, and Nestle is a 50lb chocolate lab and Irish setter mix.

TLC: What do you do for work?
G: I am a stay at home mom and home maker.

TLC: What are you passionate about?
G: I’m extremely passionate about childbirth and breastfeeding. After having two traumatic birth experiences and little support with breastfeeding my first child, I want to try to empower other women to do their research and discover what they think is the best option for them and their family!  And not to just do everything their OBGYN and pediatricians tell them to do.

TLC: What is the last book you read?
G: I’m currently reading “Created to be His Help Meet” by Debi Pearl. A wonderful book for wives and wives-to-be on how to be a great wife and have a glorious marriage in the eyes of your spouse and God.

TLC: Favorite beverage?
G: Oh, there’s a few: sweet tea, Sundrop, and Cheerwine are all in a tie. It’s very hard to find Sundrop and Cheerwine here in Tennessee, so when I do, I thoroughly enjoy it!

TLC: Sweetest indulgence?
G: Plain and simple: chocolate chip cookies . . .  I could eat them every day if I knew I wouldn’t gain a ton of weight!

If you would like to submit your super cool ring for our blog, we would love to hear about it!

Feel free to email us!

Thanks to everyone who has submitted their stories!

If you would like to share your story too, email us!

Here is Bill’s Engagement Story:

“I am a rather traditional guy and live out in the country. Family values and old time traditions mean a lot to me. Christmas and Easter is not only the time of year when many colleges go on break, but where I live it’s maple syrup making time on the farm as well. It’s also the time of year I knew I would someday want to propose in. Given the wonderful family memories and times I had at the sugar shack, I knew that should be the place to start my own someday family.

Twenty years ago I was in a long distance relationship; my girlfriend and I were living on opposite sides of the state. As luck would have it, she would be home for spring break, and I knew it was time to propose to her. I spent weeks cleaning the sugar shack, trying to make it nice and cozy.

She came home, and it happened to be nasty spring weather. While she wasn’t keen on the idea of walking out in the rain and wind, I coaxed her into sitting with me outside in the sugar shack where a rich fire was roaring while the sap boiled itself into syrup.

Once inside we sat on a bench, and with a bit of a corny opener I asked her to be my wife. She started crying and I immediately started to think something was wrong. I asked her if she was alright and she responded, “I wasn’t expecting you to ask and never pictured being proposed to in a place like this.” I was nervous – maybe this was a dumb idea! But, she added, “This is so much like you. Of course I’ll marry you!.”

She later explained that she was actually impressed and was just a bit overcome with happiness and wondered what I was worried about. Sometimes it’s just better not to say something when you’re already ahead of the game – my first lesson for my new married life!

Included are two photos: one from when we got married and one nearly twenty years later. And we are still in love (if not more!) and making maple syrup in the spring remembering that story night.”

1989:

2009:

Thanks, Bill – who doesn’t love romance and maple syrup?!

Check out Bill’s website Groom Wedding Speech, which gives tips on writing and giving that perfect wedding speech!