The New Ten/Ten Collection Offers Diamond Engagement Rings with a Feel-Good Factor
Our new column “One Fine Detail” showcases the best of wedding jewelry, with stories about stunning engagement rings, sentimental family heirlooms, and all the beautiful pieces that help to add a little sparkle to your special day.
Meghan Markle’s engagement ring represents more than her love for Prince Harry—the three-stone ring set with a diamond from Botswana also reflects the couple’s values. The Sussexes are among a number of high-profile couples flaunting rings that feature a new status symbol: an ethically mined and sourced diamond. They want the world to know they purchased a certified diamond from an accountable mine that supports the community from which it was discovered. It’s a ring with a feel-good factor that goes way beyond carat weight and cut.
Couples in the market for an engagement ring today are looking for something different than they were a decade earlier. Today’s socially conscious consumers don’t want a cookie-cutter diamond solitaire ring; instead, they want a piece of jewelry that reflects their individuality and values, and one that tells their story.
The next generation engagement rings
Launching today on BlueNile.com, the Ten/Ten collection is that next generation of diamond engagement rings. Ten/Ten enlisted ten inspiring jewelry designers to create ten unique ring designs using ethically and sustainably sourced stones from Botswana that were supplied by the De Beers Group.
These stylish rings are far from cookie-cutter—but they still have an enduring appeal. Ten/Ten offers accessibly priced, limited-edition rings (ten editions of each of the ten designs) with diamonds that weigh less than one carat and are priced below $5,000. The independent designers, chosen for their diversity in style and their commitment to responsible sourcing, include ALMASIKA, Aurora Lopez Mejia, Bea Bongiasca, Harwell Godfrey, Lola Fenhirst, Marla Aaron, Michelle Fantaci, Platt Boutique, Pamela Love, and WWAKE.
“I’m chipping away at the old rules of how we express commitment and show our love,” says Paris-based designer Lola Oladunjoye, whose Lola Fenhirst collection is what she describes as “small batch” jewelry and is made by artisans in the Marais district in Paris. For Ten/Ten, she designed a bezel-set diamond ring with beads that graduate in size around the band to illustrate a story of continuum and strength. “I used red gold because it’s the color that symbolizes love and I wanted the spirit of the ring to convey warmth and meaning,” she says.
Oladunjoye, who is of Nigerian descent, also says it was gratifying to participate in a project that supports and gives revenue back to the African continent, the primary source of the world’s diamonds: “I’m excited to see the economic empowerment story play out in Botswana and see a number of women employed in that environment.”
The ring Italian jewelry designer Bea Bongiasca created for Ten/Ten was her first engagement ring design, and the 29-year-old believes that it's time to rethink the classic look. “If it’s a ring someone is going to wear for their entire life, it should express their style,” she explains. Known for her whimsical and colorful enamel and gemstone jewelry, Bongiasca created a diamond ring with a removable white enamel band that wraps around the stone and provides a two-in-one design.
A diamond is still the number one choice for engagement rings.
As much as people want a unique commitment ring, studies reveal that the overwhelming number of brides still want their engagement ring to be set with a diamond. The pandemic sparked a surge in engagements, which further underscores the significance of the ring. “One thing that came through in the whole Covid experience is that people now appreciate what’s really important, and that is the people around you: your family and your loved ones,” says Stephen Lussier, De Beers’s executive vice president of consumer markets. “People want to show their love, especially right now, and diamonds are a trusted communicator of the things that are important to us.”
Ten/Ten’s diamonds from Botswana represent how the mining industry can transform a country’s economy and elevate its people’s quality of life. The Botswana mine is a joint venture between the country’s government and De Beers, and its profits (it contributes one third of the country’s Gross Domestic Product) have been the engine behind the country’s economic growth. The operation is also a model for sustainability and fostering women in leadership roles in the mining industry. Now, that’s something to feel good about.
“We want people to be proud of the diamond they have, not only because it’s a beautiful stone and is meaningful to them,” says Lussier, “but also because it’s had a positive impact on the communities and places it touched on its journey to get to you.”
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