The Special Meaning of Wedding Jewelry

For generations, Hingham Jewelers has been helping couples celebrate weddings. Whether it’s selecting the perfect wedding bands, or creating a custom piece using family heirlooms, we’re thinking about weddings almost every day.

This fall, instead of helping someone else choose pieces for their wedding, I was choosing pieces for my own.

My wife Rachel and I were married on September 30 at Boston’s Museum of Science. Each piece of jewelry we wore had special significance to us, carefully selected for the day. Couples often ask, when selecting their own wedding day jewelry, what they should wear. The truth is, the decisions are intensely personal.

The Engagement Ring & Wedding Bands

The star of almost any wedding is the engagement ring.

Rachel’s engagement ring features an elongated cushion cut diamond. Most cushion cut diamonds are square with soft, pillow-like edges, but elongated cushions are more rectangular in shape. Rachel liked that this stone is much less common than more traditional stones, like a round.

She and I discussed the shapes and styles she liked before I proposed; I used that feedback to select a stone, and then custom design the ring.

When selecting a wedding band to accompany her engagement ring, Rachel also opted for something a bit less traditional than normal. She tried on many different styles, first liking something small and delicate. She ended up choosing a band with oval diamonds. The shape of the oval diamonds in the band actually complements the elongated cushion very nicely.

Sometimes she wears the two rings together, which of course is traditional, but other times she continues to wear her engagement ring on her left hand, and moves the band to her right hand, which lets both rings get the attention they deserve!

My wedding band is a simple platinum band with a mixture of high polish and satin finishes. I opted for platinum because of its durability.

Rachel’s Right Hand Ring

On her right hand, Rachel wore a ring we custom made.

She had a ring from her late grandmother, which was set in a style she didn’t love. But she did love the blue stone in the center.

We took that blue stone, and reset it into this white gold ring with a halo of diamonds, for a little extra sparkle.

It was a nice way to have “something blue” at the wedding, as well as memories from her grandmother.

My Accessories

With my tuxedo I decided to wear my Rolex Daytona, a graduation gift from my parents.

I also chose to wear a stud set from my late grandfather, Angelo. He, along with my grandmother Helen, started Hingham Jewelers in 1948.

The studs and cufflinks featured a small diamond. Like Rachel’s ring, wearing the stud set gave me an opportunity to feel as though my late grandparents were there with us in spirit on such a big day.

Officiant’s Accessories

Rachel and I were married by her brother, also named Michael. On the wedding day he carried a pocket watch, in his family for decades.

Our watch technician spent months trying to make the pocket watch work perfectly, but as is so often the case, parts needed were no longer available.

Still, our technician was able to make the watch tick, and partially refurbish it. That was enough for Mikey, who slipped it into his pocket as another element of family history.

Rachel and I also gifted him a Shinola watch, for playing such an important part in the day, which he wore on his left wrist.

Jewelry may seem like a luxury—and it sometimes is. But jewelry is also a connection to our past, holding memories from those no longer with us. Pieces don’t have to be valuable to be important. Sentimentality often trumps all.

We take that approach whether we’re working with your pieces—or our own pieces.

-Michael