| | | Back in 2010, Yoni (my then-boyfriend, now-husband) and I hit Manhattan over college winter break to go engagement ring shopping. I didn't really know what type of ring I wanted, but I did know one thing: My ring was not going to be yellow gold. I saw yellow gold wedding rings as outdated and flashy, and so the piece I chose — a double-band white gold ring with tiny pavé diamonds — was perfect. I never considered that nearly a decade later, I would be wondering what ring I would have chosen if Meghan Markle was as popular as she is now. As my colleague Nadra Nittle reported this week, the "Markle sparkle" has helped yellow gold engagement rings make a comeback. ICYMI, Markle's ring — a three-carat cushion-cut diamond, accented by two diamonds on the side, set on a yellow gold band — is stunning. Indie designers have been riffing on the trend for years already, and some new styles of yellow gold wedding bands are incredible. This trend is particularly timely for me. A few weeks ago, I was devastated to realize that the diamond Yoni spent his entire college savings on had fallen out of my ring. We've combed our apartment, but the stone is as good as gone. I am sick over the loss but comforted that I still have the ring, which I've tucked away in my jewelry box and will cherish forever. But now I'm thinking about how I'm going to replace my engagement ring. I've been eyeing new — albeit less expensive — rings, and truth be told, there's a good chance my new one is going to be yellow gold. —Chavie Lieber, senior reporter for The Goods | | | |
| This Valentine's Day, Americans are expected to spend a record $20.7 billion on everything from cards to romantic dinners. But more than anywhere else on the occasion, consumers flock to jewelry stores. Valentine's Day is one of the most popular holidays for engagements and weddings, a major reason Americans shell out more cash on jewelry than any other merchandise this time of year. But the engagement rings and wedding bands you'll see on couples in 2019 might look different from their predecessors of even just five years ago. After two decades of platinum and white gold dominating wedding jewelry, yellow gold is back, say jewelry retailers and experts alike. The color's renaissance in recent years might be part of the general turn toward gold jewelry that's seen the bamboo earrings, nameplate necklaces, and religious jewelry long found at swap meets marketed to the general public as hip and edgy. Refinery29's Channing Hargrove recently suggested that this trend is cultural appropriation. In terms of gold wedding jewelry, however, the unconventional tastes of millennial brides and grooms might also be at play. Twenty-somethings have been blamed for bypassing diamond engagement rings, and sometimes precious gems altogether, for New Age faves like quartz. Gold bands might simply be another way for young couples to mix up the wedding jewelry they've come to view as conformist and unimaginative. And the influence of the most visible couple to wed last year can't be counted out: Prince Harry presented Meghan Markle with a gold engagement ring. |
| Lisa Tselebidis, a KonMari consultant, arrives at my New York City apartment one recent Friday afternoon ready to tidy. She wraps a thick apron around her waist, which has pockets that hold necessary tools like sticky notes, Scotch tape, and Sharpies. She's polite but firm, and incredibly serious about the task at hand: helping me get rid of shit. "We'll be tackling each and every item, and we'll get you to a place where you are only keeping the things that support you in your ideal lifestyle," she says, eyeing the baby toys stacked haphazardly in my living room. "The KonMari method is a holistic approach. It will help you make life changes that will feel gratifying." Tselebidis is one of 227 KonMari consultants around the world — that is, professional organizers certified by global best-selling author, Netflix star, and queen of tidy Marie Kondo. Her book, The Life‑Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, cemented her position as an expert on helping people determine which items in their home "spark joy." On the heels of this success, in 2016 Kondo started KonMari Media Inc. and began offering a training program so fellow organizing devotees could master her tidying methods. With the debut of her Netflix show, Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, on January 1, Kondo's popularity has never been stronger — especially in the United States, a country that loves to acquire things. KonMari Media hosts two certification seminars a year, and the upcoming ones in New York and London are already sold out, with more than 115 attendees signed up for each conference. KonMari consultants say they, too, are flooded with requests. I streamed Kondo's show, and like many other viewers, I laughed at, cried with, and occasionally judged the families going through the process, all the while wondering what that experience would do for me and my family. |
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