My Wedding Ring

Since the day MOH and I exchanged wedding rings till now, I’ve had a fair few people asking to see the ring, and getting all excited and making statements like “Oooh... you got a platinum ring!” or “Oh, is it white gold? It’s nice. So simple!” .... I do not know why the first thought is that the ring must either be platinum or white gold or something expensive like that. I found that rather interesting.

But when my Mom who spent a couple of weeks with us here in the Penh last week made a comment, it got me kind of annoyed, really. She took a closer look at my ring again and this time, I didn’t have the heart to hide the truth – that it was a simple, plain 925 sterling silver ring. And then she went “So Cheapskate!”. Sigh.

I don’t like gold. I am certainly not a fan of stones either. Not even diamonds – and they are supposed to be a girl’s best friend! And for those who know me, or at least, have seen me, they would remember that I am a “silver” girl. I have a silver ring on each finger (one from each guy that I’ve ever dated – according to my godson, Ryan. Haha.) and silver earrings and silver necklace and dolphin pendant and silver bracelet and silver anklet. I remember doing this ‘silver style’ ever since I hung up the high school pinafore. I like it, it’s nice, it’s a little bo-ho, it suits me fine. So, I imagined that a little sparkling stone or gold for that matter, in the midst of all that silver would stand out like a sore thumb.

And I never take them off. Not my rings, not my earrings, not my bracelets. Nothing. I shower wearing them, sleep wearing them, make love wearing them, go to the gym wearing them, swim wearing them, get into the ocean wearing them, go camping wearing them. Basically, I cannot be bothered taking them on and off all the time (too many of them and it would take away 10 minutes of my precious time). So you see, I do need something hardy, and definitely not too expensive. In fact – the cheaper, the better because I don’t feel that painful when I damage it.

I remember my engagement ring. I think there’s a diamond there somewhere (haha). I wore it the first day – to the gym and lifted weights. I got scratch marks all over the ring. Needless to say, from that day onwards, it has been sitting in its little box, sheltered and protected from ... ME. I took it out once – to wear it during my wedding. And now, it is back in its boxy home. I mean, if I continued wearing it, I would’ve been worried everyday about that tiny stone falling out, about being robbed or mugged or simply, just adding more scratches to it beyond recognition (MOH wouldn’t be pleased at all). Oh dear, it’s just a bit stressful, you know.

I mean – are platinum rings or gold rings or diamond rings seen as more romantic? I think the fact that MOH considered my style and my everyday abuse of my jewellery more romantic. I want to be able to wear the ring with me all the time! For me, the romanticism is in the fact that it is worn on the fourth finger of the left hand (because there’s a vein there that goes directly to the heart – oh-so-ROMANTIC!) and the fact that if I get to wear it all the time, it almost feels like I’m being ‘protected’. Cheesy, but romantic all the same.

So you see, I’m perfectly happy with my 925 silver wedding band. But MOH said he wants to engrave something onto our wedding rings (like the tattoos are not enough...) Very romantic indeed. But what if I lose the ring? *Gasp*