Celebrity Life

To those whose whirlwind romance looks likely to become permanent, we've put together everything they'll need to know about that all-important token of everlasting love – the engagement ring.

If we didn’t know this already, 2021 definitely proved a certain point – that nothing can get in the way of love, not even a pandemic that knows no end. People may reschedule their weddings to 2022, even 2023, but proposals and engagements are still very much happening.

And with every proposal, there’s the ultimate prop: the ring to symbolise eternal love and commitment. It doesn’t have to be a diamond, but it sure needs to be something you know your partner will cherish. Whether you’re dropping hints to your partner about the ring of your dreams, or even shopping together for it, we’ve gathered all the advice from our favourite bridal jewellers to narrow down the top engagement-ring trends that we believe are here to stay.

Read on to discover all the engagement ring trends.

Trend 1: Keeping it Classic

The diamond engagement ring will forever remain a classic, even if it isn’t technically traditional – diamonds only became synonymous with bridal jewellery when copywriter Frances Gerety coined the phrase “A Diamond is Forever” for a 1947 De Beers campaign. Nonetheless, white diamonds remain a popular choice and numerous jewellery brands purport to offer the best of them.

For example, Graff, the king of diamonds, takes its diamond selection process extremely seriously, having spent generations perfecting the journey of a stone from mine to boutique, ensuring on the way that the cut, the setting and the craftsmanship behind each jewel are flawless. Diamonds are graded by the 4Cs, a universal standard set by the Gemmological Institute of America (GIA) that refers to a diamond’s cut, colour, clarity and carat weight. At Graff, the diamonds are cut and polished to be perfect balanced with symmetrical mirror-like facets to display the optimum scintillation; you’ll also find that in terms of colour, Graff only uses diamonds ranging between D and G – the rarest and most sought-after grades.

At Hearts on Fire, cut is the most important of the 4Cs. A round, brilliant-cut diamond is arguably the most sparkling and radiant, as it displays the highest number of facets within to reflect light, and this is also the cut that Hearts on Fire exclusively specialises in.

Trend 2: Going for Fancy Shapes

Today, however, there’s definitely a rise in popularity for fancy shapes. Clients who go to Angie Marei in New York, aren’t looking for round brilliant-cut diamonds.. The Dominican-Egyptian designer takes inspiration from Ancient Egyptian decorative arts, architecture and the anti-traditional elegance of the Art Deco era to bring each piece a unique story. Her Ayla Bridal Collection for example, is inspired by the majestic open curves and fluidity of Arabic calligraphy and decorative arts, with a serpentine design that’s a spiritual symbol of rebirth, transformation, eternity and immortality.

“Most of my clients are requesting unique cuts over the traditional round brilliant cuts,” Marei tells us. “For example, our Ayla Engagement Ring featuring a marquise-cut diamond is in high demand now. They love the ultra-feminine look of the marquise shape. We’re also getting a lot of requests for pear and oval-cut diamonds.”

Similarly, De Beers has noticed the trend for fancy cuts, and has extended its offering of fancy-cut and fancy-colour solitaire diamond rings this year, offering its clients full control of their individual expressions. Marquise-cut, a modification of the round brilliant that maximises carat weight and gives the illusion of longer and slimmer fingers, dates back to the 1700s. According to legend, Louise XV of France requested a diamond cut to resemble the perfectly-shaped mouth of his mistress, the Marquise de Pompadour.

Heart-shaped diamonds are also making a comeback among hopeless romantics. Their popularity dates back to the 16th century, when Mary Queen of Scots gave Queen Elizabeth a heart-shaped diamond ring as a gift of friendship.

Trend 3: Design-Forward

London-based designer Liv Luttrell, who excels in creating bespoke engagement rings for her clients, says she’s “found a real interest in dramatic design-led pieces.

“I’ve been exploring geometric shapes paired with detailed settings and simple curving architectural-inspired lines,” says Luttrell. “The challenge I relish is to take a bold brief and bring it to life, where the final design has the right balance of quality, uniqueness and timeless elegance that will be wearable for a lifetime.”

Intricate design is on the mind of Harry Winston’s designers, too. Inspired by the intricate details and elements of a bespoke wedding gown, the house has applied the same mindset and artistry to its new Bridal Couture collection of rings. Each ring highlights the various diamond cuts with signature elements that recall the wedding-day ensemble – such as the corset lacing of a couture gown, married with a pear-shaped diamond centre stone, or an emerald-cut diamond contrasting with the delicate open-weave fabric of Chantilly lace. For a more avant-garde take on an engagement ring, there’s also an exquisite ring designed with two marquise-shaped diamonds of approximately the same carat weight, resting asymmetrically side-by-side on a diamond and platinum band.

Trend 4: Attention to the Ring Band

Jewellery designer Rachel Boston has noticed a trend for more unusual band styles. “At the moment, we’re seeing a lot of interest in more unusual band styles, with people leaning towards wider statement bands,” she says.
“A chunky band is a perfect way to turn something that would otherwise be a much more classic-looking engagement ring into a piece with a really unique character,” says Boston. “Split bands are a popular choice as well, and much easier to wear and pair with a wedding band than you’d think. We’re also seeing a draw towards intricate, Art-Deco inspired halos.”

For popular British fine-jewellery brand Annoushka, which introduced its first bridal collection this year, it’s all about the ring jacket. Called Love & Commitment, the collection ranges from simple solitaires and delicate three-stone designs to more extravagant fine stone rings. What’s super interesting is the diamond ring jacket that clients can pair with an engagement ring. Available in yellow or white gold, the interchangeable ring jacket slides snugly around the solitaire ring for extra oomph and pizzaz. The ring jacket functions perfectly as a wedding band, or could even be added as a milestone gift in years to come.

Trend 5: Making a Statement with Colour

Every couple is different, and every proposal is unique. There’s definitely a growing number of people looking for something different – and coloured stones have never been more popular. According to London-based jeweller Michelle Oh, “We’re seeing a huge and growing demand for coloured stones to be used in engagement rings these days. Gone are the days when someone just wants a round brilliant-cut white diamond solitaire for an engagement ring.”

People today are looking for uniqueness. “More and more people try to be different and steer away from silhouettes and shapes that feel too commonplace,” says Oh. “I think this is all part of the zeitgeist of wanting to express individuality and uniqueness.”

Colour is an extremely personal way to display this sense of individuality, she adds. “Even those who still want some diamonds on their ring will opt for less traditional-looking diamonds, such as champagne or grey diamonds, or maybe an unusual cut or shape, to get that different look in their diamond ring.”

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As Chaumet's CEO Jean-Marc Mansvelt tells us, bringing the house's 240-year heritage into the modern era is an immense task that amounts to a "daily obsession". But if the new pieces in the Chaumet Joséphine collection are anything to go by, the Place Vendôme stalwart is heading in the right direction.

What kind of woman today does the Joséphine collection appeal to?

First, it’s about a woman with a certain character. Because when you choose to wear a tiara on your finger, you’re making a choice of distinction, a choice of character. You’re sending a message to say you’re not like everyone else and you have a certain strength and a certain personality. But also a sense of virtuosity, grace and beauty, because it’s not for women who want to be too provocative.

It’s a way to set your personality. And then of course, there are two major reasons to become a client of Joséphine. On one side, it remains one of the favourite pieces chosen for a bridal purpose. It’s connected to the initial history of Chaumet, the history of the power and love between Napoleon and Joséphine. And Napoleon is known everywhere, that’s incredible. There’s another type of client on the other side of the connection with the pearls, the coloured stones, something a bit easier and more accessible.

This year, Chaumet's creations have also incorporated sleeker, more modern takes on the tiara. Can you tell us a bit about the new high jewellery?

After many creations that were a bit more tiara-like, a bit more decorative, more visible, more baroque in a certain way, we wanted to enrich the collection with new ways to mix and match, and to go for designs that were slicker, with a more minimalist approach, because that’s also the style of today. We have a feeling that clients today are a little more understated, and we have the capacity to create beauty through a fine line, rather than an accumulation. So one of our high- jewellery pieces, which is sort of a V with a stone in suspension, doesn’t shout about its design. It’s all about balance.

This year is the 10th anniversary of the Joséphine collection...

But we don’t mark it that way for two reasons. I always feel that if you start doing anniversaries for everything, then at the end, what’s the meaning in it? Last year, when we did the 240 years of Chaumet, that was slightly different. For Chaumet, our heritage is much longer than a decade, it’s about centuries. Instead, this year, we’re celebrating our connection with the 200th anniversary of the death of Napoleon, which is significant in Europe and in France. We’ve done an exhibition at 12 Place Vendôme that was open to the public which tells the love story of Napoleon and Josephine through 150 different objects, beautiful loans from museums and private owners.

Which piece proved to be the most challenging piece in the collection?

The most discussed and the most debated one was the watch. Because we’re clearly a jeweller, and we’ve focused all our efforts and attention on jewellery. But since a few years ago, we’ve reassessed and repositioned what watches mean for Chaumet. It’s true that with the business of watches within Chaumet, we’ve really tried to be coherent with what the story of watchmaking for Chaumet is as a jeweller. One of our challenges was to look at the market – in the market, 90 percent of watches are round – and nobody’s waiting for Chaumet to create a round watch, because we already have thousands of beautiful options on the market.

We decided on a shaped watch, and it wasn’t very difficult to settle on the pear shape, like an illusion of a diamond. We also faceted the watch’s dial.

How do you balance 240 years of heritage behind a brand and stay relevant at the same time?

That’s really the obsession every single day. How do we continue the narrative, the link to the story? Since the pandemic, we’ve seen clients choose Chaumet because there’s longevity. And so it becomes a daily obsession of ours to convey this message to our clients through different means, including the digital approach, so we can speak to the needs of our audience today. We also go through the traditional channels and have books and exhibitions. I regularly write down on paper in two columns: on one side, how much do we tell the story of Chaumet, and on the other, how do we take a contemporary approach, either through the narrative or through using different tools? I take a step back and ask myself is there a balance? If we’re going too much in one direction, maybe it’s time to rebalance. It’s in everything we do.

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Most of us know Wil Fang as the founder of Cookie DPT and Carbs. To his friends however, he's a bit of a hoarder. From sneakers and collectibles to a budding watch collection, the connoisseur of classic all-American fare tells us about his collecting habits, his quartet of Rolexes and what makes him tick.

Wil Fang will tell you he’s no watch collector – yet. He’s merely starting out, dipping his toes in. But step through the doors to his apartment that’s decked out in all sorts of collectibles – from Bearbricks to the Mr Moncler figurine created by artist Craig Costello and various Louis Vuitton x Supreme items – and you’ll see telling signs that he has the potential to become a very serious one.

That is, if his sneaker collection is anything to go by. Fang has a room lined with floor-to-ceiling shelving, dedicated to housing his 400-plus pairs of sneakers. At a glance, there are autographed Air Jordans, limited-edition Off-Whites, Fear of God, and more. His collection is still growing; he points to a couple of boxes stacked on a Supreme logo-ed folding chair – “I haven’t worn those yet,” he tells me.

Fang’s interest in sneakers grew from childhood – his first pair of Jordans was from his mother, when he was in third grade. He also has a single Jordan shoe, signed by the entire Chicago Bulls team, which he displays in a glass box.

“I even have a magazine signed by Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan after they won 72-10,” says Fang, referring to 1995-1996, when the Chicago Bulls set the record for the most wins in an NBA regular season. “I’m a huge Jordan fan and I always wear Jordans. He was my idol growing up.”

But back to watch collecting: “I’ve had quite a few watches, but I’d say the first serious timepiece I own is this Rolex, which my wife gave me on our wedding day,” says Fang.

The watch in question is a Rolex Submariner, in steel with a black dial and bezel. “When my wife got it for me, it wasn’t crazy expensive,” he continues. “Five years ago it wasn’t even difficult to get, like it is today. Things have definitely changed.”

Rolex was the definitive watch of Hong Kong culture, the ultimate milestone watch that you’d get for a special occasion. “It’s almost like the standard entry-level watch here,” says Fang. “Everyone’s got some sort of Rolex, whether it’s a Sub or a Milgauss – for a lot of my friends here, it’s very normal for them to get a Submariner for graduation or when they land their first job.”

The watch Fang got for himself when he got his first pay cheque, however, wasn’t a Rolex. When he graduated with a double major in mechanical engineering and business management from Bucknell University in 2005, he joined Ralph Lauren and was quickly sucked into the company culture.

“We weren’t required to wear any particular uniform, but as a young professional, you see your bosses walking around in suits and nice watches, and you start becoming part of that culture,” Fang recalls. “And, you know, it’s aspirational.”

And soon enough, his interest was piqued. The first watch he bought for himself with his own salary was a TAG Heuer Link chronograph, which he still owns. “In Hong Kong, maybe it’s not a big deal, but back then, when you’re 22 years old in the States, it’s a pretty nice watch. It was a gift to myself.”

Later, as Ralph Lauren ventured into timepieces, Fang also invested in a dress watch. “It was unnecessarily quite expensive,” he says with a chuckle. “It was a Ralph Lauren watch and I probably should have put that money into something else, but it’s a prototype model. It’s definitely sentimental and I’ll never sell it or get rid of it. It’ll stay in my collection.”

Later, Fang’s work brought him to Hong Kong and, in 2016, he found himself in Taipei with a group of friends launching a fashion retail concept store called DPT. “It was one of those dream-come-true situations,” says Fang. “I’m half-Taiwanese and Hong Kong was home, so I was commuting weekly back and forth from Taipei for
two years.”

It was at DPT that Fang’s sneaker collection really flourished. “I’m a sneakerhead,” he says, enthusiastically. “I’ve had sneakers my whole life, but when you open your own shop and brands send you 50 pairs and you could have your first pick, it was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve made it.’”

Owning the sneakers – and the watches – was only part of the thrill. A huge part of what makes the community so exciting was the hunt for a good bargain, the relationships you build with your authorised dealers, and the full experience of receiving the goods.

“The cool thing about collecting is like, once you have it, you have it, but there’s also a story of how you got them, whether they’re sneakers or watches,” says Fang. “I’ve seen my friends pick up their watches at a VIP house and it’s a great day, you know, everyone’s excited and they come with a bottle of champagne. It’s all part of the process.”

After his wedding Submariner opened the floodgates, Fang picked up a “Panda” Daytona with a black ceramic bezel, an Explorer and a vintage “Pepsi” GMT Master with a faded bezel, explaining that Rolex was an easy entry point to collecting for him. “I like things that are more modern, a bit more subtle and sleek,” he says. “White gold or steel and black. Something that’s very clean and not too flashy.”

“Collecting watches is definitely a more expensive hobby. It’s not like collecting suits or sneakers,” says Fang. “But what I like about it is the community. It’s much smaller, more intimate. I don’t even consider myself a watch collector at this point, but from an interest perspective, I really like the circle. They come from all places – from F&B, fashion, finance, entrepreneurs – you meet so many interesting people through collecting. And a lot of them are successful, so it also gives me the drive and the mentality to work hard in my own businesses too.”

That drive is serving him well. Unfazed by the pandemic, Fang and the DPT Group are launching a takeout pizza business called Carbs – “I’m playing the devil’s advocate,” says Fang.

“Covid isn’t such a happy time but seeing the success of a fast-moving takeout delivery business gives us the confidence that, even in the toughest times, Carbs will be OK.” And how could it not be? Comfort mac-and-cheese, authentic Chicago deep-dish pizzas, fried chicken, and hands-down the best spicy vodka fusilli I’ve tasted. Perhaps as Hong Kong’s appetite for Fang’s goods continues to grow, so will his watch collection.

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When it comes to the people we love, we won't settle for anything less than the very best — and that means the latest novelties from the esteemed watchmaking Maison, Audemars Piguet.

In this photoshoot, take a closer look at the novelties from Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak, Royal Oak Offshore, and Code 11.59 collections.

Royal Oak Selfwinding 34mm in Black Ceramic

When Audemars Piguet made frosted gold for the ladies, the men clamoured for it. Audemars Piguet heard and answered. Likewise, black ceramic was only used on larger case-sized watches until this month, when the brand used the beloved lightweight and scratch-resistant material on the Royal Oak 34mm line, complete with rose gold accents even on the octagonal screws in the bezel. What's more, this is the only time-only black ceramic Royal Oak at the moment, making it a timepiece well sought after not just by the ladies, but by the gents as well.

Royal Oak Frosted Gold Selfwinding 34mm

Slowly but surely, Audemars Piguet is expanding its offerings in the 34mm sized Royal Oaks, which have found a comfortable following in both men and women who prefer smaller case sizes. This novelty in white gold, with its frosted gold treatment, looks completely iced-out even without diamonds and is beautifully complemented by an icy blue tapisserie dial.

Royal Oak Frosted Gold Selfwinding Chronograph 41mm

The latest version of the Royal Oak Chronograph with the flyback chronograph movement also receives the frosted gold treatment. The 41mm white gold timepiece, limited to only 200 pieces, comes with a new dark silver dial with the Grande Tapisserie pattern and snailed sub-counters.

Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph 43mm

Audemars Piguet has given the Royal Oak Offshore a complete overhaul with a new design that features a more ergonomic case in 43mm, interchangeable straps and the brand's integrated self-winding flyback chronograph movement, the calibre 4401. This piece in stainless steel comes with a taupe-coloured dial with the Méga Tapisserie pattern and a redesigned logo that says only AP for a more polished look.

Royal Oak Offshore Diver 42mm

The new Royal Oak Offshore Divers are also refreshed with a new movement, the Calibre 4308, and quick-change interchangeable straps — minute improvements that make all the difference. In new colourways that give the timepiece highly contemporary and sporty aesthetics, this blue-dialled beauty with a matching rubber strap is our pick.

Code 11.59 Selfwinding Chronograph 41mm in White Gold and Ceramic

The Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet only gets better — this year, the new collection sees the addition of a new octagonal middle case honed from black ceramic. The bi-colour aesthetics gives the watch another layer of interest and highlights the unusual case construction. A future classic? Only time will tell.

Photography Kauzrambler
Styling Michael Cheung
Hair and Make-up Gloomy Kwok
Photo Assistant Allison Fong
Styling Assistant Cissy Chan
Location Grand Hyatt Hong Kong
Models Jeremy W and Ksenia I @ Primo

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