Naked

As if it wasn’t enough that my tumble dryer blew up three weeks ago, this has now happened to my wedding ring:

I don’t know how clearly you can see from these pictures, but the middle section of white gold has completed lifted away, exposing a sharp edge and losing the middle diamond from its setting.  To say I’m gutted is an understatement.

This was the ring we chose together, one of the (pretty expensive) matching set designed for us by a jeweller friend of my Step-Dad’s.  My husband’s is also two-tone but with a single diamond and despite the fact that he does the very manual job of running a garage, his is showing barely any sign of wear and tear.

I’ve obviously been tapping too strenuously on my keyboard, washing up too vigorously or ironing too energetically…nah, it’s definitely not that.

When I noticed it last night, I had very mixed emotions about it.  Firstly, I was annoyed that this has happened after only ten years of marriage.  Wedding rings are supposed to last a lifetime.  On the strength of this I considered taking it back to the shop and asking for it to be repaired, free of charge.

But then I wondered if I would still feel the same about it afterwards.  All of the middle section would need replacing, including the lost diamond, so half of my ring would be essentially new and therefore not really the one given to me on our wedding day.

I procrastinated about what I should do…a lot.  Would it be heartless or even amoral to sell it for scrap gold and put the money towards a new one?  Should I get a new one but have this one repaired and maybe wear it on a different finger or a chain?  Should I divorce my husband and then the problem would be solved altogether? 😉

My husband showed some concern…but not enough, in my opinion.  After all, it’s not just ‘a ring’, is it?  It marks the time we said, ‘I do’ in front of witnesses and made promises to each other ’till death us do part’.  It’s supposed to represent a never-ending cycle of eternal love and now that symbol is, quite literally, broken.

I know I might be reading too much into this (it has been known for me to over-analyse things) but I can’t help feeling that it’s not a decision to be taken lightly.

Then, to add to my conundrum I’m currently being forced to type this naked…

I’ve had to remove my engagement and eternity rings because as you can see, my finger has narrowed from the wedding ring and as a result they spin round relentlessly and drive me mad.  I’m also paranoid about losing them because even though my knuckle in theory stops them sliding off, they still feel too loose.

So, after much deliberation, I’ve come to a decision (and my husband agrees.  Not that he had any choice in the matter.)  We’re going to buy a new ring together on Thursday evening.  In his defence and to stop him sounding completely devoid of respect for the sanctity of marriage, he did insist I don’t choose one alone.  This can mean one of two things: he either wants to make the event significant, a joint effort and as romantic as possible in the circumstances…or he’s worried I’ll spend too much on the ring.

Maybe I’ll see if they do a two-for-one deal: new ring, new husband?

Either way, we’re going to browse around lots of shops for hours (he’s so looking forward to that part as you can imagine) and then I’ll probably go back to the first shop and choose the first one I saw.  And after our purchase, we’ll stroll hand in hand back to the car, maybe kiss under the stars…and then call in for a curry on the way home.  Who said romance was dead, eh?

We’re also going to get the ring blessed in church as soon as we can as a very low-key re-enactment of our original vows.

And in the meantime, I’m going on the pull 😉

Have I made the right decision? What are your thoughts on replacing a wedding ring?

Linking up with the lovely Cas for All the Small Things about a small thing (a wedding ring) but one with lots of significance…