Vera Wang Talks Zales Engagement Ring Collection, Bridal Trends
After more than 30 years in the bridal industry, Vera Wang thinks “there is no one trend” leading the market, especially when it comes to bridal jewelry.
The acclaimed bridal designer is teaming up with Zales for her latest Vera Wang Love bridal jewelry collection, marking the 12th year Wang has worked with the Signet-owned jewelry brand.
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Wang’s 38-piece engagement ring and wedding band collection is broken up into three categories — Romantic, Princess and Minimalist — to reflect the range in preferences among brides. The pieces are crafted with both natural and lab-created diamonds and embellished with sapphires either externally or internally on the styles. Styles range in price from $2,699 to $11,119.
“If you see [the collection], it really deals with all different kinds of brides because we’re not all the same,” Wang said. “We’re not getting married the same way. We’re not dressing the same way. So, for me, the real trend in bridal and in weddings is there is no one trend. We’ve been instrumental in encouraging that for over three decades.”
The three categories of the collection are meant to offer an assorted lineup of bridal jewelry. The Romantic category offers various engagement rings designed with a floral motif or feminine elements. Wang stated the category also offers more styles in yellow gold, which her collections typically haven’t offered.
“The fact we’re offering yellow gold maybe brings a bit of a mix — it’s a bit more fashion — so the romantic group, I just really adore,” Wang said. “It’s something we’re going to build upon going forward.”
The Princess category offers “more fantastic and fancier” cuts, according to Wang, with styles meant to highlight the center stone. The Minimalist category, which reflects Wang’s own style, solely focuses on the center stone. This category offers engagement rings up to five carats, which Wang said she’s rarely done in past Zales’ collections.
“It’s a very, very exciting time for us because we really are addressing jewelry in a very big way and we will be doing also fashion jewelry as well,” Wang said. “But, the bridal part has really been very rejuvenating for me. I’ve really gotten a chance to rethink, rejigger, reposition and recreate engagement rings. That’s probably one of the most important pieces of jewelry a woman ever gets.”
Wang believes her Zales bridal jewelry collections have been able to resonate so much with customers since she embarked on the partnership in 2011 because of her deep understanding of the bridal market.
“I’ve probably dressed more brides on this planet than anyone in the history of weddings,” she said. “I’m pretty sure I could say that. If you’ve done that kind of work — working with the brides alongside them — there is a certain connection you make. Certainly there is an authenticity and there certainly is that kind of history. When brides trust me for the most important dress — probably in their life for most people — then I think it only makes a lot of sense that they would trust me also for their engagement ring.”
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