( The Hinge Ring )

“I bought this ring with my ex-boyfriend in a little shop on the renowned Witte de With street in Rotterdam. It was not really a ring we bought for each other, we just both bought a piece of jewelry for ourselves that we liked. I immediately loved the design of it: when you take it off, it works sort of like a hinge. When I am a bit nervous or anxious, I always take it off to play with it to calme my nerves. It’s like one of those stress toys to me!”

Over the years, me and my ex have split ways, but I always kept the ring. When I met my current boyfriend – who is now my fiancé – at one point we decided we wanted to exchange rings. I couldn’t distance myself from this one, so I asked him if it would be ok to make a minor change to it instead of buying a new one. He agreed, so I had one part of the ring replaced with a new material, making it truly unique and custom made for this moment.

In a few weeks from now I’ll get married, and we even thought of making another alteration to this ring, so it can grow even further with me. Although in the end we chose to buy special new rings for this occasion, I will always keep wearing this ring. It reminds me of all good things that have happened to me, and that are yet to come.

( Maarten )
( The Netherlands )