Every fashion designer wants his or her designs to last for generations. It’s no wonder that when renowned Filipino fashion designer Rajo Laurel was given the opportunity to add a long-lasting creation to his repertoire (which includes designer cakes and designer burgers), he went for something romantic—wedding bands. "Designing jewelry is something that’s natural to me. I owe a lot to my lola, who used to let me play with her [precious] stones when I was little," he said during the launch of F&C Jewelry’s "Rings by Rajo Laurel", a collection of wedding bands bearing the designer's name.

Owned by third-generation family of jewelers from Iloilo, F&C Jewelry (founded by husband-and-wife Marcelino Florete and Susan Caperonce-Florete) has been specializing in wedding bands and engagement rings for 37 years. For its latest collection, the owners decided to bring in their favorite couturier, Laurel himself, to create contemporary wedding rings.

"We have been his clients for 13 years and we know that Rajo is well known for his contemporary yet very feminine designs. When we approached him to design jewelry for us, he had a lot of ideas that he wanted to put in jewelry. We decided to put those on wedding bands," said Marjorie Florete, one of the owners.

At first glance, the collection appears very streamlined—masculine even. The wedding bands are around eight-milimeters thick and each features some geometric—and even "coded"—engravings that inspired the fashion designer. Most of the rings are in 14-karat white gold, while a few are made from dual-tone (white and yellow) gold. There’s also a minimal use of diamonds which, Laurel explains such simplicity is what makes the rings more wearable on any occasion—without the wearer having to worry about matching it with one’s outfit.

Laurel has, indeed, brought some interesting twists to the plain wedding band. Soon-to-be-wedded couples may choose from 10 designs, which include Parallel, Track, Triad, Meaning, Saucer I, Saucer II, Rouched, Code, Ridge, and Quilt.

The Rouched, Ridge and Code stand out among Laurel’s ring designs. Rouched is perhaps the designer’s most fashion-inspired wedding band as it features a "pleated" finish, which very much resembles the ruching details in gowns. For the ladies’ wedding band, Rouched features small diamonds mounted between the ridges. For the Ridge, Laurel wanted the edges to resemble the ridges found on the side of a coin. Diamonds are also set one-at-a-time at intervals throughout the ring for added shine and elegance. For those who want to be bringing out their geeky side as they tie the knot, Laurel presents the Code wedding band, which features the Morse Code for "I love you" engraved on the surface. Set in 14-karat white gold with brushed finish, it features telegraph-inspired dash lines broken up by diamonds, which represent the Morse Code dots.

All the rings will become available on the third week of February, with prices starting at Php25,000. For soon-to-be-wedded couples with whom cost is not an object, there’s also an option to change base material of the rings from gold to the more expensive platinum.

Rings by Rajo Laurel will be exclusively available at selected F&C stores. For more information, you may visit www.fncjewelry.com. Text by Mira B. Gloria.