Asking someone to marry you is stressful enough but what makes it even more so is the worry of whether the love of your life will like the ring you've chosen for them.
The agonising is over thanks to the Wilshi range of sterling silver proposal rings.
Propose with a Wilshi and then choose the engagement ring together. It takes away the stress of getting it wrong but keeps the romance of the proposal alive.
The rings are priced from $100 - $275 and remove the risk of spending thousands on one your partner may not like.
"Guys don't want to get it wrong but if they propose without the ring it ruins some of the romance. This way the guys can still do the romantic proposal," Chris Benham of Wilshi says.
The Wilshi launch last year coincided with All Black Dan Carter buying one to propose to fiance Honor Dillon, "We had not actually released the brand but we showed Dan the designs and he loved the concept. A few months later he called and said, "I might be in need of a Wilshi", Benham says.
The rings vary in design. There is a simple band engraved with the words "Will you marry me?", others resemble a can tear-tab and a heart, as well as a simpler style. There is also one cast from a shell with the words "Will you marry me?" discretly engraved as if the words have been written in the sand.
"We're trying to help guys come up with some clever ways to propose and ways to lighten up the situation and make it fun". Chris says, "It's been a real hit because it's a special ring they keep forever that marks the occasion, and they also look great worn afterwards on a chain as a pendant."
Wilshi - The Proposal Ring being discussed on The Girls' Locker Room on ZM by Polly and Grant. Check out the video on YouTube.
Wilshi - The Proposal Ring on Breakfast TV - Pippa Wetzell, Corin Dann and Rawdon Christie discussing Dan Carter's marriage proposal with a Wilshi - 'Will you marry me? ring. Check out the video on YouTube.
120 NZ dollars (about £59) for the temporary Wishi engagement ring he gave Dillon last month. Designers say they are for men unsure of how much to spend or the answer they may get. She said yes.
Fly half is focused on his craft despite outside distractions.
Tim Wheeler had to fight hard to get Dan Carter to take his clothes off. “He put some restrictions on it in the early days,” the American said. “He wouldn’t go outside in just his underpants.”That early business meeting hints at the Carter conundrum. He is the rugby extrovert and perfect 10, but a modest man who says his best is yet to come. And although he may have been a reluctant stripper, strip he did.
“People were wrecking their cars as they looked up at the billboards,” Wheeler, the president of Jockey International, said.Carter also sees the big picture. Despite fears about ribbing from macho team-mates, the fly half signed with Jockey when an All Blacks novice in 2003. Since then, his fiancée, Honor Dillon, the New Zealand hockey player, has also been recruited. They have even posed together — Posh and Becks defrocked.
Yet Carter, 28, has managed to avoid the backlash that ensued when David Beckham and his wife were famously pictured in sarongs. It was not just Sir Alex Ferguson who felt that two sarongs did not make a right as Beckham fast-tracked himself to cross-dressing, crossover celebrity.“We do have tall poppy syndrome down here,” said Dean Hegan, Carter’s friend and manager at Essentially Group, the sports marketing agency. “But anyone who knocks Dan does so at their peril.”Some have tried.
Carter and Richie McCaw and Ali Williams, his team-mates, were threatened last year with legal action over a bottled-water venture. “Someone claimed it was their idea, but it went away,” Hegan said. There was also a flurry of media activity when supposedly naked photographs were for sale on an auction house; the offer was quickly removed.
Then, in March, a gossip columnist, Rachel Glucina, reported that Carter had been “busted buying sex toys at an adult store in Christchurch”. Hegan said he was with Canterbury team-mates getting a gift for a team-mate.
Inevitably, some people will want to “get Carter”, but Wheeler says analogies with Beckham are misplaced. “They are totally different in character and how they relate to their sport,” he said. “Dan would never let anything interfere with his rugby, but with Beckham, it’s more about celebrity. There’s his wife and that dynamic, but Honor’s also a sportsperson in her own right.
”There is a Facebook site called “We HATE Dan Carter”, but it has only 59 members and was set up by a bloke from Leicester. Most people accept that Carter is a nice guy, who remembers his roots, growing up in Southbridge, pop. 720, and watching his dad dig up the vegetable patch to make way for a training pitch.They remember the magical games, such as the 2005 taming of the Lions in Wellington, and hope he recovers from his latest ankle injury.
Last year, while playing for Perpignan on a unique six-month sabbatical from his New Zealand contract, he tore an Achilles tendon. He was raking in a record £30,000 a game in France and is considering a return there after next year’s World Cup. Toulon, though, have ruled themselves out of an auction, with Mourad Boudjellal, the president, claiming Carter had “crossed the line” by demanding £1 million a season.
Boudjellal knows Carter’s worth, though, having offered him £500,000 for six months in 2008, but, eyeing Beckham-like shirt sales, he had his fingers burnt. Carter said he wanted Heineken Cup rugby, but others claimed adidas, a sponsor of the player and the All Blacks, derailed the deal.Carter lives a normal life in New Zealand, dividing his time between Christchurch, where he plays for the Crusaders, and Auckland, where Dillon works as a brand manager for DB Breweries.
They are not so much the Beckhams with bells on as the stripped-down version. Wheeler conceded as much, saying his man remains unknown in the United States. “When people don’t recognise him, it’s OK because he’s got a great body,” he said. “He’s our best model because he does not know how to pose. He’s a natural in underwear.” Make that anywhere.
Perfect 10 by numbers
1,127 International points, 51 behind Jonny Wilkinson’s record
33 Points scored in second match against the Lions in Wellington in 2005, an All Blacks record
35.7 Percentage of the vote won in taking New Zealand’s sexiest man title in 2005
3,000,000 Salary in pounds that Toulon claim Carter wants for a three-year deal
120 NZ dollars (about £59) for the temporary Wishi engagement ring he gave Dillon last month. Designers say they are for men unsure of how much to spend or the answer they may get. She said yes.
Read the source article on The Times website. Honor-bound Dan Carter a model professional with eye on the bigger picture
Monday 29th November, 2010 - New Idea
There'll be no more will-she or won't-she for this happy pair.
All Black Dan Carter knows how to keep his woman happy. A hard man on the sports field but a romantic off it, money was no issue when he splashed out on fiancée Honor Dillon’s engagement ring, as these exclusive pictures show.
The former Black Stick hockey star was still celebrating when she was spotted at a boutique wine store on Auckland’s Ponsonby Road. The 28 year old’s impressive bling overshadowed all else, even the bottles of champagne she was carrying.
Last month Dan, also 28, planned a romantic weekend in Queenstown for his girlfriend of 8 years. He popped the question during a scenic helicopter flight.The playmaker had bought a sterling silver ‘Wilshi’ Ring to make his proposal. He wanted a traditional ring to seal the deal but didn’t want to shell out on something Honor didn’t like.
The betrothed couple has since returned to the jeweller to design Honor’s magnificent ring together, rumored to be platinum and diamond. The owners refused to discuss how much Dan paid, but the most expensive ring on offer is $72,000.
The handsome couple is yet to divulge details of their wedding plans. But the big question is whether their nuptials will be held in some romantic vineyard in France.
Dan will reportedly leave the All Blacks after the Rugby World Cup in 2011, and is expected to sign with a multimillion dollar contract with a French team. He could be one of the world’s highest paid rugby stars.
Friends introduced Dan and Honor in 2000, but the pair didn’t start dating for several years. She has been a tower of strength as Dan fought back from injury and ankle surgery earlier this year, missing months of field time.
For now, the young lovers will split their time between Auckland, where Honor works as a product manger for DB Breweries, and Christchurch, where Dan plays as first five for his team the Crusaders.
Wednesday November 03, 2010 TVNZ NZI Business
The problem of finding the right kind of engagement ring before you propose has finally been solved, as All Blacks star Dan Carter recently found out.
He was one of the first people in the world to use the new temporary proposal ring.Called the "Wilshi", the ring is aimed at grooms who don't feel up to guessing what their future bride might want on their finger.
The internet-based series of six silver rings are embossed with the words "will you marry me?" and are made to avoid the embarrassment of being presumptuous about the answer or your choice of engagement ring.
"Romance is certainly not dead, and a lot of men want to get engaged, want to conduct a romantic proposal, do it in a really special way. But they face this problem - they don't know what their partner would like, how much they should spend," a Wilshi spokesman told NZI Business today.
"Dan typified the problem. He was contemplating getting engaged but like so many men, he had all those issues. He saw the Wilshi, and he decided to go with one."Carter proposed to his long-term girlfriend Honor Dillion two weeks ago.
The Wilshi Ring is available online from around US$100
Burger rings, bottle tops and shells need no longer stand in for engagement rings, thanks to a jeweller putting the romance back into proposals in a way that has already helped rugby celebrity Dan Carter pop the question.
Wilshi has designed a series of silver rings that leave men free to worry about whether their prospective fiancees will say yes, rather than whether she will like the ring.
One of the rings, which all have the words "Will you marry me?" on them, has already been sold – with All Blacks first five-eighth Dan Carter buying one for his proposal to Honor Dillon.
Carter went looking for an engagement ring, but a Wilshi spokesman said he was in the same position as many men who had decided to propose.
"They're not 100 per cent sure of what style she would like, and there's always that slim chance they don't get a yes."
With that decision made, he planned a helicopter ride as the setting for his proposal, and the couple would now choose an engagement ring together.
Wilshi director Chris Benham said worrying about how to propose was nerve-racking enough for men. "They're wondering: `What if I chose the wrong style, how much do I spend, what if she says no?"
As many men did not "know where to start" when looking for an engagement ring, many decided not to get one, but to choose one with their partners later."
Often they opt out and leave the choice to their partner, which eliminates the romance."For $100 to $140, men can have a proposal ring while avoiding spending thousands on one their partners might not like. Some are normal shapes, one looks like the ring pull on a bottle, while another is heart-shaped.
To see the article Click Here
You've popped the question, it's time to choose the sparkler. Nick Churchouse investigates and talks to a Wilshi spokesman about the subtle art of buying a ring.
There are two seminal decisions you make in a relationship. Both involve rings.
Regardless of the circumstances of the initial liaison, ringing the next day to show that your interest is ongoing can be a hand-wringing, palpitation-inducing affair. But it’s is nothing compared to the time you decide, physically, to give her a ring.
Getting married is one of those things that’s getting modernised. Folks are doing it all sorts of ways, including not at all.
But popping the question is a fairly standardised procedure. Bells and whistles, location and ambience aside, you still have to ask that question, and you are likely to want to have that ring.
But which ring is that ring? Think choosing a bride was a biggie? Think again.
Choosing a ring for a proposal is one of the greatest blind stabs in the dark a man will ever make. Its the fear in mens’ eyes as they come in to make possibly the biggest cock-up of their lives - choosing a ring she doesn’t like.
Wilshi says a few men have it in the bag before they come in; they’ve done the homework, pinched an existing ring for sizing, talked to her best friend, and figured out her style. But most are shooting blind, and haven’t figured on how big a gamble it is.
“Girls have been thinking about this since kindergarten. When it occurs, they are more nervous about what is in the box than whether they say yes or no. All she is thinking is ‘will I like it?’”
The trouble is, the options are vast.
Some punt for the “filler” ring – a novelty ring or seashell from the beach to mark the occasion and accessorise the proposal without betting on knowing what ring will work. Some buy a lesser ring as a proposal ring and buy the real engagement piece together later. Smart dudes.
But most guys want to be romantic and like to think they know the women they are planning to spend the rest of their lives with. Wrong. “There’s only one guy in a thousand that can go in and pick that ring,” a Wilshi spokesman said.
In New Zealand the average amount spent on an engagement ring is $3500, but a man’s love is not measured by the size of his carat. If you’re going to choose what to buy your beloved, think it through. What’s her style? Is she a traditional or contemporary girl? Does she wear gold or is platinum better?
Imagine it’s is her buying you a car. Would she know exactly which one you want?
FINGER TIPS
Get the size right. Grab another ring she has and jam it on your knuckle until it won’t go any further. A jeweller will be able to try different sizes on your hand until one feels the same.
Will it fit her lifestyle? If she uses her hand a lot she’ll need a low profile ring that won’t get in the way, or one that comes off easily.
What are her hands like? Long fingers need a ring to match her hand, as do more sturdy digits.
Forget the internet. Would you choose a bride on the web? Don’t answer that. While there might seem to be some great deals, there are too many stories of rip offs, fake diamonds and just plain disappointment. Choose a jeweller that you trust and ask all the questions you want.
Don’t be afraid to secretly take her closest buddy into the shop. “This is my girlfriend’s best mate, we want a ring.” Sounds dodgy, but jewellers hear it all the time.
To see the article Click Here
