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Michelle Fantaci Is Launching a Bridal Collection
The designer is catering to the modern bride with her range of under-$5,000 engagement rings and wedding bands.
Unusual diamond center stones and 18-karat matte green gold are the hallmarks of Michelle Fantaci’s new bridal collection.
New York--After 10 years in business, Michelle Fantaci is making her bridal line official.
The New York-based designer has been creating custom engagement rings and wedding bands, and even selling pieces from her main line as bridal options, for years.
In April, she will offer a dedicated bridal collection for her customers.
“I was headed in that direction anyway and it made sense to put my focus there,” Fantaci explained.
With the exception of an occasional outlier, Fantaci is pricing her collection at under $5,000 retail, beginning at $920 and topping off at $4,900.
Fantaci said: “Part of the intention of the line is that most of what I’m offering is an approachable price. I wanted to make something beautiful and affordable.”
“I’m looking for diamonds that have character and aren’t necessarily going to be something that I can find again.”--Michelle FantaciOn the beauty front, Fantaci is employing rose- and step-cut diamonds as center stones, with rose-cuts having the added value of providing substantial surface area without pricey carat weight.
Michelle Fantaci’s “Berber” engagement ring featuring a 0.91-carat cognac color, cushion-cut Australian diamond with 0.18 carats of F-color VS1 white diamond baguettes set in 18-karat green gold ($4,790)
“Sensu” engagement ring with a Canadian 0.54-carat, J-color, SI2, fan-shape diamond with F, VS accent white diamonds in 18-karat green gold ($3,276)
“Nomad” engagement ring featuring a G-color, SI2, 0.86-carat rose-cut round Canadian diamond with cognac kite diamond accents set in 18-karat green gold ($4,870)
Fantaci is also offering certain styles from her main line in palladium as part of her new bridal collection. This “Onda” band with gray diamonds retails for $1,590.
Here, a stack of Fantaci’s bridal bands, which can be worn as wedding bands or even as non-traditional engagement rings. Pricing starts at $1,850.
“They reflect light really beautifully,” she said. “I don’t think they’re usually paired together but I like them mixed so you’ll see step-cuts paired with rose-cuts in the engagement rings and in the bands.”
Fantaci uses white and champagne color diamonds in her bridal line, explaining that she is, “looking for diamonds that have character and aren’t necessarily going to be something that I can find again; that there’s something about them that makes them irregular, it might be an unusual shape or the color or some inclusion in the the interior crystal structure that gives the stone character.”
The collection is being produced in 18-karat green gold, a shade that Fantaci feels acts as a neutral. She’s also creating some of her signature line’s designs in palladium to act as wedding bands.
All of the metals have a matte finish that keeps the designs, which are already romantic, from going overboard.
Modernity is key to Fantaci.
Fantaci said of her bridal customers, “I think couples are looking for something that speaks to them personally. They want their own thing. One-of-a-kind designs provide that and so do designs (that customers) know are not mass produced and come from my own point of view.
“Today, bridal is not necessarily viewed as bridal; it’s just jewelry with a point of view.”
Fantaci herself is the perfect example of this. Her husband bought her an
engagement ring when he first proposed to her. Ten years later, Fantaci designed her own double-sided rose-cut trillion anniversary ring.
Michelle Fantaci’s bridal collection will debut at Portland jewelry store Twist on April 6.
Michelle Fantaci’s bridal collection will debut at Portland jewelry store Twist on April 6.
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