An Ethica Diamonds Love Story | Newquay, Cornwall
In July 2017, neither Claire nor Alba had any idea the other existed. Claire had just finished at the University of Exeter and arrived in London for her first graduate job. Alba had arrived from Spain, for hers. They both happened to start work on exactly the same day - and spent the next few months completely separately, finding their feet in a new city and, as twenty-somethings in London tend to do, enjoying the dating scene.
Then, towards the end of 2017, they both found themselves on OKCupid. And while Alba was waiting for her flight home to Spain for Christmas, her phone lit up with a match notification.
She looked at the profile. Blue eyes. But was she a good personality fit? Alba was not entirely sure. She decided to find out.
Her opening message: what has been your biggest adventure?
The Christmas Messages
What followed was a Christmas of long, wandering, genuinely wonderful conversations — travel, literature, film, British and Spanish Christmas traditions compared side by side, messages flying back and forth between celebrations and family gatherings. They wished each other happy new year at midnight on the 31st of December.
On the 1st of January, Claire took the plunge and asked if Alba would like to meet the following day. After conversations like those, she had to say yes.
The First Date
The first date nearly did not start well. Alba was almost ten minutes late and Claire was becoming quietly convinced she had been stood up. Then Alba arrived and they headed to a small restaurant near Claire's office - a place that, as it turned out, specialised in beautiful, fancy kebabs that the waiter suggested they eat with their hands.
A slightly risky choice for a first date. But they navigated it gracefully.
Then Claire excused herself to find the bathroom. The restaurant was tiny. Everyone could see her as she reached the door, pulled firmly on it, and absolutely refused to open. She turned back to find Alba watching her, smiling, gesturing gently that it was a sliding door.
They both agree that was the moment. The sliding door. The quiet gesture. The shared humour of it. That was when something shifted.
Alba paid for dinner. It was the first time anyone had ever done that for Claire. She went home feeling rather swept off her feet.
They reluctantly said goodbye at Oxford Circus station, Claire reaching back to take Alba's hand and promising to book another date. She already knew she would.
The Relationship
Claire knew she wanted to marry Alba about three months in. Which is the kind of thing you either understand or you do not.
There was a surprise weekend trip to Bath. A last-minute trip to Vietnam. Alba met Claire's parents around two months after they started dating. And then Claire's younger sister became seriously ill and spent many months in hospital in Liverpool — close to the worst possible outcome. Despite the newness of everything between them, Alba was fiercely present. Loving and steady for Claire and for her whole family.
Shortly after, Claire moved officially into Alba's flat. What had already been happening unofficially became something more deliberate and permanent.
Three or four months into their relationship, they started a note on Claire's phone called wedding plans. Not in a pressured way - just ideas and thoughts they did not want to forget. Best man favours. Food. Cake. The kind of hopeful list that means both people have already decided, even if no one has asked yet.
Finding the Ring
Claire found Ethica Diamonds over Christmas 2019, while searching for an ethical and eco-friendly engagement ring. One of the biggest things she and Alba share is a love of nature and the outdoors and a genuine commitment to being responsible consumers. Claire had known before she even started looking that the conventional diamond mining industry was not going to be part of this story.
She began by looking at vintage and secondhand diamonds but found the styles limited. Then she found us. A huge choice of styles, genuine sustainability credentials, and everything within budget. She was, she says, very happy indeed.
They looked at a few styles together. Once Alba had mentioned she preferred a shoulder-set style, Claire narrowed the shortlist down to one ring.
The Estella.
She kept the tab open on her phone for the next year. Just in case she forgot.
The Proposal - A Wild Ride
The proposal plan did not go smoothly. In fact it went through several complete reinventions, largely thanks to a global pandemic.
Plan one: Iceland, August 2020, behind a famous waterfall, for Alba's birthday. COVID said no.
They moved to Spain in September 2020. Claire hoped for plenty of beautiful opportunities. Local restrictions kept them in their city until the new year.
Finally, on the 6th of January - Kings Day, or Epiphany, a special Spanish feast day of family and gift giving - they were able to take a day trip to a beautiful location near the Pyrenees.
Because Alba had always known Claire was planning to propose, Claire wanted to add a small element of surprise. She bought a notebook, customised with their initials, and wrote a note inside for the first page. On the day, they walked to a beautiful beach at the edge of the water. Claire handed her the notebook, presenting it as a Kings Day gift, and asked her to read the front page.
While Alba was reading, Claire quietly pulled out the ring and waited.
She said yes.
They took photographs, had a picnic on the beach, and headed home. What the photographs do not show is that it was below zero degrees. The gloves went back on very quickly afterwards.
The Ring
Claire proposed with the Estella Ring - a beautifully crafted round brilliant solitaire that had been waiting patiently on an open browser tab for a whole year. Set with an Ethica Diamond in recycled precious metal. A ring chosen with as much care and thought as the relationship it represents.
We are so honoured to have been part of this story. Claire and Alba, thank you for trusting us with something this important and for choosing an Ethica Diamond to mark it.
We hope the wedding in the Pyrenees was everything you hoped for. And we hope the rings are as beautiful on your hands today as they were on that frozen beach in January. 💎🌿
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