With This Ring, I Thee Smog

We don’t think this is a very good idea, but it’s our duty to report what’s new out there in the world of jewelry.

Meet the Smog Free Ring, an unusual choice for at least a few people to seal their love with a blob of filth.

The ring was created by a Dutch designer, Daan Roosegaarde, who went to Beijing a few years ago, was horrified by the pollution and created a Smog Free Tower to filter the air. They’re now sprouting in parks from Poland to Mexico.

Then he had to decide what to do with the black crud that the towers collect. So he compressed the particles, encased them in a transparent cube and invented the Smog Free Ring.

“In the beginning we were joking, who is going to wear pollution?” Mr. Roosegaarde told The New York Times. “It’s a new meaning of beauty. It’s not beauty like Louis Vuitton or Ferrari or Rolex, but it’s clean air. That’s beautiful.”

Well, it’s not that beautiful, but it does make statements. One of them is: Be careful with the ring. Mr. Roosegaarde said that if someone somehow breathed in the ring’s contents, it could take six to eight years off his or her life.

Nonetheless, he confidently carries one around all the time. “I’m single, but I always carry a smog free ring with me,” he said. “Right now it’s a proposal for a new world, not a person, but you never know when I will meet someone.”

At Dallas Gold & Silver Exchange, we have a better idea. To help clean the air, take the money you save by buying a ring from us and get a bicycle or an electric car or really good walking shoes for everyone you know. You’ll help the planet and have a beautiful diamond on your finger forever.