Fashion trends come and go, sure, but diamonds are forever

Remember when US rapper Lil Uzi Vert got a 10-carat pink diamond worth $24 million surgically implanted onto his forehead? Well, no need to wince (or start saving) just yet as the permanent jewellery offered by Northfleet-based beautician Ruby Black (@rmb_beautyx) is a lot subtler…

January is a tough month for most businesses. It’s cold, dark and no one has any money. Imagine Ruby Black’s surprise when just two weeks into the grimmest month of the year, she’d already doubled her bookings when compared with the entire month of January 2022.

“I didn’t think it would be like this - you know what January’s like,” says the owner of RMB Beauty on her unexpected spike in appointments. “It’s definitely changed in a year, and it’s mainly down to the permanent jewellery.”

Indeed. The hot new forever accessory has been blowing up on TikTok lately. Fashion trends come and go, sure, but diamonds are forever – unless you’re prone to losing them… This is where getting a bracelet or necklace welded together instead of using a clasp comes in handy.

“I’m not too down with TikTok, but permanent jewellery has kind of blown up for me, which I’m very glad about because it’s always scary when you get into something new: is this actually going to take off or are people gonna be, like, ‘What the hell is it?’. I’ve had that question quite a lot actually. But once you explain it to people, they’re quite intrigued by it,” she says.

“When I first announced it, a lot of people were puzzled because I called it permanent jewellery. I also do permanent make-up, so everyone was, like, ‘So are you gonna tattoo it on the skin?’. Erm, no. So I’ve changed the name from permanent jewellery to everlasting jewellery, just because it sounds a bit prettier and it doesn’t sound as harsh. Also people won’t take it so literally.”

Having only been offering everlasting jewellery since November last year, in two short months it became her most enquired-about service. The process is a simple one (don’t be put off by the word ‘welded’) – Ruby custom-fits a solid gold or silver bracelet or necklace around the customer’s wrist or neck and neatly welds the two ends together.

“Put simply, it’s jewellery that you can’t take off,” she clarifies, pointing out that the term ‘everlasting’ also shouldn’t be taken too literally, either. “It’s never gonna last forever,” she acknowledges, “and that’s because of wear and tear. Take sterling silver, for example – that can last a while. It does tarnish, but it’s not going to disintegrate. I certainly feel that you can get at least 50 years out of it, so that’s quite a long-lasting thing to me. It’s definitely good for people that don’t want to take their jewellery off.”

The craze is very much an American one at this point, especially in L.A. and New York – the latter thanks to the popularity of Catbird’s Forever Bracelet. People are so keen to get ‘zapped’, the Brooklyn jewellery store said at one point it was churning through 85 appointments a day.

“An article was posted about me online and a lot of men were commenting ‘Why would we want to follow America? It’s another American fad. If an American told us to jump off a cliff, would we?’. I never take anything to heart – I just found it funny. All publicity is good publicity, isn’t it?” she grins.

One of the reasons Ruby’s services are in such high demand is that there aren’t too many places in the UK that do welded jewellery – and certainly not in Kent – “although don’t quote me on that,” she urges. A quick Google suggests it is probably true, however, and customers are certainly keen on avoiding a trip to London for the sake of a few seconds of zapping.

“I haven’t really heard of it much in England,” she nods. “There is a shop in London, and that’s the only place I’ve heard of that does it. Customers who have looked into it tell me it’s quite expensive and they only offer bracelets. I am a little bit cheaper and a lot of people don’t want to travel to London because they feel like they have to spend the whole day there, and then they spend even more money. I know I do anyway,” she laughs.

As a concept, jewellery that’s never removed has been around for a while, but never in Kent, and never as easy to obtain. In 1969, Cartier debuted its iconic Love Bracelet, which can only be secured and taken off with a screwdriver. It’s still part of the brand’s collection today, the cheapest in this style priced at £4,100, the most expensive £26,900.

“Yeah, they’re expensive! I do love the idea of Cartier, though – it’s insane jewellery,” Ruby says, “but personally I can’t even do a normal bracelet up on my own, let alone one using a screwdriver,” she laughs.

“The thing is, people love designer stuff, don’t they? They love getting a Dior necklace or a Gucci ring or Fendi bracelet, but sometimes you can be paying more than £200 for a bracelet because it’s designer and it can be either brass or plated – but people don’t look into it because if it’s expensive, it’s got to be legit. I’m passionate about this because it’s not fair if you’re paying designer money when it’s not even going to last. Whereas you could give it to a small business and that is going to last.

“For me, I love being that person that is part of people’s stories,” she says of the sentimental reasons customers seek out her everlasting services. “That sounds really cringe, but it just makes me happy.”