Ordinary people will be none the wiser, but fans will see paired-up Pocket Monsters congratulating them on their upcoming marriage.
With Uniqlo’s shelves currently stocked with over 20 different Pokémon T-shirt designs, it’s never been easier to broadcast your love of the anime/video game series through your choice of casual attire. But just like the Pocket Monster pantheon is composed of a wide variety of fantastic species, so too is there a broad spectrum of Pokémon fashion, which stretches all the way to the formal piece you see here.
While the Pokémon franchise got its start back in 1996, it’s recently teamed up with an even more venerable creative partner, Tokyo-based jeweler Ginza Tanaka, which was founded in 1892. Ginza Tanaka’s specialty is high-end bridal jewelry, and its designers have crafted the beautiful Pikachu Precious Wedding Engagement Ring.
Made out of 18-karat gold, the ring’s design is stylish, and stylized, enough to blend in seamlessly with outfits that feature no other salutes to anime or video games, as to the uninitiated eye it just looks like two undulating bands that eventually meet up at the centrally placed diamond’s setting. However, Pokémon enthusiasts will be able to recognize those bands as Pikachu tails, and true fans will further realize that the mix of the two different tail shapes, the straight-edged male Pikachu and heart-curved female Pikachu, are meant to symbolize the union of husband and wife.
The inside surface of the ring has a more overt Pokémon reference in the form of a silhouette of a dashing Pikachu. You can also select a custom engraving of up to six letters/spaces, with Ginza Tanaka recommending the initials of the giver and recipient joined with “to.”
The ring comes in a suitably styled Poké Ball case, and while there may be a moment of false expectation as your Pokémon-loving beloved assumes you’re about to show off a Shiny Gyarados or some other ultra-rare Pocket Monster, odds are she’ll be happy enough to see an exquisite engagement ring inside instead.
The Pikachu Precious Wedding Engagement Ring is being offered for sale through the Pokémon Center online store here, priced at 324,000 yen (US$3,000) (again, that’s 18-karat gold and a real diamond in there). Orders are limited to one per customer, which, seeing as it’s an engagement ring, makes a lot of sense.
Source, images: Pokémon Center online store
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