Adorable couple stumbles upon a rare pearl during dinner and makes it part of their engagement ring

Engagement rings hold a lot of significance for couples. It symbolizes the love a couple shares for each other. A Rhode Island couple decided to make a pearl that they miraculously stumbled upon as a key part of their engagement ring because they believed its beauty perfectly encaptured the love they have for each other, reports USA Today. The fact that the pearl just came in front of them suddenly and felt right from the first moment, made the couple feel connected to it. Therefore, they decided to take it to the jeweler and make it an integral part of their life.

Ken Steinkamp and Sandy Sikorski had been together for three years and already had serious conversations regarding marriage when they stumbled upon the pearl. They were out to enjoy dinner with Sikorski's brother and sister-in-law. Sikorski ordered a clam and while eating it, she felt something hard and round in her mouth. Her immediate reaction was, "What the heck?"

Her sister-in-law thought Sikorski might have lost a tooth and spat it out, but when they looked closely, they found it was a pearl. Immediately Sikorski decided to keep the pearl with her, as she found its shape to be exquisite. The couple's plan to get married was public knowledge to their sister-in-law, who gave them the wonderful suggestion of incorporating it into their ring.

This incident occurred in 2021 and after two years, the couple finally went to work in order to get the pearl incorporated into their forever ring. The reason behind the delay was the pandemic and being in their 70s, the couple were extremely careful during that time. They went to a jeweler who informed them that the pearl they had brought to him was from a mercenaria or hard clam.

The jeweler suggested they collaborate with Marc Fishbone from Black Orchid Jewelers to make their engagement ring featuring the pearl as the centerpiece. The couple contacted Fishbone, but he was unfortunately out of town for a few months and could not attend to them then and there.

The couple waited for Fishbone to come back in order to have a perfect design. Fishbone took care of Sikorski's wishes and added a glittery touch to the pearl as well as filigree, or jewelry made of gold and silver wires intertwined with each other. Sikorski was satisfied with the whole process and said, "He put it in 18-karat gold, which is beautiful. It just makes the whole ring pop and then the diamonds were put down lower, which is beautiful."

The day the ring got ready, Sikorski called Steinkamp and became emotional on the phone because of how beautiful the ring looked. It got more special as Steinkamp officially proposed that day. They had discussions about marriage but never had an official proposal. Sikorski was ecstatic and accepted it.

The couple gets a lot of compliments on the ring and believes it is a perfect representation of the love they have for each other. Both of them got healed with each other's support after going through their respective divorces. Through their story, they want to inform the world that it is never too late to have love in their life. They want to inspire people to put themselves out there, as they found each other by doing exactly that. Since going on a date six years ago, they have been inseparable. Their love story, in their opinion, is as special as the pearl.