Our Nalani Rings
Originally uploaded by webnelly
As mentioned from our ’08 Trip Journal from the day before we left Maui, here are the rings we bought from Na Hoku at Whalers Village. They’re from their Nalani collection, which is Hawaiian for The Heavens. Neither one of us is a big fan of yellow gold, and most of what Cindy owns is white gold. However, we really liked the dual-tone look of these rings and that was it. Now, even though we weren’t married on Maui (otherwise known as Mauied), we still both wear a matching set of rings from the island that we love.
For me, this ends a three year search for a ring from Maui that I actually like. There was one last year that we found at the Shops of Wailea which was platinum with a band of black coral that was absolutely stunning. The fact that it was $1,600 was perhaps more stunning, and I can’t really justify spending that amount of money on myself for a piece of jewelery. It would, though, buy me quite a bit of photography equipment or other techie toys. 
Cindy always ends up getting new “hardware” while we’re on vacation, and she really cleaned up this year. Not only did she get the ring from this photo (the smaller one if you couldn’t guess), she also got a new pearl ring to replace the one from our first trip and a second toe ring that closely resembles the Nalani ring, too. I think she bought a bracelet, too, at the gift shop at the Ocean Center, but that’s not as elaborate.
Aloha for now, and I’ll be continuing to go through photos this week and uploading them to Flickr. Eventually I’ll be adding the new pages to the site, too. Just wanted to share a little something each day and try to get into that habit.
Mahalo.
Tags: Na Hoku
The Shops at Wailea can be expensive. I was so happy to read your story. My husband and I were married in Paris, but we wanted rings to remember Maui too. We have lived here for over a year and we love island living. We will be leaving the islands soon, so matching rings were in order. Na Hoku added many new items to this collection since 2008. They have a yellow and white gold Nalani bangle watch; it runs around $2,500. I like it, but I’m not really a watch wearer. I hope you have a chance to visit the islands agains. I think I would get along with Cindy because I also love “new hardware.” And I buy jewelry at the Ocean Center too. I have a 14 month old, so we have a season pass and that means we are there twice a week! The vendors at the Ocean Center do have amazing and unique pearls.
One of my close friends, from NY, sent me the little people necklace. He has one for his son and one for his little girl. I can finally wear the necklace now because the ring has white and silver gold…. it matches everything. I adored the necklace and I couldn’t wear it for months. Thanks to the Nalani ring, the necklace will be a wardrobe staple.
Here is the updated Nalani Collection: http://www.nahoku.com/collections/nalani-collection.html
Enjoy your Nalani rings,
Brigid Kim
Mahalo, Brigid, for the feedback. We always seemed to be coming home from Maui with new jewelry of some sort. This most recent trip was no exception, but more on that later.
We even had a post about this tradition of ours – http://www.kaanapalidreamin.com/blog/2009/01/travel-tradition-island-jewelry.html
At first, we were split between Na Hoku and Maui Divers, but lately Na Hoku seems to have taken the lead. We’re lucky enough to have 2 locations here in the Chicagoland area, and just this year we grabbed some Koa Wood jewelry to add to the list. I guess I need to write up a new post on the subject.
Hi Kris,
I love Pick-A-Pearl too!! I found the BEST ring. I made my husband get it for me for my birthday. It is a pink gold. I think they call it rose gold and I absolutely adore it. It’s funny you say that you were split between Na Hoku and Maui Divers. I was too for a while, but my husband adored the heavenly rings from Na Hoku. Sometimes I just want to wear a simple band and not my diamond. I’m always worried about losing my diamond and it is the perfect band. My husband and I renewed our vows recently, so these bands have a special meaning.
I had never heard of Koa Wood before. I just checked it out. The bands are so sweet and couples can get matching bands. How fun are they? And what a keepsake!!! I am so glad you shared that with me; my husband might not be as excited, but that’s okay. He always says, “happy wife, happy life.”
Here is the pink ring… Let me know what you think. And did you end up getting the honu?
http://www.mauidivers.com/Pick-A-Pearl/?s=MToxMjowOjg4MjdiMjU4LThlNDAtNDExOC1hZWUwLTUwODFjNzg5YWU3Yjo6NDAwLjAwOjY5OS45OTo=
I think the other link expired. Here is a link for the Rose Gold ring.
http://www.mauidivers.com/search?s=MToxMjowOjo6Ojpyb3NlIGdvbGQ%3d