Array
When Andrew Wolgemuth served in Afghanistan, his comrades in his special operations platoon came to depend on him for a particular skill set and base of knowledge: diamond engagement rings.
“A bunch of Rangers in my platoon were at that point in their life where they wanted to get engaged,” says Wolgemuth. “They want this idea of, they’re fresh off a combat deployment, and all of the wives, girlfriends, family members are standing there with signs and they get to walk up, drop to a knee and propose.”
Only one thing stood between them and that perfect off-the-plane and drop-the-knee moment. They had no idea how to get a decent engagement ring in Afghanistan, even by military mail.
“The odds are not in your favor that that package is going to show up,” says Wolgemuth.
Then word got around the platoon — Lt. Wolgemuth’s family runs a jewelry business. He started arranging video calls with jewelry makers to design rings. Then the jewelers would make a convincing duplicate with brass and glass to mail over. The real one could be collected later, but these guys would have a sparkly ring as they arrived. And for a few of his fellow Rangers, it worked.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime proposal off the plane — they got the moment,” he says.
At the time, Wolgemuth didn’t have any idea this would lead to a business career in jewelry. But he knew that even back in the U.S., buying an engagement ring is just as scary for snake-eating Army Rangers as it is for civilians. Most people don’t buy that many in their lifetime, so they have no idea how to judge the value of a diamond.
