The History of Engagement Rings
You’re about to spend a significant amount of your savings on a diamond ring for the woman you love — and you might just be wondering why it is this is such an important tradition when it comes to getting married. Believe it or not, the act of giving a woman a ring to symbolize the fact that she is yours is a tradition as old as man himself. Below is a quick timeline of how the diamond engagement ring came to be:
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- It all began during the age of the cave man, when a man would wrap a braided grass wring around a woman’s wrists and ankles as a sign of territory.
- By the second century BC, men were giving women two rings — a gold ring to wear on special occasions, and an iron ring to wear daily to symbolize the binding contract of marriage.
- In 1477, an archduke from Austria gives the first known diamond engagement ring, and the tradition in earnest began.
While diamond engagement rings are no longer a sign of ownership, but now a reminder of the presence of love, the tradition has now been around for hundreds of years. And like it or not, diamond engagement rings aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Source: engagementringgurus.com via EverDream on Pinterest
Our writers have credits from education and/or experience in merchandising, gemology, gold valuation, metallurgy and other industry related fields.
