Ever wonder why we wear engagement rings and wedding bands on a very specific finger? Or why diamonds are so significant to the engaged-to-be-married? If so, we have the answers…
The ancient Greeks used to give their partners rings that were braided to look like veins. They would wear these rings on the fourth finger of their left hands because they believed that finger contained a very important vein, the vena amoris, which leads directly to one’s heart. That tradition, of course, continues (albeit on the third finger!) today.
Indeed, when it comes to engagement rings, it’s true that diamonds are forever… but the tradition of giving diamond engagement rings isn’t quite at old… just 530 years, to be exact. The trend setter? Archduke Maximilian I of Austria gave a diamond ring to his bride to be, Mary of Burgundy in the Fifteenth Century.
Before Maximilian’s historical gesture, the more common engagement ring consisted of a plain metal band that had a poem or message about love inscribed on it. If the suitor was wealthy enough to purchase a gem, the ring would have a ruby on it (ruby being the gem of love at the time).
So, you ask: how did we get from the modest inexpensive band to the grand diamond engagement ring that we all have come to know and love? One of the world’s best known diamond campaigns “A Diamond is Forever” has a lot to do with it. Typically, diamonds were advertised by photographing young Hollywood starlets wearing the jewelry. The industry then began to incorporate males in these shoots, giving the diamonds as a gift to their objects of affection. Eventually, diamonds transformed into the ultimate gesture of love, and the public began to see that love could best be symbolized through the gift of a diamond (and the bigger and higher quality the diamond; the bigger and higher the quality the man’s love for the women he is proposing to!) Needless to say, the campaign was huge success and if you ask us: a win for women everywhere! Like most, we are firm believers in beautiful symbols to express love… and what better way to achieve that than via a Ritani engagement ring!