What is the symbol of everlasting love in a marriage?
For almost everyone all over the world, the answer to that question is a wedding ring.
Wedding rings have been present on lovers’ wedding days much longer than you can even imagine.
The very first traces of a ring as a symbol of love are found in ancient Egypt 4000 BC!
The rings were made out of leather, reeds and some more eccentric materials like bones! A ring (circle) has no beginning or end which was and continues to be a symbol of a never-ending coupling.
Other civilisations were inspired by this custom later on and kept the tradition, adding their own twist. For example the Romans kept the fourth finger of the left hand practice, believing that there was a vein in that finger that connected directly to the heart which they called The Vein of Love. This tradition has spread and continued to live to this day almost throughout all countries.
The Romans started making iron rings because it was more durable than reeds. They also started engraving on the rings. One of the most popular were Fede rings, rings that had engravings of two hands wrapped into one another.
Other popular rings included signet rings, which had personal signatures carved into stones or gold. After the spread of Christianity, the traditions of wedding rings were carried on but this time the church was not very fond of such luxuries as engraved and expensive wedding rings hence the simple wedding bands that we often see today came into existence.
During the Renaissance, one of the most romantic rings was born. The Gimmel rings.
Gimmel rings were made up of multiple interlocking hoops. When the couple were engaged, they would each wear one of the hoops as a separate ring, and on the day of the marriage, they would reunite the rings, and the bride would wear it as her wedding ring.
Posy rings which were also very popular at that time were rings that were engraved with a short poem either on the inside or the outside.
Diamond rings became the standard wedding ring after the famous 1948 De Beers campaign, “A diamond is forever” and they became the ultimate symbol of true love. After diamond rings became the norm for wedding rings, what changed throughout the years, was the cut of the diamond.
Around 1950, the most common style was a single diamond in the middle and diamond baguettes on the sides.
In 1953, Jacqueline Kennedy’s emerald cut engagement ring to John F. Kennedy became the dominating style of engagement rings for years to come.
For example, one of the most famous emerald cut rings was Elizabeth Taylor’s 29.4 Carat engagement ring she received from her third husband in 1957.
In 1982, Princess Diana’s sapphire diamond cluster ring started the comeback of coloured stones as engagement rings.
In 1990, minimalism took over and metals like white gold and platinum became very popular. One of the largest trends of that few years has been the oval solitaire stone on a thin band. Nowadays even though diamonds are still the norm for wedding rings, couples have realised, they don’t need to pay an exaggerated amount of money for their everlasting symbol of love.
Mined diamonds are not only a threat to the earth and can cause deforestation and soil erosion, but they are also the source of much violence in some parts of the world.
So there seems to be a gravitation towards lab-grown diamonds, which are identical to mined diamonds, chemically and are much more affordable and sustainable.
