These days, many habitancy take wedding bands and engagement rings for granted, and although they give these gorgeous items of jewellery with integrity and love, they are often given with no real knowledge of the meaning behind them.
Both wedding bands and engagement rings are very special items of jewellery; in fact, they are more than just jewellery - they are the symbols of many emotions and promises such as:
Love Commitment Fidelity Eternity Honour
But where - and why - did these favorite and sentimental pieces of jewellery stem from?
The History Of Wedding Bands
These items of jewellery have a history that spans many centuries and passes straight through many countries from all nearby the planet. Below, you will find a brief history of the wedding and engagement ring, as reported from country to country.
Egyptians
The now-famous wedding band is conception to have originated in ancient Egypt, where it is said that plant sections were fashioned in to circles to signify never-ending and immortal love. It was conception that the fourth finger (which we now know as the ring finger) contained a special vein that was associated directly to the heart, and therefore this became the lawful finger for the wedding band.
Romans
The Romans also agreed with the Egyptians with regards to the wedding ring finger and its meaning, but rather than contribution wedding bands as a stamp of love, they awarded them as a stamp of ownership. Roman men would "claim" their woman with the giving of a ring.
Asians / Arabs
Puzzle rings were a complex type of jewellery that were once favorite in Asia, and these jewels had the charming knack of being able to fall apart and put back together again - if you knew how to do this, of course. Wealthy Middle Eastern men then began to use these rings as wedding bands for their wives, who were often forced to wear a puzzle ring when their husband was away. The husband would know upon his return whether any of his wives had been disloyal by removing the ring whilst he was away, because the ring was designed to collapse upon discharge and could only be put together again if you had the skill and knowledge required.
Europeans
Several centuries ago, the Europeans became rather taken with what we would class as an engagement ring, but was then called a Poesy Ring. This ring was given to a loved one as a form of promise, and signified fidelity and love. The Poesy Ring was offered as a pledge of eternal togetherness, much as today's engagement rings are offered as a promise of eternal marriage.
Americans
During Colonial times, all items of jewellery in America were prohibited due to their apparent moral worthlessness. Instead, a more practical thimble was given as a token of love and as a pledge of eternal togetherness. However, after they were married, the women tended to remove the bottom of their "engagement thimble" to form a type of ring.
History Of Engagement Rings
The engagement ring of today also has its own varied and moving history, some of which is explored below. Engagement rings have been known by many dissimilar names, have symbolised a variety of dissimilar things and have not always been made of costly metals and astonishing gems!
Greeks
The ancient Greeks are conception to have been the forerunners in the rising of the original engagement ring. Given as a token of care and affection, the rings used by the Greeks were known as betrothal rings and were given before marriage. However, the giving of these rings was not always a pre-requisite to marriage and was often given in the same way as a friendship ring might be given today.
Romans
As seen by their use of the wedding ring, ancient Romans weren't the most sentimental of people, and the early version of their "engagement ring" were conception to have carved keys on them. It has been debated that this could have been to symbolise the woman's right to access and own half of everything following marriage. However, the more sentimental like to think that the key may have been a key to her husband's heart.
Royalty And The Affluent
Engagement rings as we know them today - astonishing gems encased in costly metals - became favorite in nearby the fourteenth or fifteenth century, when the affluent and the royals began to change and wear these jewels. However, these items were so costly that nobody other than the royals and the rich could afford to change them. It was to be many centuries before these engagement rings would become more favorite or traditional.
Why a ring?
The purpose of engagement rings and wedding bands is to transport deep emotions of eternal love, eternal happiness, eternal commitment, and eternal togetherness. In fact, these rings signify eternity - between the giver and the recipient. A ring, of course, is a faultless circle with no break and no end or beginning, which means that it just goes on and on - it is eternal.
And, since folklore has it that the fourth finger of the left hand has a vein important directly to the heart, it is only natural that both engagement and wedding rings would be worn on this particular finger, which was once reputed to be a direct route to the heart.
Summary
In short, it is clear that the giving of a ring in honour of a union, betrothal, and marriage has been going on since ancient times, and although it may not always have been as glamorous and romantic as it is today, it was still a way of exchanging a compact of betrothal or marriage.
Thankfully, today's wedding bands and engagement rings are not made of hair, grass, plants or twine as they may have been in ancient times, but of gorgeous metals set with astonishing gems, such as platinum, titanium, white gold, gold, sapphires, diamonds, rubies and emeralds. These expected items of jewellery are likely to remain as favorite as ever as the centuries go by, and even as the rest of the world advances in to a futuristic and technological age, it's hard to dream a day where a gorgeous solitaire engagement ring doesn't melt the heart of its recipient.
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