Engagement rings: history and tradition
Engagement rings: where did the tradition begin?
The earliest surviving records of engagement rings come from Roman times. The Romans called them engagement rings. They were worn then (as they are today) on the third finger of the left hand. The Romans imported the idea from the Egyptians that the vein of the third finger led directly to the heart. The Romans also engraved their rings.
After the fall of the Roman empire, the tradition of the Gimmel or Bond ring increased in Europe. While sapphires, emeralds, and rubies were also used, diamond, which is the strongest mineral found in nature, was seen as a symbol of the unbreakable union between a man and a woman, and wealthy and royal men alike. often gave the diamond ring. The less affluent people settled for a Fede o Fate ring that was made up of two interlocking hands.
In the 1700s, diamond mines were found in Brazil, and diamond cluster engagement rings became fashionable among those who could afford them. Then in 1870 the huge Kimberly diamond region of South Africa was developed. Diamonds began to flood the market.
As a result, John Cecil Rhodes formed De Beers Consolidated Mines Corp. to control the sale of diamonds around the world. Today, De Beers controls 65 percent of the world diamond market.
Due to the saturation of diamonds, it became fashionable for engagement rings to have birthstones and other precious stones. Many rings were made up of elaborate designs of many different stones. Diamonds became accents rather than the centerpiece of these engagement rings.
The modern concept of the diamond engagement ring is a relatively new phenomenon. In 1947, De Beers started an advertising campaign in the United States and Western Europe claiming that “a diamond is forever.” This campaign and subsequent ones created the idea that a diamond engagement ring was an heirloom. This meant that used diamonds were not put back into circulation, and almost all diamonds purchased were new.
De Beers also launched an ad campaign for jewelry sellers to tell men that a woman expected him to spend two to three times his monthly salary on an engagement ring.
Then, in 1953, the glamor of a diamond engagement ring was captured in the Marilyn Monroe film “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” which featured the song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.”
Postwar era marketing worked. In the 21st century, 78 percent of all engagement rings are diamond.