Engagement Ring History and Tradition

Engagement rings are rich in tradition and the practice of offering a ring as a symbol of love and commitment dates back some 5,000 years to the ancient Egyptians.

The Egyptians believed that the closed circuit of a ring and represent an eternal bond between a couple, and so began the custom of a ring as a symbol of love.

Diamond Channel-Set

Going forward a few thousand years in the late 15th century, we learn from the first documented case in which the engagement ring was seenas a precursor to the commitment of marriage, and so began the tradition that we all know today.

The story goes that I am an enthusiastic Austrian Archduke Maximilian of Hapsburg, which all began on August 17 ​​1477th Princess Mary of Burgundy, the Archduke was engaged with the first girl to receive a diamond engagement ring to celebrate. He proposed marriage and put the engagement ring on her finger the fourth (or ring) of the left hand. This positioning of the ring dates back tothe Romans, who believed the "vein of love" vena amoris or at the top of the ring finger began to pour into the heart. And so began the tradition, not only the engagement ring, but also be worn on a finger of course.

For a few hundred years, the engagement ring was the common practice, a marriage proposal, but the diamond engagement ring is not fully came into vogue until after an innovative marketing campaign in 1947 by the DeBeers diamond Companies.

Frances Gerety, a young copywriter at the time coined, what was the best advertising slogan of the twentieth century, according to Advertising Age magazine, the infamous "A diamond is forever. The campaign placed diamonds as a symbol of love and commitment, and then the ring Engagement for excellence. By an irony of history, the young writer, never married.

The smart people at DeBeers, looking for ways to further increase was> Sales Diamond, followed by the campaign, two of the three previous months salaries was a good dose of love to share your time, an icon. And so began a new tradition before expanding to many, able to be financially independent of marriage.

History teaches us that the ritual is really behind the ring and comes from ancient cultures, but what we see today as a symbol of commitment and the resulting proposal is only the product of clever advertising in the twentieth century.

Engagement Ring History and Tradition