Engagement and wedding rings set have a long and storied history, dating back to the days of Egypt and reflecting the changing styles of the times since. Here’s something you need to know about the history of engagement rings and the popular styles that marked certain decades.

Long before the custom of wearing wedding rings as a sign of marital commitment, the Egyptian pharaohs deemed the circle a symbol of eternity. The Romans recognized this shape, with no beginning and no end, to be the perfect representation to honor the marriage contract.

Wedding Rings

Wearing a wedding ring on the fourth finger of the left hand is also traced to the Egyptians. They believed in the vein of love, or the vena amoris, running from the top of the fourth finger to the heart. Egyptian wedding rings were made of hemp. Although the sentiment was there, the radiance and durability factors were nonexistent. Aside from the constant wear of the hemp, it lacked the sparkle feature of the rings to come.

The Romans began using iron for their matrimony rings, and then later used gold. The concept of adding diamonds to wedding bands was introduced by the Italians. Ever the romantics, the Italians believed diamonds were the product of plain stones forged by the flames and heat of love.

Wedding bands for grooms, used during a dual ring ceremony, were started by the Greek Orthodox Church in the 1300s. At the beginning of World War II, the dual ring custom became popular in the United States. Dual ring ceremonies are the majority of the weddings today.

Engagement Rings

In 1477, Archduke Maximillian of Austria started the tradition of giving a diamond ring as a sign of commitment when proposing engagement. Mary of Burgundy received a gold ring with small diamonds forming the letter M from the archduke.

Shakespeare referred to engagement and wedding rings in his plays written in the late 1500s. In the 1600s and 1700s, European lovers exchanged silver rings with a message engraved inside. The silver engagement ring would then be exchanged for a gold ring at the wedding.

In the late 1800s, a large deposit of diamonds was found in South Africa. From this point on, diamonds became the most common feature for engagement rings. Shortly thereafter, Tiffany & Co. created the Tiffany Setting by raising the diamond above the band, making it the centerpiece of the ring.

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