Myanmar Burma Women Fashion 2014 Ruby Diamond Engagement Ring 122

Myanmar Burma Women Fashion 2014 Ruby Diamond Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

Engagement rings very similar to those we know today were common by the end of the 19th century.  Set with a pearl or the best stone the groom could afford, they signaled the couple’s intent to marry after a period of engagement.  At the wedding, the couple frequently substituted simple bands inscribed with their initials and the date of the ceremony.

Diana Spencer and Prince Charles

Although the discovery of large diamond deposits in Brazil and South Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries helped fuel the ascendancy of diamond engagement rings, many of the most affluent actually preferred colored gemstones such as rubies and sapphires.

Mozambique Women Fashion Aquamarine Diamond Engagement Ring 121

Mozambique Women Fashion 2014 Aquamarine Diamond Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

Although it is unlikely the first diamond ring ever used was a love token, the first recorded account of a diamond betrothal ring comes to us from 1477.  It was given by Archduke Maximilian of Austria to Mary of Burgundy at the suggestion of a faithful advisor who counseled: “At the betrothal Your Grace must have a ring set with a diamond and also a gold ring.”  Although the marriage in question was based on Mary’s sizeable fortune, the couple was apparently happy together until Mary died at age 25 as the result of a horseback riding accident.

Morocco Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring 120

Morocco Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

The majority of the betrothal and wedding rings used in the distant past were composed of simple bands.  Although we know that some wedding rings in the Middle Ages contained gemstones, many can’t be positively identified as true betrothal or espousal rings unless they contain an inscription or are otherwise identified as such.  Some of these gemstone rings resemble our modern day engagement rings and others do not.  Sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and diamonds were all used in these early tokens of love.

Although diamonds were used in rings for many centuries, some experts date the origin of the diamond engagement ring to the 15th century, which also coincides with the time that new techniques for cutting diamonds were developed.

Montserrat Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring 119

Montserrat Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

Whence, following in the footsteps of our predecessors, we absolutely forbid clandestine marriages; and we forbid also that a priest presume to witness such. Wherefore, extending to other localities generally the particular custom that prevails in some, we decree that when marriages are to be contracted they must be announced publicly in the churches by the priests during a suitable and fixed time, so that if legitimate impediments exist, they may be made known.”

Montenegro Men Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring 118

Montenegro Men Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

The History of Engagement Rings

The word “bethrothed” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “troweth,” which means truth.  In medieval England, a betrothed couple shared a “truth” or “pledge” to marry, and a ring served as the outward sign that a woman was promised to another.

The idea of a “period of engagement” arose in the Middle Ages, when, Pope Innocent III instituted a mandatory waiting period between betrothal and marriage.  In the 51st Canon of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) it is stated:

Namibian Men Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring 117

Namibian Men Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

Although the discovery of large diamond deposits in Brazil and South Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries helped fuel the ascendancy of diamond engagement rings, many of the most affluent actually preferred colored gemstones such as rubies and sapphires.  The diamond engagement ring did not become the standard until after an extensive marketing campaign by De Beers in the middle of the 20th century, which gave us the phrase, “A Diamond is Forever.”  The De Beers campaign was required to bolster the price and public interest in large quantities of diamonds that were suddenly flooding the market.

Because the 20th century was overwhelmingly dominated by the diamond, many of today’s couples have decided that the diamond solitaire is old news.  Instead, many couples are selecting engagement rings with sapphires and other colored gemstones.

Mongolian Men Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Sapphire Engagement Ring 116

Mongolian Men Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Sapphire Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

The Belle Époque, a time of enormous wealth and leisured luxury, bred the next great age of the diamond. New deposits had been discovered in South Africa, cutting had advanced in huge strides, and the engagement ring, an important status symbol, focused on the significant single stone, now in its classic open-prong setting, showing its new brilliance to perfection.

Today, perhaps more than ever, the diamond engagement ring remains the most powerful universal expression of true and everlasting love, and an essential part of the marriage ritual, across the globe. The divine diamond and the power of love.

Monaco Men Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring 115

Monaco Men Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

The diamond’s association with love, now well entrenched, was fuelled by the Romantic mood of the early nineteenth century, influenced by the young Queen Victoria and her passion for sentimental jewels

Before their marriage, her beloved Albert had given her an enamel band set with a single diamond as a gift of love, and her engagement ring was a serpent, ancient symbol of protection and eternity. While popular betrothal rings were laden with hearts, hands and love knots, as nineteenth-century prosperity gathered pace, the diamond element became more substantial and modern traditions took root: the half-hoop of diamonds, the three-stone diamond ring, the ‘gypsy’ setting, in which the diamonds are set into the gold band.

Moldova Men Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring 114

Moldova Men Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

After the seventeenth century, when emphasis shifted onto the gemstone itself and onto lighter, naturalistic designs, the eighteenth century ushered in a great age of the diamond; with newly discovered deposits in Brazil, and improved cutting techniques, the fire and light of diamonds dazzled in candlelight.

Betrothal rings, in rococo spirit, became romantically inclined: twin hearts topped by crowns, bows and love knots, love birds, or messages spelled out in diamonds.

Micronesian Men Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring 113

Micronesian Men Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

After the seventeenth century, when emphasis shifted onto the gemstone itself and onto lighter, naturalistic designs, the eighteenth century ushered in a great age of the diamond; with newly discovered deposits in Brazil, and improved cutting techniques, the fire and light of diamonds dazzled in candlelight.

Betrothal rings, in rococo spirit, became romantically inclined: twin hearts topped by crowns, bows and love knots, love birds, or messages spelled out in diamonds.

Mexican Men Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring 112

Mexican Men Women Fashion 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

Gradually, during the Renaissance, these rings became elaborately decorated, richly chased with flourishes of enamel. The ‘gimmel’, or twin ring, composed of two hoops that slid open to reveal love emblems and an inscription (Whom God has joined together, let no man put asunder) evolved into the fede, or faith ring, in which two clasped hands, representing the unity of love, often hold a diamond heart.

Mayotteian New Fashion Girl 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring 111

Mayotteian New Fashion Girl 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

When, in 1475, Constanzo Sforza presented his bride, Camilla d’Aragona, with a diamond ring on their wedding day, a poem, in an illuminated manuscript, documented the ceremony: ‘Two torches in one ring of burning fire / Two wills, two hearts, two passions, all bonded in marriage by a diamond.’ The fire in the diamond was likened to the constant flame of love. Then, in 1477, Archduke Maximilian gave a diamond ring – generally held to be the first recorded engagement ring – to his betrothed, Mary of Burgundy, daughter of Charles the Bold.

Mauritius New Fashion Girl 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring 110

Mauritius New Fashion Girl 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

The diamond is the quintessential, universal symbol of love. Of all its many roles, the diamond as messenger of romantic love – beginning with the belief that Cupid’s arrows were tipped with diamonds – has resonated through the centuries to emerge today as powerful as ever.

While the ring itself, with no beginning or end, is an ancient symbol of eternal love, the story of the diamond engagement ring reaches back to the Middle Ages, when the invincible diamond, symbolising ”unquenchable” love, was considered ideal to seal a betrothal or marriage pledge, By the fifteenth century, the diamond ring was a feature of royal and noble weddings.

Mauritania New Fashion Girl 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring 109

Mauritania New Fashion Girl 2014 Diamond Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

1800s: The highly sentimental Victorians make jewelry from human hair, and use gemstones to spell out names or endearments, such as a D-E-A-R-E-S-T ring set with a sequence of diamond, emerald, amethyst, ruby, emerald, etc.

1867: Diamonds are discovered in the Cape Colony (now a province in South Africa), the beginning of a huge increase in the diamond supply.

1880: Cecil Rhodes, who arrived in South Africa in 1873, founds the DeBeers Mining Company with other investors. Within the decade, they will control 90 percent of the world’s diamond production.

Martinique New Fashion 2014 Diamond Amethyst Engagement Ring 108

Martinique New Fashion 2014 Diamond Amethyst Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

1477: In one of the first recorded uses of a diamond engagement ring, Archduke Maximilian of Austria proposes to Mary of Burgundy with a ring that is set with thin, flat pieces of diamonds in the shape of an “M.”

1700s: Silver “poesy rings” engraved with flowery sayings are in vogue in Europe. Across the Atlantic Ocean, the Puritans give their betrotheds useful thimbles instead of rings, which are derided as frippery. Eventually, however, many thimbles get their tops sliced off and are worn as rings anyway.

Marshall New Fashion 2014 Diamond Topaz Engagement Ring 107

Marshall New Fashion 2014 Diamond Topaz Engagement Ring. 

By Farzana Aamir.

1st Century BC: Puzzle rings first appear in Asia, where sultans and sheiks use them to tag each of their wives.

1217: The bishop of Salisbury puts an end to the popular practice of seducing girls into mock marriage with rings made of rushes. His solution? Declaring a marriage with a rush-ring legally binding.

1456: The Gutenberg bible is published. There is no mention of betrothal or marriage rings in this or any other edition of the bible.