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 in 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 bond between a man and a woman, and the rich and royal men around them. They often gave the diamond ring. Less well-off people settled for a Fede or Fate ring that was made up of two intertwined 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 the De Beers Consolidated Mines Corp. to control the sale of diamonds throughout 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 gemstones. 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 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 and subsequent campaigns 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 advertising campaign for jewelry sellers to tell men that a woman expected him to spend two or 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 movie “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” which included the song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.”
Post-war era marketing worked. In the 21st century, 78 percent of all engagement rings are diamond.