Surprising Facts about How the Engagement Ring Tradition Began

Why do Men give Engagement Rings before Marriage?

Now that you have found that one lady who you want to spend the rest of your life with and you very much desire to marry her, what do you do? You buy an engagement ring, especially a diamond ring to make it official, isn't that right?

But studies show that 80 years ago, only about 10% of American women received diamond engagement rings while today, most women getting married has one. Did you know how this tradition of giving an engagement ring before marriage has come to be? 

Actually, the tradition of exchanging wedding rings goes back as far as 4,800 years to ancient Egyptians. During those time, the rings that were used were just made of stuff like braided papyrus and reeds. They use rings as a ceremonial jewellery of marriage instead of something else because they believed that the endless circle was a symbol of eternity and the hole was a symbol of a doorway to the future. These rings were worn on the left hand on the fourth finger (or the ring finger as we now call it) because they also believed that it had a vein that ran directly to the heart which is later named Vena amoris. Thus, beginning a custom that continues today across many cultures.

During the reign of the Romans around second century BC, they adapted this old tradition of engagement rings. But its symbolism wasn’t so much about love as it was ownership. According to Pliny the Elder (a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire), the groom first gave the bride a gold ring to wear during the betrothal ceremony and at special events, then an iron ring to wear at home, signifying her binding legal agreement to his ownership of her.

Many of the modern marriage traditions are similar to the Roman way. For example, most men today first ask for permission from the father of the soon-to-be-bride before the couple proceeds into marriage. Though it is not actually the same as "transferring ownership," the sentiment that the woman moves on to a new family is the same.

Why Diamonds? 

Now that we know the history of engagement rings, do you wonder why couples favour diamonds on their engagement rings instead of using much affordable yet more beautiful natural gemstones on earth, say sapphires?

To know the answer, we have to go back and learn a brief history of diamonds and how the DeBeers brilliant ad campaign on the 1940's gave birth to the modern diamond engagement ring phenomenon.

Diamonds didn’t appear on engagement rings until centuries later. The first recorded diamond engagement ring ever used was in 1477, by Archduke Maximilian of Austria when he asked Mary of Burgundy to marry him. The diamonds were in the shape of an "M" and were very thin and delicate. Back then, diamonds were very expensive even for European aristocrats and as a result, Archduke Maximilian owed 10 years' worth of income in debt at the end of his reign.

Diamonds were once very scarce and expensive. But everything changed when huge diamond resources were discovered in South Africa. The British businessmen that operated the mines had a clever idea. To avoid profit loss, they maintained the illusion that diamonds were scarce. In 1880, The businessmen created the first diamond cartel. Cecil Rhodes founded the DeBeers Mining Company and within the decade, they controlled 90 percent of the world’s diamond production—and turned diamond engagement rings into nothing more than an ad campaign.

Once the Great Depression ended, the DeBeers company’s ad agency N.W. Ayer & Son launched it's famous “A Diamond is Forever” slogan and encouraged men to spend at least two months’ salary on the rock. By the early 1940s, diamond engagement rings become the leading line of jewellery in most department stores. If you are ready to pop the question, you can check out Brilliyond's Engagement Ring Collection to get that YES you have been dreaming about.