Engagment Ring History

Engagement Ring History

The history surrounding the giving and wearing of engagement rings is mirrored in the same customs surrounding wedding rings. Of course, things have come a long way since the early Greek, Roman and Egyption tokens to the diamond engagement ring we know and love today.
The 9th century Pope Nicolas who, perhaps wishing the groom to prove his wealth and honourable intentions, decreed that a gold betrothal ring should be given. In the, perhaps more parsimonious, 13th Century , Pope Innocent III conceded that the rings made from metals such as silver and iron were acceptable.

The Diamond Engagement Ring

The women reading this article have cause to thank the generous Archduke Maximillian of Austria who, in 1477, gave a diamond engagement ring to his intended, Mary of Burgundy. Although this first recorded diamond engagement could be said to be the defining moment in engagement ring history, women had to wait until well into the 19th century when large diamond reserves were found before diamonds became generally available to men without the Archduke‘s financial reserves.
And the rest, as they say, is history.

NB: Just one word of caution; men should take note that the word "diamond" comes from ancient Greek and means unbreakable, untamed!