Engagement Rings > Engagement Ring Education > Fascinating Facts
Fascinating Facts about the Engagement Ring and Wedding Band
One of the first groups known to use a circle as a symbol for a union between a man and a woman was the ancient Egyptians. The circle represented eternity, and was made from materials such as bone or metal.
The ancient Greeks also used a ring as a promise to one day become engaged. They called it a betrothal ring, or what we now call a promise ring.
In another culture, a gentleman offered a gold ring as both his commitment to his future wife, as well as partial payment to her family for her hand in marriage.
Ever wonder why the engagement ring is placed on the left hand? It was believed that the vein to the heart ran from the third finger on this hand. Isn’t that romantic? (Med students: this vein is called vena amoris.)
Some say the Italians have favored diamonds in their engagement rings since the 1400s.
Folklore states that diamonds were created by flames of love.
The engagement ring and wedding band represent eternity, since the shape of the ring, a circle, has no beginning and no end.
The first diamond engagement ring was believed to have been given in 1477 to Mary of Burgandy by Archduke Maximillian of Hamburg.
Queen Charlotte was the first bride to receive a diamond band to help “guard” her engagement ring. King George III presented this to her in 1761.
The Romans would give a ring to the bride with a carved-key attached. This key supposedly unlocked the riches that the groom would share with his bride as soon as they were married.
The wedding band will be worn below the engagement ring (so the wedding band is slipped on at the ceremony first, then the engagement ring is put on after.) This way the wedding band will be closest to the vein that goes directly to the heart.
