Archive for the ‘Rings’ Category
The Tradition Of Giving Engagement Rings
Engagement rings are a traditional gift bestowed upon a woman when an offer of marriage is proposed. It can be presented to the intended bride during the proposal ceremony, or after the proposal has been offered and accepted. In some cultures, both the man and the woman wear a ring, whereas in North America and parts of Europe, it is typically only the woman who receives and wears the gift.
During the Roman era, a truth ring was offered to a maiden when requesting a permanent union. However, the Egyptians are responsible for wearing tokens of love on the left ring finger. The belief was that the body contained a vein, known as vena amoris or the vein of love, which was linked directly to the heart from the tip of the third left finger. Many cultures still maintain this custom.
In some regions, however, the band is not worn on the left hand at all. The Ukraine tradition requires the band be worn on the right hand. Germany also follows the right hand wearing of the proposal ring, which remains until the marriage takes place. Once married, the ring is then worn on the left hand.
The Gimmel ring of the middle ages introduced the addition of gemstones to the band. Also referred to as a bond ring, members of the upper class began embellishing the Gimmel ring with precious stones such as rubies and sapphires. Such jewelled bands were reserved for the wealthy, since the commoner was unable to afford the rare stones.
In the earlier stages of a relationship, the man may offer the woman a promise ring as a prelude to an engagement. This signifies the enduring commitment to the relationship, and is a modern version of a faith ring. The faith band was forged of metal with two hands intertwined. It was a common betrothal band for those individuals without enough financial means to add gemstones to the engagement band.
The significance of a band with neither a beginning or end, represents endless love and eternal devotion. The custom has maintained popularity since the latter 1800’s. Adding a rarity like diamonds was a practice only the very wealthy could afford. This changed dramatically in 1870, when an abundance of diamonds was discovered in South Africa by De Beers Consolidated Mines. In order to increase sales of the gems, the company started an aggressive advertising campaign, promoting diamonds as a symbol of everlasting commitment.
The increased availability of diamonds made the stone a much more affordable enhancement for engagement rings. In the 1930’s, it became the social standard for betrothal bands to contain at least one diamond. However, the size and quality of the diamond was reflected in the price, which prompted De Beers to encourage men to spend at least 3 months worth of wages on the ring. The advertising was so successful that this model for spending is still in use today.
While many wedding traditions have changed, the introduction of engagement rings has endured. It captures both the romantic essence of human nature as well as the symbolic endurance of such a commitment. Therefore, it continues to be a common practice when proposing marriage and serves to announce plans to wed.
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A Fabulous Silver Ring For Your Future Life Partner
There are a number of factors that add to the popularity of silver engagement rings. Primary is the fact that silver has a great universal appeal.
You may be from anywhere with any kind of taste, silver rings and jewelry accessories are something which is liked by everybody. Silver engagement ring is something regarding which you can be sure that your spouse would like it no matter what.
The spending capability of a person is quite important even when you are going in for a wedding engagement. Sometimes the price of an engagement ring would stop the couple from presenting the best gift to each other.
Before getting married people search for gifts that would impress and please their life partners to be. But finding an extraordinary ring often becomes a problem because of the money.
Silver engagement rings are incomparable as far as giving a gift to your partner is concerned. There might be rings that are very expensive even in silver engagement rings but mostly they are within your budget and they look as stunning as a ring made from other precious metals.
Another factor that contributes to the popularity of silver engagement rings is their resilience. The silver rings that you will find out there in the market are actually made using sterling silver. This is an alloy and not pure silver.
The alloy of silver is prepared by combining another metal to it. Once the mixing is complete the final composition is 92.5% silver with 7.5% another metal like copper. The reason for creating an alloy of silver is that pure silver is too soft and as such it is difficult to make jewelry out of it.
You can mold sterling silver into any form you like which would last you for a long time. The jewelers find it easy to work with it as they can make large number of designs for the people.
Love and devotion are the two feelings that you would want to demonstrate when you give an engagement ring. It is best to pick a thing that would be as durable as your love. A silver engagement ring would actually bring out your feelings of love for the person with whom you are going to spend the rest of your life.
There are a great many different silver gemstone rings to choose from. If you are interested in purchasing silver antique engagement rings follow the links to read further.
Worry Silver Spinner Rings
Silver spinner rings have become the latest trend in the world of fashion jewelry. Although these rings have been around in some way or the other in previous generations they have only recently become popular on a global level.
These uniquely crafted rings are truly a proof to craftsmanship and quality. The outstanding design features a base band which has another band attached to it but is mobile in that it can be spun manually around the base band.
Although these rings are fashionable and trendy, the main aim is to provide a calming effect to the wearer when they manually spin the outer band against the base ring.
Quite similar to other stress reducing gadgets, like worry beads and the Chinese balls, silver spinner rings have been used to relieve the negative emotions and emotional baggage that the owner might want to let go of.
If you suffer from anxiety and worries then investing in a silver spinner ring can prove to be a worth while investment. Not only will you benefit by the rotating action that the spinner ring has rather you will even feel rejuvenation with a brand new stylish ring that will make you look good.
The silver spinner ring can pass off as a casual jewelry item and you can wear it very discreetly without disclosing the actual purpose it fulfills of calming your nerves down.
The silver spinner rings offer simple creativity and design options which are very cost effective. If you are looking for a trendy design expression that is cost effective then there are more exclusive designer versions also available in the market.
Jewelry made in silver has a charm of its own, as it is a very sharp, sparkling and reflective metal that allows designers to create a variety of designs with classic finish. And because it is not as expensive as other precious metals, it can be utilized and worn by a variety of people.
With the silver spinner ring you can mix fashion with spiritual and emotional enlistment, thereby benefiting on a physical and emotional level.
Another good advantage of using silver is that it becomes extremely tensile when mixed with other metals. This makes it long lasting and a worthy investment.
It is widely known that 100% pure silver cannot be used to create jewelry because it is too soft, and has to be mixed with other metal. Sterling silver therefore is a great option to get silver jewelry that is long-lasting and stylish.
Nowadays there is a growth in the popularity of silver purity rings. If you would like to know more about spinner ring design follow the links above.
About Vintage And Antique Engagement Rings
Antique and vintage engagement rings differ in age, with the antique rings being a minimum of fifty years old. The vintage rings are ones which were not made recently but which have some age and are less than fifty years old. Although they have been made for many years, antique rings from the Edwardian, Victorian, Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods are particularly popular.
The Georgian era lasted from 1714 to 1830. It began with the start of the reign of King George I of England, ending with the death of George IV. Handmade jewellery was the only type available at this time, most rings having a gold band with a diamond setting. These rings are scarce, so they have large price tags when they are on sale.
Queen Victoria was on the English throne from 1837 to 1901, and Victorian rings were mostly made with yellow gold. Popular designs of the day were the Dearest ring and the Serpent ring. The Dearest ring was set with a line of gemstones (diamond, emerald, amethyst, ruby, emerald, sapphire and topaz) to make the word ‘Dearest’ from the first letter of each gemstone. Serpent rings represented the couple as a pair of entwined serpents, and Queen Victoria wore one of these rings after she became engaged to Prince Albert.
The engagement rings of the Art Nouveau era were made between 1895 and 1915. Nature was a great inspiration to ring designs of this time, and dragonflies, butterflies and flowers were very popular design themes for these rings. Curving lines were also heavily featured in the jewellery of this period.
In 1901 the Edwardian era began, lasting until the death of King Edward VII in 1910. The new jewellery metal, platinum, was revolutionizing the world of jewellery and making it possible for jewellers to create designs which were not possible before its introduction. Millegrain and filigree work were often used in the engagement rings of this era, and platinum set off the colour of different gemstones equally well.
Between the 1920s and 1940s, Art Deco jewellery was being produced, rings often being made with palladium, platinum or rhodium. Gems cut into square, rectangular or triangular shapes were widely used and baguette-cut diamonds were also popular. Synthetic and natural rubies, plus emeralds were often set to create blocks of contrasting colour.
Visit the author’s site on antique rings for sale for more information. There is also information on cushion cut engagement rings.
A Buyer’s Guide To Women’s Wedding Rings
If you’re trying to find the perfect wedding ring, it can often be hard to know which one to choose – there are so many! Our guide takes you through some of the key styles of women’s wedding rings to give you an idea about your options. A traditionally popular choice of wedding ring is one made out of either silver, gold or an alloy of gold and silver. This is then formed into a simple band that never goes out of fashion, making this an eternally popular classic style.
Also really popular are platinum wedding bands, which are more durable than either silver or gold because of the properties of the metal. This makes them an increasingly common form of wedding ring. Along these lines, titanium is also really popular for wedding rings as it is similarly durable to platinum, meaning it’s really strong. It’s also available as an alloy, which means you can get it in different colors and it’s typically shiny, which makes it very attractive especially as the shine never wears off.
Another popular type of women’s wedding ring is white gold. This is an alloy of gold and a metal that gives it the white color. Most commonly this is nickel. This makes the rings really strong and durable. As the alloy metal lowers the karat content of the ring, they’re also really affordable while still being just as attractive as pure metal rings. This makes white gold a really popular option with young couples and others on a budget. The ring is made shiny with a layer of rhodium.
While wedding rings are traditionally a simple band, it is also popular to include stones set into the ring. Most commonly, this will be a diamond or a series of small diamonds depending on the taste of the wearer. Diamonds are available in different cuts, qualities and colors, all of which affect the price of the ring. Often a series of small diamonds laid into the metal band can be a really nice effect for a wedding ring, as opposed to one large diamond.
If you are after something a little bit different for your wedding ring, then you could consider having alternative stones set into the band. Sapphires are a common option here, as are rubies because of their associations with passion and love. Other people like to have either their birthstones or another precious stone that’s important to them. One nice option is to have a series of small cut diamonds or diamond chips circling a larger, colored stone for a beautiful alternative women’s wedding ring.
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