Diamond Rings

Diamond Rings – The Origin Of The Word Diamond

The word “diamond” comes from the ancient Greek noun Adámas which was the name given to the metal from which the mighty weapons of the Gods were fashioned, by Hephaestus (Vulcan in Roman mythology) whose forge was a volcano. It was a derivation of the verb form adamoa, which meant “I tame”, “I subdue” or “I conquer”. The Greeks applied the word Adámas to any hard metal or substance that they considered invincible, indestructible, invulnerable, or imperishable. Used as the adjective, adamastos, its meaning was "unrelenting, indomitable, or unconquerable" and was meant to describe a state of being that all men should aspire to be.

The earliest diamonds were raw and uncut, but their very hardness and inner fire symbolized strength and purity. The Ancient Greeks called them the Tears of Gods. Ancient Romans thought that they were splinters that had fallen from stars. They wore them on their arms in battle to give themselves strength and courage. Ancient Hindus believed that they came from lightening bolts that had crystallized.

Diamond Rings – Medieval Meaning

The words, adamant or adamantine, derived from the Greek Adámas were used to refer to any hard substance, be it stone or metal. Throughout Greek and Roman mythology these words have been used to describe indestructible swords, chains, shields, armour and walls. Medieval fictional literature made many references to adamantine. Alexander the Great built adamantine walls to keep the giants from destroying his kingdom. In Edmund Spenser’s epic, The Faerie Queene, Adamant was the substance that Sir Artagel's sword was fashioned out of. In The Lord of the Rings, one of the three Rings of Power, Nenya, was called the Ring of Adamant. Adamantine naturally came to be a description of the diamond, that hardest of all stones, which could only be cut by itself. And then, at some stage during the Middle Ages, this hardest of all natural substances known to man, came to be referred to as the diamond.

Diamonds in the early centuries were rare and prized possessions. In fact, history records that King Louis IX decreed that only members of the Royal Family were allowed to wear them by law. It was in the fifteenth century, that the tradition of the diamond engagement ring was born. Archduke Maximilian of Austria proposed to Mary of Burgundy, presenting her with a magnificent diamond ring.

Diamond Rings – The Present

Today we have diamonds from around the globe, the latest being from the Argyle mines in Australia - in incomparable shades of pink. But diamonds still stand alone as the hardest natural substances on earth and diamonds still symbolize strength and purity in our modern world. Tradition still demands that a proposal of marriage be accompanied with a solitaire diamond ring. And in the world of Marvel Comics, an ”indestructible metal alloy” called adamantium (yet another derivative of Adámas) is bonded to the skeleton and bone claws of that famous X-Men character, Wolverine.

Shop Around for Diamond Rings

In addition to shopping online for diamond rings for weddings you will also want to shop around in the real world as well. In other words, you do not just want to show up at one jewellery store and purchase a diamond ring without doing any further research pertaining to what is available in regard to these types of jewellery items today.

The fact is that jewellers have become more willing to negotiate the price tag on all items, including diamond rings for jewellery. On many levels, with the economic situation that is prevailing today the world over, this really has become rather the buyer's market when it comes to buying diamond rings for jewellery. Therefore, in addition to actually shopping around from merchant to merchant (again, online and in the real world as well) it would also be more prudent for you to negotiate over the price of a particular ring when you do identify one that suits your tastes.