Jewellery News

While the majority of modern weddings involve both the bride and groom receiving rings, the engagement ring is a wedding custom that almost exclusively involves only the bride wearing a ring. In some countries the ring is worn on the left hand, while in others it is worn on the right, but the wearing of an engagement ring is primarily only done by the bride in most places around the world, and is usually presented to her at the offering of a marriage proposal. When the custom does call for the man to also wear an engagement ring, this ring often serves the dual purpose of being both an engagement and a wedding ring so that once married the man will continue to wear just one ring.

The tradition of the engagement ring dates back to the 1200s when it was deemed that a longer waiting period needed to take place between the proposal or arrangement of the wedding and the wedding itself. Originally engagement rings were simple bands of gold or silver, they were later adorned with gems as a sign of wealth and status. Though most people think of it as a longstanding tradition, the actual tradition of a diamond engagement ring did not become popular until the middle of the 1900s and came about as a result of a very successful marketing campaign by the DeBeers diamond company. DeBeers is also responsible for introducing the philosophy that the price of an engagement ring should be equal to two or three month’s salary.

Within most countries of the European Union, the engagement ring is considered a “conditional gift” and if the promise of marriage is not fulfilled, the ring is legally supposed to be returned to the purchaser. The only time this is largely not followed is if the ring is given around the time of Christmas or a Birthday and is ruled to not be a “conditional gift”. This is one of the few exceptions to the general legal rule that gifts cannot be claimed back once they are given.

Though common belief is that the engagement ring remains the property of the woman if it is the man that breaks off the engagement, this is not legally true in most cases. Once the promise of marriage is broken, the ring is legally supposed to be returned to the donor/purchaser. The ring does however become property of the woman once the marriage is valid, thereafter if a divorce takes place the engagement ring remains the property of the woman.

The engagement ring has a long and varied history in both western culture and the rest of the world. It is much more than just a marketing ploy by a successful diamond mining company.