diamond engagement rings

Some advice to help you buy a beautiful, quality ring that your fiancé will love - diamond engagement rings. The tradition of wearing the wedding band on the fourth finger of the left hand stems from a Greek belief that a certain vein in that finger, the vena amoris, runs directly to the heart. Medieval wedding rings were often set with colored gemstones, because of the symbolism of the colors. The smallest betrothal ring on record was given to two year old Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII, on the event of her engagement to the infant Dauphin of France, son of King Francis I, in 1518. A type of English engagement ring, called the princess ring, had three to five sizable diamonds in a row across the top; it was popular in the US for diamond engagement.

When choosing diamond engagement rings, sparkle and brilliance are determined by the cutting. In the Middle Ages, men often kept a betrothal ring suspended from the band of their hat, ready to send to their chosen maid - The tiny diamond ring, fitted to her finger, was set with a valuable diamond. Posy rings, inside which were inscribed little poems and love messages, were popular for centuries, from the Middle Ages until Victorian times. Very elaborate, intricately-detailed rings were used in the Jewish wedding ceremony during the Renaissance period. The bezel was often in the shape of a gabled building, synagogue, or Solomon's Temple. Renaissance jewelers created a new kind of wedding ring called the gimmel, or twin, ring. It consisted of two (or more) interlocking rings, joined by a pivot to slide together into one, symbolizing the union of two lives - The Tiffany, or solitaire, setting was introduced in the late nineteenth century.