Engagement is the day when a young man proposes marriage to his beloved. He traditionally gives a ring as a gift. If the girl accepts the gift, the engagement is considered to have taken place and from that moment the recipient of the ring becomes the bride, and the giver – the groom.
Engagement ring future groom chooses in secret from the beloved. Therefore, when buying it, he is most often guided by his own considerations. To help all grooms tell what are the traditions, and what should be the engagement ring.
5 rules when choosing an engagement ring
The tradition on engagement rings originated in the United States in the early 20th century. It was a planned PR campaign from De Beers, which encouraged giving a diamond ring for an engagement. “Diamonds are forever,” the ad said. And it worked. And it worked so well that it conquered almost the entire globe.
After World War II, the tradition spread to most countries of the world with which the United States maintained friendly relations. And after that – and to more distant ones. So, today, even in Japan and China, to which the traditions of the United States are not particularly close, many young people give preference to engagement rings with diamonds.
Inlays
As is clear from the backstory, diamonds have been considered the most appropriate stone for an engagement ring for almost a century.
In second place come colored gemstones: these are sapphires, emeralds and rubies.
Number of stones
The classic engagement ring is a solitaire ring with one round Tiffany type diamond.
Another equally popular option is a ring with one center stone and smaller stones framing it. More often than not, the center stone is given to a colored stone, and the smaller diamonds work as a setting. For example, as in Kate Middleton’s ring, which consists of a large sapphire and 14 diamonds.
The third place is occupied by rings studded with diamonds. These are Pavé rings, models with a rail setting or bar channel setting.
Metal
The traditional metal for an engagement ring is white gold or platinum. This is due to both historical reasons (yellow gold is less popular in the United States) and its combination with diamonds (which are more commonly used in engagement rings).
Yellow, pink, red gold will also be appropriate, especially if all other jewelry of your beloved is made of such metal.
Silver jewelry is rarely used as engagement rings. However, there is no tradition or rules prohibiting the gift of semi-precious metals.
Design
Does an engagement ring have to be traditionally shaped? Not at all! It all depends on the bride’s preference for jewelry. A smooth ring with one insert, openwork with several stones, or maybe an asymmetrical model – there are no restrictions in tradition.
Size
One of the most important moments when choosing an engagement ring is its size. To sit beautifully on the finger, the jewelry must be the size of its owner. You can recognize it by measuring another ring. How exactly to measure, we told in the article “How to determine the size of the ring on the finger”.
Rules are invented in order to break them!
And in the case of engagement rings, there really are no rules. Choose a ring based on your finances, the general style of your beloved’s jewelry, and personal preferences.
With our assortment of engagement rings you can see in the catalog. There are models made of white and yellow gold, with single diamonds or a scattering of stones. From classic to extravagant.