Who doesn’t dream of this romantic proposal?

Interesting Trivia: The concept of modern “Engagement Ring”, which has become an expression of love and commitment of marriage worldwide, was born in Europe in the 15th century.

Let’s look at some interesting historical facts about the engagement ring. While rings have been in existence and use for thousands of years (they have been discovered in Egyptian as well as Sumerian tombs), the ancient civilizations never used the rings as expressions or symbols of love. They were mainly used as adornments to be worn to show off status, stature and taste.

So when exactly did the concept of an engagement ring, that sets it apart from any other ring, come into existence? If we trace the roots of the engagement ring back to the third century BC, we can see that Egyptians were known to exchange rings made of gold or silver. They wore them on the ring finger of the left hand which represented marriage and symbolized love as they believed that the vein of that particular finger connected directly with the heart.

The first certified and recorded mention of a man betrothing a woman for marriage goes back to 1477 when Archduke Maximilian of Austria presented a special engagement ring crafted with diamonds to Mary of Burgundy.

The custom of presenting a Daimond engagement ring a highly artistic multi-diamond rings with a solitaire in the centre that caught the fancy of lovers. s an expression of love and commitment became popular from then on, though not all men presented diamond rings to their ladies back in the day in Brazil and later on in South Africa, that Daimond engagement ring became popular. From simple flat rings at the. It was only after abundant supplies of diamonds were found, first outset, design artists soon created

After 1950s, the concept of diamond engagement ring became even more popular worldwide after De Beer’s launched their famous “A Diamond is Forever” marketing campaign.

Hard Fact: Rings are a part of both the engagement and the Wedding. However, the rings in both these symbolic celebrations of love differ. While a Wedding band is usually a plain metal band (gold, silver or platinum), an engagement ring is a more elaborate affair with either a solitaire or a bigger diamond in the centre with smaller stones set around it.

Thus began the love story of a man with diamonds. That love story started around 3000 years ago. The far forgotten land was some place in the Southern part of India (as per popular belief). And the man who found the first diamond… Well, no one really knows who found the first diamond. What is definitely known though is that since then men have done the most amazing and romantic things with these sparkling stones to celebrate their beauty.

Interesting Trivia: For nearly 500 years, diamonds were known only in India. The rest of the world had no idea that such an exquisite stone existed!

So who introduced diamonds to the rest of the world?

Some historical facts point the finger toward Alexander the Great of Macedonia. It is believed that he first took diamonds back to Europe with him when he returned to Greece after his conquest of India. That would mean diamonds travelled from India to Europe sometime around 327 BC. That’s even before Christ was born!

Maybe the ancient Indians knew about the value of diamonds and used them in jewellery… or maybe they did not. There’s no record. But what is historically known is that in the second century AD, a Hungarian queen had diamonds set on her new crown. Much later, in 1477 AD, the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, presented an engagement ring to his soon to be queen – Mary of Burgundy. The ring was set with diamonds and it started a trend of getting engaged with a diamond ring which continues till date.

Going back to the 13th century, cutting and polishing of natural diamonds was still an unknown process. No one knew how to cut diamonds until the late 13th century. It was only in 1375 that the Point Cut was created. Up until then, only the best naturally formed diamonds were used for jewellery or decorative purposes. The rest were discarded.
Fact: Until the 14th century, only best naturally formed diamonds were used for jewellery or decorative purposes; the rest were discarded since no one knew how to cut and polish the stones.

Increasingly thereafter, various new cuts were developed. The demand of diamonds as objects of desire and their use in jewellery grew substantially.

In the 18th century, India ran out of diamonds, but new supplies were discovered in Brazil. About a century and a half later, South Africa took over as the diamond producing capital of the world. It was South Africa that gave birth to the world’s largest diamond producing organization – the De Beers Corporation. As newer diamond deposits were discovered in various countries around the world, the reach of diamonds increased. What was once an object of desire and flaunted by only the rich and elite, started reaching the masses.

In the last couple of centuries, these stunningly brilliant stones have gone through many upheavals and changes, but their allure and attraction has remained unchanged.