Hello, Many friends and clients ask me about the origin of the tradition of giving a diamond engagement ring to their future spouse. Many give it out of inertia, others because they know it has a symbolism and others simply because they are asked for it forcefully. I am a great supporter of this tradition that has continued over the centuries. This is the palpable proof that no matter how much society advances, technology goes by leaps and bounds, and we live in a society in continuous transformation,... there still exists the sensitivity to tradition and the symbolism of such a special moment in the life of any person in love, towards the person engaged to be married. All this seems very classical, even a little stale, but I assure you that today it still exists in a great majority of couples who are going to get married, and there is no specific profile for this choice, which I can assure you is made by all kinds of people, very different from each other, but with a clear and common objective, to symbolise the moment and the union. They stop their lives for a few days, they think, some design, they observe more than ever, they even ask their friends, and in the end they choose. For me, all engagement rings have the same strength in their symbolism regardless of their economic value. Everyone gives a gift according to their possibilities and their moment. Do not hesitate, you cannot understand the present without knowing the past. The precursor of today's engagement ring was a simple iron ring. The ancient Roman tradition was to give a ring, a symbol of the cycle of life and eternity, as a public promise that the marriage contract between a man and a woman would be respected. In Pliny's time (23-79 AD) the ring was made of iron. Gold was introduced some time later, in the 2nd century AD. Christians adopted the custom and thus the ring became an integral part of the marriage ceremony.
Just look back hundreds of years into the past.
The symbolism of the ring - signifying eternity - was not reinforced until the 15th century by the emblem of marital fidelity... the diamond. Nevertheless, legends about the mythical properties of this stone have been passed down through the centuries. Hundreds of years before Christ, in India, where they were first discovered, diamonds were even more prized for their magic than for their sheer beauty and were believed to protect against snakes, fire, poison, disease, thieves and all the combined forces of evil.
Every culture has valued diamonds for their unique properties. In India it was believed that the colour of the stone reflected the caste of the wearer and so the most precious were pure white diamonds. Rome prized them for their hardness and considered them capable of breaking iron. The Chinese valued them highly as engraving tools, while the superstitious Italians relied on them as protectors against poison.Particularly capable of resisting fire and steel, the diamond (whose name comes from the Greek "adamas", meaning invincible) brings together inflexible and invincible strength. What better emblem for an association that is to last a lifetime?
I have no doubt, from the soft lustre of the rough diamonds of the Renaissance to the dazzling pyrotechnics of the elegant sophistication of the 21st century, the diamond ring, like an enchanted circle, is the true gift of love and loyalty between a man and a woman... the ultimate seal of the promises made in marriage.
That is my vision, my feeling, and my conviction. I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about this historic tradition.
Paco Blasco